NEWS RELEASE April 26, 1996
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Marketing ISO 9000
The recent explosion of ISO 9000 certifications has led to the growing need for a way to manage
the complexity of maintaining ISO documentation and the status of the processes they
control. Typically, ISO certification is maintained through paper based methods, such as strict adherence to the firm’s ISO manual. Although comprehensive, these methods of strict process control and documentation have several disadvantages that hinder rather than help the certified company to stay competitive. Most significant of these is the fact that ISO rigorously controls existing processes and spends a great deal of effort creating rules and specs for performing those processes. It then assures, through periodic and expensive audits, that these processes are being performed according to the specifications of the quality manual.
ISO Process Requirements
The dominant trend in business improvement today has not been in ISO certification per se, but
more generally in business process analysis and process redesign/optimization. Because of the
rigidity of ISO process requirements, it is difficult for firms to adjust to the changing business
environment while still maintaining their certification. It is for this reason that Wizdom Systems,
Inc. has developed a set of integrated tools (WizdomWorks!) that allows for ISO document management,
detailed process control specifications, and a graphical user interface (through business process models) to a database of past and present ISO records, instructions, and procedures.
WizdomWorks! ISO 9000 Toolset
But that’s not all. Wizdom’s tools, WizdomWorks!, exploit the effort that went into
obtaining certification, namely identifying, defining, and controlling processes, by determining
how those processes are performing according to other key measures like cost, time, flow of
material and information, and process contribution to quality requirements of the finished
product. “Unfortunately, many companies pursue ISO 9000 certification strictly as a defensive
measure--to avoid losing sales,” says Jerry Kovach, Vice President of Manufacturing Services.
“WizdomWorks! enables the logical next step--an offensive approach to improve processes as a
by-product of process specification. Companies who take advantage of this approach further their competitive position by achieving real performance gains in costs, productivity, service, and quality. And they achieve a real return on their ISO 9000 investment.”
Manage Processes with WizdomWorks! ISO 9000
By utilizing the universally accepted standard for process modeling, IDEF0, and a typical PC, Wizdom has introduced a method for maximizing the return on the investment in time and money to obtain ISO 9000 certification. By managing processes digitally, changes in the process and in the complex relationships between those processes and their associated rules and documentation, ISO 9000 certification has become as easy as pointing and clicking through a user-friendly GUI of the process model.
Wizdom Systems, Inc. has been providing BPR software, consulting and training services, and methodology since 1986. Wizdom has consistently been the technology leader and innovator in the techniques and skills necessary for successful reengineering based on process improvement leading to unheard of gains in organizational productivity. Our goal is to continue to improve and expand the WizdomWorks! toolset according to customer needs and industry direction. Wizdom is headquartered in Naperville, Illinois, with offices in: Alexandria, Virginia; Los Angeles, California; and Detroit, Michigan, and international offices in: Melbourne, Australia, and Warsaw, Poland.
For more information regarding WizdomWorks! and ISO 9000, Wizdom’s consulting, or training, contact: Wizdom Systems, Inc. (HQ), 1300 Iroquois Avenue, Naperville, Illinois 60563. Phone: (630) 357-3000 Fax: (630) 357-3059