Certified by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory - ?

[Roger Chandler]

:confused: This was on the "other specifications" list of the new G0800 Grizzly lathe spec sheet. Wonder what nationally recognized testing lab they use, and what does this certification attest to? Any ideas?

That is one feature filled, heavy and good looking machine!

[Thom Sturgill]

I think that refers to the line above it - 'Manufactured in an ISO9001 factory' which means they have a quality management system in place. Unfortunately, 'Quality' as used in QM systems does not mean what you might think. A friend who was a QA engineer once told me that the Ford Pinto was a higher quality car than the Cadillac. Fords standards for the Pinto were lower, but they consistently met them, while Cadillac's were higher and often not met.

So one needs to see how tight the manufacturing standard is for 'ISO9001' to really mean anything other than advertising buzz.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I lived with ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 for several decades as I worked in field service for a manufacturer. ISO 9001 certification just means there is a quality management program in place. The program begins in the design part of the manufacturer process. It continues through a product's lifecycle including delivery, installation and maintenance.

The standards can vary from product to product but the quality management process is established prior to and during the design portion of a products development. An ISO-9001 or ISO9000 certified factory just means they have a quality management program in place. In theory, they are supposed to use it on a continuing basis.

Annually we went through an "in-house" ISO inspection to verify proper procedures and documentation were being used. Every 4 years we went through an outside ISO inspection by an international ISO team. I forget the name or TLA of the international ISO but it was basically a recognized international engineering and business administration team.

Employees were interviewed and tested by the inspection teams for knowledge of and proper use of those ISO procedures.

[Geoff Whaling]

Like Ken I have also worked for decades under ISO certification process and for environmental certification under ISO 14001 as well. In house & 3rd party audits then accreditation.

It means the processes used produce a consistent result - at least in theory. Consistent wrt manufacturing means compliance with the specification and design - it doesn't mean that the design is safe, or practical - those aspects are covered under other standards. When interviewed we had to prove we followed process, we had to prove knowledge of & compliance with the documented process -not what was "right" in the particular circumstances. If the documented process was wrong then so was everything else that flowed from the document - as for changing the process - well that depended upon a lot of things esp economics!

I would be more interested about the wood working machine complying with OSHA machine guarding, E-stop guidelines than ISO9001 accreditation https://www.osha.gov/Publications/woodworking_hazards/osha3157.html

[Larry Frank]

I also worked in an ISO 9001 shop where we produced steel for automotive applications. I am retired now and that is one thing I do not miss. Basically, it means just adhering to written procedures and having appropriate documentation. The outside audits and those from the car companies were awful.

[Bill Boehme]

Same thing here. The real underlying idea is to have this certification as one more gold star on your brag sheet to show prospective business clients. As Ken and others have said just means that you have a quality program that is structured according to ISO standards. Before that, there were no industry wide standards for organizing quality programs. In theory, ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 fixes that ... in theory. And, as others have said, a layman's definition of quality is actually what would be called "reliability" in industry.

[Bill Boehme]

BTW, I looked at the spec sheet and also the Delta inverter user manual. The lathe spec sheet says full load current is 15 Amps, but the motor full load current is 10 Amps, so where are the other 5 Amps used? The Delta inverter is rated 230 volts at 11 Amps max input current. The motor specs say that the motor is really 2.5 horsepower output if it has an efficiency of 80% which is typical for a high quality three phase motor. The efficiency would have to be 100% to actually produce 3 horsepower mechanical output. The inverter would actually fall a bit short on supplying the full load current of a true 3 horsepower motor under full load conditions. All that said, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between 2.5 horsepower and 3 horsepower in real world conditions. Most of the time the motor is just loafing along unless you are hogging the wood with a vengeance.

[John Stankus]

I think that refers to the line above it - 'Manufactured in an ISO9001 factory' which means they have a quality management system in place. .

Actually, it doesn't refer to the ISO 9001 certification. NRTL are testing labs that certify certain safety standards for OSHA compliance. UL or CSA testing labs are NRTLs, if that gives you an idea. There are standards that are included in the rules and legislation that must be certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory.

John - who in a past life who got a technology demonstrator through UL and CE(Europe) certification when management decided to "hey, let's make it a product"