How do you measure quality? One way is to create an international standard that sets metrics for the quality of the thing in question. That’s the purpose of the ISO 9001 standard as applied to quality management.
Developed by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO 9001:2008 (adopted in 2008) spells out the requirements companies must follow to become certified as fully quality-management compliant in areas such as manufacturing. Now embraced by more than one million companies and organizations in over 170 countries, the current version of ISO 9001 sets the bar for quality management systems.
“The standard is based on a number of quality management principles, including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement,” ISO states. “Using ISO 9001:2008 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits.”
ISO 9001 certification is one of the best ways a manufacturer can explicitly let potential customers know that their order will be handled in the most quality conscious manner possible. The requirements for ISO 9001 demand that a qualifying company:
“Needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide product that meets customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and
“Aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for continual improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.”
Here at Coiling Technologies, our plant in Houston is fully ISO-9001 certified, and we perform audits regularly to maintain our certification and ensure our customers continued quality service, the kind of quality and service our customers should expect from a spring supplier. Our products are analyzed both prior to production, and during, to ensure that we are meeting or exceeding your specifications.
We believe that standards such as ISO 9001 matter, because they ensure quality of services and products, safety, and reliability, all at an economical price. It’s right there in our mission statement.