Have you ever wondered how most politicians are made? Where do they come from? It’s as if they live in a different dimension than the rest of us. They are definitely different from average quality folk. In fact, good quality professionals are the antithesis of most politicians. Explore with me, if you will, the differences between these two species of individuals that exist, unfortunately, with disproportionate power in this world.

When implementing a new management system based on ISO standards, experts usually invoke the grandfather clause as a way to relieve the enforcement of some requirements. When, where, and how often can the grandfather clause be invoked?

The grandfather clause is a statement that an organization makes to declare that, before a specific date, certain individuals or processes do not comply with company rules or regulations.

The grandfather clause has three basic components: [Individual/process] + [area of grandfathering] + [date].

Deciding how to control your documents can be difficult. ISO 9001, the quality management system (QMS) standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), requires you maintain accurate and up-to-date procedures, but doesn’t give a lot of guidance on how to get there. Between the requirements and the implementation lie grey areas and confusion. Let’s take a look at the difference between what is required and what is a good idea in the world of document review.

So, you think you’ve got them all figured it out, and then, bam! Somebody else comes up with a new quality acronym to throw you off your game. But don’t give up too soon. Acronyms are confusing, but they all boil down to continual improvement. The trick is to decide, along with your company, which acronyms you really want to use.