Zaun‘s production and customer processes have been certified to the international standard ISO9001:2008. The fencing manufacturer adds that it’s intent on seeking the 2015 standard in two years.
Quality control and heath and safety manager Dave Sayers, who has driven continuous improvement at the West Midlands-based company, has developments to put in place for the new standard, with the emphasis more on people, training and the environment.
He says: “This has to be driven from the top, so senior management have to be on board to ensure we embed a passion for quality and excellence throughout the organisation. We will therefore be including some transitional training for one or two senior managers.”
The firm says that it’s done extensive work through its continuous improvement plan to understand its processes and how they interact and impact on each other.
It is now monitoring that all deliveries arrive right first time, which includes them being on time, in the right quantity and of optimum quality. It has also introduced key performance indicators (KPIs) for complaints handling and is so far performing pretty favourably, the firm says.
It says it will be adopting a more robust focus on its supply chain and will move from ProspectSoft to Uniplan to enable it to control stocks, pricing and vendor ratings better.
Sayers says the drive is not ‘for the sake’ of getting the certification, but is rather driven by customer demands. He says: “We needed an Achilles audit by UDVB on our quality, health and safety and environmental performance, both at our headquarters but also out on site, in order to extend our framework agreement with Thames Water – and we achieved an excellent outcome of 94 per cent.”
Pictured: Zaun quality control and heath and safety manager Dave Sayers (left) chats in the main factory to shop floor supervisor James Webb.
