Today's Brain Teaser - What Doesn't Belong?
This brain teaser puzzle tests your ability to identify a common shared attribute of the group and identify the “odd man out.”
Simple enough. So which of the following doesn’t belong in the list? And why doesn’t it?
(A) Beckman Coulter, Inc. blood alcohol gas chromatograph
(B) CMI, Inc. Intoxilyser
(C) Decatur Electronics, Inc. radar guns
(D) Point Blank Solutions, Inc. bullet proof vests
(E) Scott Specialty Gases, Inc. Intoxilyser 8000 Dry Gas Standard cylinders
(F) Taser International Inc. tasers
Here’s the hint: ISO certification. A pretty sure guess would be (B). All the other companies proudly boast their ISO 9000 certification. To the best of my abilities, I cannot find a similar claim by CMI.
So why does ISO certification matter? ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization. Originally ISO intended to provide minimal standards for manufacturing quality to be used throughout the world. ISO standards have expanded beyond manufacturing quality control into other areas of interest such as laboratory accreditations and software quality standards.
One such standard, ISO 9000, defines minimum guidelines for quality management in the manufacturing process. This voluntary certification process is designed to provide consistency in the manufacturing process that companies use. Companies are required to have a documented quality control system and their employees must follow these established procedures.
ISO 9001:2008 specifies requirements for aquality management system where an organization
- needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide product that meets customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and
- aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for continual improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
It is important to note that the ISO 9000 certification process certifies the quality control system of companies, not the quality of their products or service.
Still, it would be comforting to know that a machine and software that can be used as evidence against you was developed with some recognized quality standards in place. My apologies and congratulations to CMI if they have become ISO 9000 certified. If they aren’t, the State of Florida should require ISO certification for CMI. It’s just that important.