Wednesday, August 5, 2009

A Baldrige Focused LSP in a World of ISO 9001

ISO 9001 certification is the norm right now for LSPs (Language Service Providers) in the Localization Industry. As a company that follows Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, we're swimming against the tide of conformity. I do not believe that their should be an either/or approach in determination of the certification you choose and I view ISO 9001 and Six Sigma as tools that all fit in the toolbox for continuous improvement.

With Baldrige, there is a focus on performance excellence for the entire organization in an overall management framework and the Criteria focuses on identification and tracking of all-important organizational results: customer, product/service, financial, human resource, and organizational effectiveness. This year, I became a certified Examiner for the MQA Award with the State of Missouri and each employee will also go through this certification for their own professional growth next year. It's been an exhilarating experience!



Whereas ISO can lay the foundation for necessary procedural standardization and help to reduce variability, Baldrige can be used as a means of instituting broader quality management and provide the tools for analysis, prioritization and evaluation of the overall approach. Each are different but certainly can be compatible. We chose Baldrige for the educational approach which is an organizational value that is inherent in our organization and in our approach with client mentorship.

I will be focusing future blog posts on how Baldrige helps our own internal processes and compliments our process measurement system for clients managing translation.