Integrated multi-media computers in the execution of ISO9000 quality system requirements for document control and training

The current emphasis on ISO9000 Quality Systems has met with mixed reactions in both manufacturing and service organisations. Many businesses throughout the world are feeling obliged to implement these systems which rely heavily on verification of organisational policies and procedures. This has led to a proliferation of documentation which many organisations have criticised as being bureaucratic and inflexible. The current trend towards Fewer levels of management hierarchy in many organisations has been inhibited by Quality Systems because the emphasis often seems to lead to a need for more approval, accountability and control mechanisms. New thinking in integrated computerised Quality Systems offers the potential to overcome many of these difficulties. To dare, attempts to computerise Quality Systems have been confined to computerisation of existing systems which will never overcome their inherent limitations. This paper describes a new approach to the Document Control and Training Requirements of ISO9000 which would enable far more flexible and responsive systems. The approach is compatible with modern flat organisational structures and allows their full benefit to be realised. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.