ISO 9001:2008 Certification
February 24th, 2015Staub is Certified
Staub Machine Company is now officially ISO 9001:2008 Certified. For two months we’ve been operating under a fully implemented Quality Management System. We’re excited to be able to tell our customers and friends about this accomplishment. The certificate on our wall doesn’t make us a better machine shop, but it is an indication that we have the desire to move forward.
We set a goal for Staub Machine to be ISO Certified, and we’ve achieved it. The certificateon our wall and banner hanging from our ceiling are clear signs that we are changing. For many years, ISO certification seemed like a waste of resources. Today, we are seeing that our certification can bring us many new opportunities. In addition to new business, we’re reaping the benefits of a formal Quality Management System. Better data collection, better oversight, and more accountability are all good things that will have a positive impact on our quality.
We made a conscious decision to embrace the ISO Certification process with when we began this project with Insyte Consulting. We didn’t use boilerplate procedures or stock forms – we created a custom Quality System to fit our needs and what we do. Insyte was a huge help, offering great guidance through it all. We decided not to skirt the rules or look for loopholes in the system. We decided to get on board and follow the ISO standard the way that it was intended. We treated our ISO Certification audit like a customer audit – we respected the requirements and met them by any means necessary. Very often the requirements represented a change for us, but luckily our employees bought in and rolled with the punches.
It’s the people
The best thing to come out of the ISO 9001:2008 Certification process? Our employees think about quality. We’re holding each other accountable, and working together to provide the best quality possible. The best machines, equipment, and tooling can make bad parts. The people working in production are the ones who are responsible for ensuring that we only ship good parts.
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Our Quality Board gives our employees data and statistics that measure our quality objectives. We all know the status of our On-Time Delivery, Customer Returns, and Customer Satisfaction
For the first time, we’ve got measurable quality objectives. We’ve even provided incentives if the company meet our goals. To address on-time delivery, we’ve offered to buy lunch for all employees if we meet our goal – tomorrow we’re all eating pizza on Tony! To address escaped nonconforming parts, we’ve offered a quality bonus for all employees when we have a month without a customer return – we’re three days away from earning it!
It is an exciting time to be a Staub employee. In a short amount of time we’ve learned so much about quality. Now we’re learning how to satisfy the strict requirements of new customers. By dedicating the appropriate resources, approaching projects in an organized manner, and drawing on our experience and expertise, we’ve eyed up some really interesting new opportunities. We feel like we are poised to make a leap forward, and it is all hands on deck here.