Rocket Science

When I read that White Sands Test Facility was the first NASA site to receive ISO 9001:2015 certification, that is the day when I decided to start a vegetable garden.

NASA’s White Sands Test Facility is a component of Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. At the facility they test and evaluate potentially hazardous materials, spaceflight components, and rocket propulsion systems for NASA centers. I mean, think about it, if they do rocket propulsion systems then I can grow rocket as a key salad ingredient using the same quality management system.

I mean the sky is the limit and it is not rocket science, or is rockets science? There I was thinking and wondering about these two very different types of rocket. So, on my way to the library to do some research on the two rockets, I got my answers from Google and never got to the library.

I decided to leave the rocket propulsion systems to the NASA Engineers and rather concentrate on growing rockets, which is also a science, think soil pH values, fertility properties etc. and yes, I was also impressed when I first read that. This information puts me on par with the NASA rocket scientists, well, sort off.

George, the owner of the local supermarket is an old friend and he confirmed that rocket vegetables are in high demand and he would buy all the rockets I can grow, under certain terms and conditions. So, him being a businessman I thought “under certain terms and conditions” was some business jargon he used when dealing with his business associates. He calls them his “Stakeholders”, anyway, I later discovered that the ISO 9001:2015 Standard takes care of all business jargon just to ensure nobody gets confused.

Back at the ranch, (we are not in the USA but it sounds great when you say “back at the ranch”) there was still no vegetable garden. The good news was, that I knew someone would buy vegetables from me. I needed to start somewhere and that was when I decided to read some more.

My wife sometimes says I just read more in order not to start doing something which I suppose might have some truth in it, we all know too much information is tiresome and it gets complicated to understand exactly how and when you are going to get the thing you know you want to sell to somebody that makes them feel that they received something that meets all their expectations and when they get that feeling you know you can grow more rockets.

You might have picked up by now that although I am a vegetable rocket scientist, I am no grammarian.

After studying the ISO 9001:2015 Standard requirements I realized why NASA used this specific ISO standard as a quality management framework, it is exactly what you need to grow vegetables.

My formula is simple, this is the part where you need to stay focussed, some organizations pay a lot for this information. First I write down the terms and conditions of George, then I write down what and how I go about growing rockets, which then enables me to show someone else how I produce rockets that people love, and I just keep on repeating the formula, if I have to change anything I also write it down because I like to keep my notes updated and it spares me embarrassing memory lapse moments. If any of you Quality guru’s picked up some quality pointers congratulations, you can now safely start growing your own vegetables.

The best thing about this Standard is, it tells you where to start. Growing vegetables is like finding yourself in a black hole, my fellow NASA scientists will know all about this. There you are, having enough space to start the garden, amazing how many words connects with NASA, you have water, draught, seasons, climate, seeds, soil, pesticides, weather, (you cannot launch a rocket in bad weather) resources, environment, sowing time (think Lunar Gardening or planting by the phases of the moon), seedlings, harvesting, designing and developing packaging, logistics, transport, deliveries, the list goes on and on. It’s a lot to think about before someone can actually eat a rocket salad.

I know using  ‘things-to-do’ lists might be very boomer like, but hey now a days they call it planning. Lastly, some sort of seasonal tip, don’t forget to ask your Quality Manager or Consultant if he/she knows how to grow rockets, preferably before your next project.

If you need more information on how to use or obtain ISO 9001:2015 certification to grow your vegetable garden, manufacture a product or render a service, please contact us!