ISO 9000-4 1993 in Plain English

>>>  ISO 9000-4 1993 is now OBSOLETE <<<

Product dependability policy and objectives 

• Define and document your product dependability 
  policy and your product dependability objectives.

  • Define a policy that explains your attitude towards
    product dependability and which specifies
    dependability characteristics.

  • List the product dependability objectives
    you want to achieve.

Functions and resources 

• Define functions and provide resources.

  • Define the organizational functions and services that 
    you will need in order to manage and maintain your 
    Product Dependability Program.

  • Ensure that your Product Dependability Program has 
    all the resources it needs to carry out these functions 
    and perform these services.

Dependability requirements and customer needs 

• Product dependability requirements should be defined
  by researching customer needs and expectations.

  • Therefore market research procedures are needed.

Program review

• Develop Program evaluation procedures.

  • Develop and document procedures that senior
    managers can use to evaluate the performance
    of your Product Dependability Program.

  • Develop and document procedures that independent
    groups can use to review product dependability
    performance, processes, procedures, tools,
    tasks, results, and costs.

Program documentation 

• Document your Product Dependability Program.

  • Document the methods and procedures 
    used to define dependability characteristics.

  • Document the methods and procedures 
    used to control dependability characteristics.

  • Document the methods and procedures 
    used to evaluate dependability characteristics.

Dependability measurement

• Identify quantitative and qualitative tools to estimate
  and analyze the dependability of your products.

  • Ensure that these tools are made available to staff.

  • Ensure that they know how to use these tools.

Information system 

• Set up an information system to track 
  and store product dependability data.

• Use this data to design and redesign your 
  products and to plan your maintenance activities.

Documents
and records 

• Product dependability documents and records should
  be maintained. These documents and records should
  include product dependability:

  • Plans 

  • Test data

  • Field data

  • Analyses

  • Predictions

  • Instructions

  • Requirements

• Maintain a master list of program dependability documents 
  and records and make sure that only current authorized 
  versions are in circulation.

Planning 

• Develop a product dependability plan. It should:

  • Explain how you intend to meet product 
    dependability requirements and objectives.

  • Describe the resources you will use to meet 
    your dependability requirements and objectives.

  • Define the steps you will take to meet your 
    dependability requirements and objectives.

Contract review 

• Develop procedures to coordinate and control the
  review of customer contracts. Your contract review
  procedures should make sure that:

  • Dependability requirements are defined.

  • Operational expectations are clarified.

  • Maintenance obligations are specified.

  • Acceptance tests are described and explained.

  • Dependability differences, between the original 
    tender and the final contract, have been resolved.

  • Management representatives are appointed to 
    supervise and discuss contracts with customers.

  • Records are kept which describe review decisions.

Dependability requirements 

• Define detailed product dependability requirements.

  • Define product availability requirements.

  • Define product reliability requirements.

  • Define product maintainability requirements.

• Clarify your maintenance support assumptions.

• Before you design products, make sure that product 
  dependability requirements are clarified and that 
  the design will meet these requirements.

Design and maintenance 

• Develop product design and maintenance guidelines
  to ensure that product dependability requirements are
  met. These guidelines must:

  • Address product reliability, maintainability,
    and testability issues.

  • Address the human factors that could
    affect product dependability.

External products 

• Develop procedures to define dependability
  requirements for products provided by outsiders.

  • Make sure that products provided by subcontractors
    (suppliers) clearly meet your product dependability
    requirements.

  • Make sure that products provided by your customers
    clearly meet your product dependability requirements.

Analysis and review 

• Evaluate product dependability. Analyze, predict, and
  review the dependability of your products. Consider using
  the following kinds of tools and techniques:

  • Human factors analysis

  • Fault tree analysis

  • Tradeoff analysis

  • Stress analysis

  • Risk analysis

Verification and validation 

• Verify and validate product dependability. Develop procedures
  to verify and validate product dependability requirements.
  Consider using the following kinds of:

  • Planning procedures

    • Verification planning

    • Validation planning

    • Test planning

  • Testing procedures

    • Reliability tests

    • Production tests

    • Acceptance tests

    • Dependability tests

Life-cycle costs 

• Calculate costs. Develop procedures to calculate 
  and analyze product life-cycle costs.

Customer support 

• Support your products. Make sure your
  customers know how to:

  • Operate your products.

  • Maintain your products.

    • In order to ensure that your customers
      properly maintain your products, make
      sure they know what kinds of:

      • Spare parts should be used.

      • Test equipment should be used.

      • Maintenance tools should be applied.

      • Skills their maintenance people should have.

Dependability improvement 

• Develop procedures to improve the dependability of
  your products. Your procedures should ensure that
  dependability improvement opportunities are identified 
  and exploited. Your procedures should try to:

  • Improve product reliability

  • Improve product availability

  • Improve product maintainability

• Develop procedures to control the product dependability
  improvement process. Your procedures should ensure that:

  • Changes are reviewed.

  • Previous analyses are repeated.

  • Prior predictions are reconsidered.

  • Old data and documents are re-examined.

Dependability feedback 

• Develop a product dependability feedback system.

  • Develop procedures to collect product
    dependability data during:

    • Testing

    • Manufacturing

    • Field use

  • Develop procedures to handle, store, 
    and analyze product dependability data.

  • Develop procedures that customers can use
    to collect product dependability data and to
    report their experience back to you.

Also see ISO 9001 2008 in Plain English and ISO 9004 2009 in Plain English

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