[KeithBrown]

In my prior life, I was a "Certified Quality Manager" and was the Management Representative and responsible for implementing ISO 9000 in 1997 at a 1500 person manufacturer. While I can agree there is some usefulness for most of these types of programs (ISO 9000, ISO 14000, TQM, SPC, Sick Sigma, whatever), they are too often overused and over hyped.

BTW - We dumped the ISO 9000 certification last year as we shifted our company focus from consumer electronics manufacturing to value added (ie: custom engineered industrial products) and no one yet has ever cared or asked us about ISO 9000 in this segment.

I personally don't miss the bureaucratic crap that goes along with any company wide system.