AIAG Earns ISO 9001 Certification

    SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Jan. 23 The Automotive Industry Action
Group (AIAG) has become one of the first associations in North America to
become registered to the ISO 9001 quality standard.

    "We believe that it's important for our organization to operate under the
same standards as our member companies," said Darlene M. Miller, AIAG managing
director.  "The ISO 9001 registration process gave us the opportunity to
review the ways in which we currently conduct business and make significant
improvements to better serve our members."

    According to Miller, because of AIAG's involvement with the QS-9000
standard, the organization knew that the best way to operate is to establish
an effective quality system.  However, since AIAG is not a production parts
supplier, the organization was not eligible for QS-9000 certification, but was
eligible for ISO 9001.

    AIAG's two primary areas of business are project management and the
distribution of publications and training.  Since these areas each require a
design phase, the organization felt that it was most appropriate to obtain the
ISO 9001 certification.

    Employee Involvement: The Key to Gaining Certification
    To elicit employee involvement, every staff member's performance plan
included an objective to ensure that AIAG would achieve its goal of becoming
ISO 9001 certified.  At the beginning of 2000, employees received training on
the ISO 9001 certification process.  Refresher training was held throughout
the year, with the managing director conducting the training to show top
management commitment.

    In addition to general employee involvement, ISO 9001 coordinators were
named for each department and an internal quality steering team was formed to
ensure that AIAG would meet its goal.

    Perhaps one of the most unique components introduced into the preparation
was ISOBucks -- an employee motivation program.  As the quality system
documentation was completed, the managing director would e-mail "test"
questions to all staff members.  If an employee responded correctly, they
would earn ISOBucks.

    "By the time the ISO 9000 auditors arrived, the walls were literally
covered with big green ISOBucks," Miller said.  "During our post-audit
celebration, everyone was able to spend their ISOBucks on prizes -- such as
AIAG merchandise and even extra vacation days."

    Another innovative aspect of the project was the early decision to put all
quality system documentation on the organization's Intranet.  This allows all
employees to look at the most current version of the documentation and link to
the correct procedures and forms.

    "Although we have achieved certification, our efforts don't stop there,"
Miller said.  "Now that we have the infrastructure and quality system in place
to support our recent growth, we can focus on setting specific objectives for
continuous quality improvements."