Implementing ISO 9001:2000 at NASA Headquarters

1. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI Implementing ISO 9001:2000 at NASA Headquarters Presented to the joint meeting of the ASQ 509 general membership and the ISO 9000 Users Group, Washington, DC January 16, 2003 Scott Holliday Director, ISO 9001 Program Office NASA Headquarters (202) 358-1096 shollida@hq.nasa.gov

2. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI Background • “Implementing” is somewhat of a misnomer since the focus of the presentation will actually be transitioning the NASA HQ QMS from the requirements of ISO 9001:1994 to ISO 9001:2000. • Knowledge of ISO 9001:1994 useful in understanding the presentation • NASA HQ and all NASA Centers all achieved registration to ISO 9001:1994 in by September 1999 • ISO 9001:2000 issued on December 13, 2000, with guidance that all registered sites must transition to the new standard by December 2003 or lose their registration • ISO 9001 has been very controversial within NASA recently -- two primary (not necessarily complimentary) schools of thought: • Take advantage of the improvements the new standard offers in making a smooth transition to ISO 9001:2000, and • Change the policy requirement under the President’s Management Agenda Freedom to Manage initiative • Currently states that HQ and all Centers shall be registered and suppliers required to registered where deemed beneficial to NASA • Today, HQ and 6 of NASA’s 10 major Centers are now registered to ISO 9001:2000

3. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI Understanding ISO 9001 - Personal Thoughts • I believe there are 3 levels of understanding ISO 9001: • Knowing what the standard says • Requires reading it - sometimes over and over, especially when issues in implementation come up • Knowing what the standard means • In many cases, interpretation comes from a deeper understanding of quality management principals and practices (amongst other things, e.g., 4.3 of ISO 9001:1994, “Contract Review” • Knowing how to apply it to your business • Requires a thorough understanding of most if not all aspects of your business as well as the standard, the culture of the organization, etc., or you risk implementing a system that suboptimizes and results in decreased effectiveness and efficiency

4. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI Focus Items for NASA HQ Transition • “If you have a pretty good QMS certified to ISO 9001:1994, you’ve probably already met 80% of the 2000 requirements” • The basic intent of the 1994 standard is captured in the 2000 standard • However, there is increased emphasis and requirements in the areas of: • Top Management involvement • Customer Interactions • Continual Improvement • Measuring Results • Although the 2000 standard allows for fewer documented procedures, deletion of procedures is not required (nor necessarily encouraged)

5. NASA HQ QMS

6. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001:1994 vs. ISO 9001:2000 9001:2000

7. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001:1994 vs. ISO 9001:2000 9001:2000

8. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001:1994 vs. ISO 9001:2000 9001:2000

9. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI Recommended high-level implementation process • Obtain the services of an expert to help you analyze what needs to be done and avoid engaging in a great deal of unnecessary activity • Understand your system and how it will be audited (see next slide) • Determine gaps and what needs to be done to fill them • Make your business case for implementing to top management and ensure their commitment and involvement • Choose a registrar and engage them early • Brief them on your system and plans – they can’t consult but they can point out concern or possible issues • Implement system changes as determined by the gap analysis • Measure results • Perform a full internal audit • Perform a top management review of the system • Take corrective/preventive action • Go to registration audit

10. Resources (Section 6) Understand your system and how it will be audited Top-Down Audit line-of-inquiry Planning (Section 5) Objectives (Section 5) Measurement (Section 8) Data Analysis (Section 8) Improvement (Section 8) Customer Satisfaction (Section 5) Management Review (Sections 5) Product Process (Section 7) Supplier Understanding Planning Implementation Maturity Expectation HLD page 17

11. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI NASA HQ Challenges to Implementation Top Management • NASA’s former Administrator was the primary driver behind ISO 9001 registration • HQ began preparing for the transition to ISO 9001:2000 in October 2000, 2 months before the final standard was published. • Then came a new President in January 2000 • …and eventually a new Administrator, • ...and turnover in top management, • ...with new agendas, • …and the chance to use the agendas to “spin” new approaches • …and the pendulum swung several ways. • But eventually new top management made the decision to press forward with the transition for HQ in October 2001, and we were recertified (with a new registrar) in May 2002. • Since then, the appointment of a new Deputy Administrator with a quality management background has reinforced the need for a 3rd party validated QMS for HQ and NASA Centers

12. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI NASA HQ Challenges to Implementation Customer Interactions • At NASA we were pretty certain who the customer was until we had a requirement to respond to their complaints; albeit with some good reason I’ll address in a minute • But how do we go from system whereby we were merely required to respond to customer complaints to a system that required much more, including the assessment of customer perceptions and their satisfaction? • One of the biggest challenges is who’s the customer of a federal R&D organization where the products tend to be such things as Knowledge • Complicating matters is that NASA HQ does not have a corporate registration, but a stand alone registration • Net result is we’re assessing perceptions and satisfaction associated with corporate management • Let’s briefly discuss why defining the customer is difficult at NASA, or for that matter federal agencies heavily engaged in R&D

13. NASA Customers and Benefits The American people are our ultimate customers represented by the Congress and the President. Through our five Enterprises NASA contributes to National priorities: • S&T understanding, • Education, • the Environment, • the Economy, and • Exploration & Discovery

14. Agency-wide Management Systems Customer/Supplier Relationship Model NASA Centers HQ “PRODUCT USERS” • Funding • Direction • Advocacy “FUNDERS” Satisfaction Satisfaction Satisfaction Capability Knowledge Info Reporting Info Reporting Info Reporting F E E D B A C K

15. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI NASA HQ Challenges to Implementation Measuring Results • Not that this was new – The Government Performance and Results Acts requires measurement at the high level for us as a federal agency, but doesn’t really specify what we need to measure • ISO 9001:1994 only alluded to measurement under “Statistical Techniques” but this element could also be invalidated • ISO 9001:2000 places a whole new set of measurement requirements on an organization to include process, as well as product measures and “analysis of data”, and it cannot be invalidated • Other concerns: • How do you measure knowledge generation and the transfer of that knowledge for public benefit?

16. What does it take/cost to implement ISO 9001:2000? • Very difficult to answer because it depends on: • Organizational complexity – Are you • A 100 person organization with one product line? • A 3,000 person organization with multiple product lines and complex subsystems? • A corporate HQ with several to many diverse business units where the primary product is corporate leadership and management? • Process Culture of the organization –Does your culture lend itself to managing by process? • Not the ethereal process we all have a different version of in our heads, but agreed upon, consistent, repeatable, and well communicated processes. • KSC vs. NASA HQ • Approach to systems management - common mistake is to think you manage the system by managing the parts of the system. • Managing the system by managing the parts is managing in stovepipes; tends to be be suboptimal, and typically provides little ability to assess how the system is performing as a whole. • ISO 9001:2000 will require you to manage the system as a whole. • Manage the system and the parts will manage themselves HLD page 5

17. What were some transition benefits to NASA • Has led to measurable and less tangible* improvements in our corporate management responsibilities including: • Strategic and Performance planning and reporting • Budget development, integration, execution and oversight • Functional Management planning and oversight • Program/Project Planning and oversight • Policy Development, implementation and oversight • Long term we hope to see: • Improved Congressional and OMB support for NASA’s efforts • Public approval has always been one of the highest if not highest of all federal agencies • Improved program and project performance – cost, schedule, quality • More efficient use of resources * Recognizing the difficulty in measuring such things as knowledge in a corporate R&D environment – does not include benefits in originally registering to ISO 9001:1994 HLD page 5

18. KEY Lessons Learned • ISO 9000-2000 management principles are universal, but difficulty in implementing is relative - perform a gap analysis before you commit • Avoid the answer “because the standard says so” • Direct involvement of Top Management is not optional. • If it’s a “box checking” exercise, don’t waste your time • Don’t starting by having everybody document their processes • Balance between competencies, training and documented processes • Apply to entire management system; don’t create a separate system • Focus on your organization’s mission and goals, and the relationship, integration and flowdown of work to the individual level • You don’t need to measure everything • Measure key activities that affect product/process quality, analyze the results, and do something with them • Res Firma Mitescera Nescit – not enough to get registered, you have to continually improve your system. • A good registrar will look deeper on each successive surveillance audit • Corrective and Preventive Action – Not good enough to just show you’re taking action. Need to look holistically across C/P actions within the system, and analyze them to determine systemic vulnerabilities HLD page 5

19. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI Backup Slides

20. ISO 9001:2000 Transition Schedule

21. ISO 9001 CERTIFIED ISO 9001 Program Office, Code JI Thank you! Forward questions and comments to: Implementing ISO 9001:2000 at NASA Headquarters Scott Holliday Director, ISO 9001 Program Office NASA Headquarters (202) 358-1096 shollida@hq.nasa.gov