Advancing the Standard

TRW's Rack & Pinion Division, a tier 1 automotive supplier, spent a lot of time and human energy preparing its engineering department as part of the company's efforts to be certified under QS-9000. In order to operate under a QS-9000 or ISO 9000 quality system, a company must standardize its practices, spell them out for employees and customers, and then be able to provide documentary evidence that the organization has followed its own procedures. The QS-9000 implementation process started at the Rack & Pinion Division in October 1995. Following an initial third-party assessment in late 1995, the division's top management decided that a complete rewrite of the engineering and quality system was required to comply with QS-9000. Changes in the department that resulted from implementing QS-9000, such as developing and using objective indicators, simplifying business systems, and introducing structured training, will have to be nurtured so they can grow and become the part of the department's culture.