Mapping tool to assist on ISO 9001-2000 deadline

Companies that have still to complete their conversion to the ISO 9001-2000 standard before the December 15, 2003 deadline can take advantage of a software tool that allows users to develop process maps by quickly modifying a series of generic flow charts. A large majority of ISO certified companies have not yet been certified to the ISO quality management systems standard, and the software suite, developed in a partnership between Business Management Solutions (BMS) and Deans Hill Systems, has been release to help both end users and consultants. Dubbed ISOlutioner and developed by Arthur Gold, it substantially reduces the time and effort needed to become compliant. It sits on the DHS allCLEAR flow charting engine, and helps identify, define, establish and manage a company’s processes within the ISO 9001-2000 quality management system’s framework. The 1994 ISO 9001 was designed to assure that the primary processes in an organisation were established as documented procedures. The emphasis was more on compliance than on utility. BMS and Deans Hill say ISOlutioner was developed because the ISO 9001 2000 replacement uses the process approach – with the emphasis less on mandatory documentation and more on the determining that only the essential processes are effective and operate under controlled conditions.