Many industries use industry lingo or jargon to communicate within the industry. It could be jargon used as short-hand to convey a variety of work-related information, or it could be a more technical language based on established industry vocabulary. In any case, it\u2019s a common language understood by those who use it across an industry. Used within their esoteric industrial context, some words and terms mean something different from what they mean in casual discourse.<\/p>\n
For example, what a framing carpenter calls a \u201cheader\u201d is different from what a professional soccer player would call a \u201cheader.\u201d Computer programmers use \u201cheaders\u201d every day at work, as do printers and typographers. A professional snowboarder has yet another idea of what a \u201cheader\u201d is. (Ouch.) The word \u201cheader\u201d means something specific and unique to those working in their respective industries. Although they may all use the word \u201cheader\u201d on a daily basis, each one of them is speaking a different language in a sense. The meaning of this technical term changes depending on its industrial context.<\/p>\n
In the context of a discussion involving ISO 9001<\/a>, the words \u201cprocess,\u201d \u201cprocedure,\u201d and \u201csystem\u201d are technical terms. They mean something specific to ISO 9001 practitioners. The full meaning of a technical term, however, isn\u2019t always readily grasped from its definition. Some education or training is often required to fully understand technical jargon. To borrow a term from philosophers, these words are \u201ctheory laden.\u201d To fully understand them, one must understand not only their context, but the theory behind them.<\/p>\n Per ISO 9000:2005, a procedure is a \u201cspecified way to carry out an activity or a process,\u201d a process is a \u201cset of interrelated or interacting activities which transforms inputs into outputs,\u201d and a system is a \u201cset of interrelated or interacting elements\u201d.\u00a0Click here to learn more about ISO 9000<\/a>.<\/p>\n By themselves, these definitions are of limited value. Once some background information is supplied, however, they make better sense. Without adequate understanding of these terms, certain pitfalls present themselves that invite errors in management system definition.
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