First e-commerce distributorship to earn ISO 9002 certification points to proliferation in the dot.com world

摘要

The dramatic proliferation of "dot.com" companies and electronic market-places is creating millions of new customer/supplier relationships. However, many of the new Internet-based companies "are coming under attack for falling short on customer service and delivery," says Michael J. Gambino, founder and President of bestroute.com, a new USA-based online distributor of building trade products.In a move to "raise the bar" of customer service and delivery quality, bestroute.com has recently achieved ISO 9000 certification, and claims to be among the first pure dot.coms worldwide to have done so. Mr. Gambino says that certification has "built a bridge of confidence to our customers" and adds, "it makes sense for purchasing professionals to begin asking if their prospective dot.com suppliers are ISO 9000 certified for that added degree of assurance.The company's quality manager, Richard Randall, ISO 9000 specialist, author and lead auditor, comments on bestroute.com's implementation experiences and says that the concepts contained in the standard are just as valid and necessary for e-commerce as for any other industry, although he sees one significant difference in the handling of transactions. Mr. Randall reports that while very few so-called dot.coms are ISO 9000 certified, certification as a "credential" is very well regarded in the building trades. Bestroute.com's positive experience with ISO 9000 could herald the proliferation of the quality management standard in the dot.com world.