Disciplined management of product quality is a core element of successful manufacturing companies, especially in an era of customers who demand it all – high quality, competitive prices, and timely delivery. A number of companies in the Southern Tier have tackled the quality issue by implementing quality management systems (QMS) that adhere to the principles established by the ISO Standard.
One of these companies is the Imaging Systems Division (ISD) of Mirion Technologies, located in Horseheads. Mirion designs and manufactures a range of closed circuit camera systems for inspection, surveillance, and monitoring of hazardous processes and environments. Mirion’s radiation-tolerant systems are used primarily by the nuclear power industry, and their high-temperature systems are installed in rotary kilns, recovery boilers, power boilers, glass furnaces, and other similar applications.
Mirion engaged AM&T to assist with a complete review, revision, and development of their QMS, resulting in the company recently being certified (or “registered”) by an independent auditor as being in conformity with the ISO 9001:2008 standard.
David Stewart, Senior Site Executive, explained his reasons for wanting the division to adopt an ISO standard. “My goal was that every employee would be able to integrate their daily activities into our quality system, and that this would result in improved products and customer satisfaction, and ultimately in more sales. Personally, I never cared about being able to hang an ISO certification banner on the wall -- that might be a bonus, but the point was to have everyone embrace a program that helps us continuously improve our efficiency and quality.” According to Stewart, Mirion’s Imaging Systems Division in the U.S. had previously begun work on creating a formal QMS, but found that relying only on internal resources did not produce the desired results. “I felt that if we got outside help, we’d have the benefit of fresh eyes along with the broader expertise of someone who has helped many different companies with their ISO certification process.”
After initial discussions to determine the scope of the work, AM&T Principal Consultant Bob Mann began work with the Mirion team in early 2011. He provided an ISO process overview to all employees, and scheduled weekly meetings to begin reviewing and revising all the company’s operational procedures, such as Purchasing, Design and Development, Monitoring and Measurement, etc.
Tangible benefits to Mirion began showing up immediately. For example, the company had developed a sense that the customers were not satisfied with the packaging of their products and were trying to figure out ways to improve it. Since the ISO 9001:2008 standard has a strong customer focus, creation of a quality manual involved customer surveys. These revealed that, in fact, customers were very happy with the existing packaging, freeing up the company to work on other improvements.
A successful ISO 9001:2008 project also depends heavily on the ISO Management Representative – the person in the company who is responsible for the QMS implementation, reporting results to management, and ensuring that customer requirements are communicated throughout the organization. At the Imaging Systems Division that job was assigned to David Potter. “At first, long-time employees were a little dubious about the benefit of this initiative. But when they realized that David (Stewart) was fully committed to making it work well, and that all employees’ input and job functions were being seriously incorporated, they bought into the process.”
Potter explained that communicating to all employees about the QMS is essential to its ongoing success. He created a new bulletin board in a central location in the production area that includes a large flat-screen display that’s used for QMS information as well as timely company announcements. He also noted that, “Developing this system compelled management to be more involved in all aspects of our operations. This contributed to employee buy-in and also means that management review meetings are now much more focused on how we can improve.”
Stewart said a significant factor in their success was Bob Mann’s leadership. “Bob kept us on track while being flexible and adjusting the schedule to accommodate other business demands. Bob was willing to listen and debate – enabling us to create a system that reflects our way of doing business.
After the new system was in place and functioning for several months, Mann conducted an internal audit to make sure everything was functioning as designed, and to prepare the company for the visit from an accredited ISO Registrar. That independent auditor verified that the system met the ISO 9001:2008 standards and ISD was issued a certificate in the spring of this year.
Stewart explained that with their old system, many aspects of production were left to individual interpretation. “The work got done, but the methods were locked in the employees’ minds. Developing the ISO-required documentation enabled us to capture, refine, and share that information in ways that made it a real institutional asset.”
He gave an example of how the QMS provided an immediate return. “Since we do a lot of product customization, design changes are a constant part of our business. Using the system enabled us to discover a problem with how these changes were being communicated and documented. ISO provided a framework in which to capture the problem and input the necessary changes, and we had a process to verify that the changes were working correctly. It was huge. The data that is now available enabled us to do the analysis in a matter of hours – it might have taken weeks with our old system.”
Potter, the person at the center of the ISO project, concluded that, “The ISO standard can be vague and could lead you down many different paths, so it’s really helpful to have a resource like AM&T to walk you through the process and develop a quality system that’s appropriate for your unique operation.”
Find out more about how your company might benefit from adopting a quality management system or obtaining ISO 9001:2008 certification. Contact Jim Cunningham, 607-725-1225 or jcunningham@amt-mep.org.
Commitment of senior management to monitor, control, and improve quality. Organizations that implement an ISO system without this desire and commitment often take the cheapest road to get a certificate on the wall and ignore problem areas uncovered in the audits.
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