CemeCon, Inc. Achieves ISO 9001:2008 Certification

"We listened to our ISO-registered customer. Looking at our quality control procedures, they said that since we were doing all the right stuff, why didn’t we just go ahead and get certified."

So that’s just what the company did, explained Dirk Sears, Quality Control Manager for CemeCon Inc., a 35-employee firm located in Horseheads. A subsidiary of Germany-based CemeCon AG, the company’s services and products rely on a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process that is used to apply ultra-hard coatings on precision cutting tools for industrial applications.

Sears explained that a few years ago the parent company was pushing ISO but that the recession drove a change in corporate priorities. However, Gary Lake, CemeCon, Inc.’s president, continued to recognize the value to his company of achieving ISO registration, so early in 2012 he decided to forge ahead.

Lake’s management team had an extensive set of quality control documentation handed down from the parent company, but they realized it was overkill as well as a mismatch for their unique and smaller operation. They decided to solicit help from an expert and brought in Bob Mann from AM&T to assess their needs and make recommendations on how to proceed.

"Bob reviewed our existing documentation, discovered how we do business, and then starting asking more penetrating questions," said Sears. Mann’s initial work resulted in a gap analysis – a description of CemeCon’s existing procedures and documentation as they related to requirements for ISO certification – which resulted in a list of tasks that needed to be accomplished in order to achieve certification.

Sears explained that some CemeCon employees had been involved many years ago with ISO implementation at other companies, and were concerned that it was too difficult and complicated for a small company to tackle.

"After Mann explained how the ISO standard had evolved and simplified, and began working directly with those employees, they turned into active supporters and participants," said Sears. "Our customer care staff became especially involved since they are closest to the customer and are the first ones to hear about issues that might impact customer satisfaction."

Lake’s timetable was aggressive, targeting the end of 2012 as the deadline for completing the process. Sears said that instead of adhering to a rigid agenda, Mann guided the process flexibly, which made it more efficient. As soon as the documentation for each Operations Procedure was complete, employees began following it, which enabled a progressive implementation. This meant that within the aggressive schedule, the company had maximum time to fine-tune the system prior to the bringing in the third-party Registrar for the formal ISO registration audit.

The company passed the audit with flying colors, according to Sears, and became certified to the ISO 9001:2008 Standard in January of this year, meeting their self-imposed deadline.

One result of implementing the improved quality control procedures is having better data about production, and presenting that data weekly to employees. With that information, they are more proactive in making suggestions and submitting corrective and preventive actions, explained Sears. A brief daily meeting of all production staff also enables problems to be quickly identified, shared, and corrected. Sears said that consistent use of a formal quality control system helps everyone in the company focus on improving the process when a problem arises, rather than blaming it on an individual.

Summarizing the impact of ISO implementation, Lake said, " ISO 9000-2008 offered a structure to the activities of our company that improves the management of our process and demands a contribution from each staff member to insure that we are able to meet the expectations of our customers.

"As our business changes, we are able to distinguish between short term corrective actions and longer term preventative activities to accommodate our growth. All this is handled within the ISO structure and the result is that quality is a process rather than a function. We are able to maintain process yields in excess of 99% in an industry where 97% is considered good. The customer wins and our staff takes pride in their performance.

"ISO has been instrumental in making us a better company, unifying our team for the collective good. We are extremely pleased with our decision to seek certification and grateful for the support and direction provided through AM&T with Bob Mann"

See this and other newsletter articles at http://amt-mep.org/files/4913/6482/8785/2013-04.pdf

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