ISO Certification Annoucement
On February 22, 2017, Wunderlich-Malec Winslow, Maine BU achieved ISO 9001:2015 Registration. Following the expansion at the Winslow, Maine Business Unit, we wanted to make sure that we met the expectations and needs of our customers. We pursued our ISO Certification, Safety Audit with the Maine Department of Labor Safety Works and LeanManufacturing.
“By achieving this level of certification, we demonstrate our ability and desire to effectively and efficiently provide a quality management system while continuously improving our products and services as well as our internal processes,”said Churchill Elangwe, Quality Manager at the Winslow BU. We are proud to announce that the certification audit was successfully completed with zero nonconformity. We are now ISO 9001:2015 Certified.
“We are delighted to obtain our ISO certification,” said Alan Libby, Maine Business Unit Manager. “ISO 9001:2015 demonstrates our ability to manufacture our products with the highest degree of quality and reliability. To ensure that we continue to improve and demonstrate our commitment to our customers, we decided to seek out ISO9001:2015 registration. ISO9001 is not only a means for demonstrating that we have a customer focused system with continuous improvement in all we do, but also a requirement by our customers and many we are seeking to do business with. The internationalization and globalization of our local economy needed to be addressed with global answers. Us achieving ISO9001 registration is the start of our commitment.”
Wunderlich-Malec Winslow ISO 9001 2015 E-Cert
About ISO9001:2015
ISO9001:2015 provides guidance and tools for companies and organizations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customers’ requirements, and that quality is consistently improved. ISO9001:2015 sets out the criteria for a quality management system. It can be used by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity. Using ISO9001:2015 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits. The ISO 9001:2015 certificate is the most comprehensive quality management standard covering all main processes within a company, ensuring that these processes are not only conducted under controlled conditions, but are also subject to continuous improvement.
We extend our appreciation to our independent certification body, CIC Management, LLC and our consultant ExoLytic, Inc. for their assistance in preparation towards the registration audit.
Safety
Following the expansion at the Winslow, ME, we wanted to make sure that workplace safety was a top priority. To this end, we invited the Safety Works, a division of Maine Department of Labor, to complete a complimentary safety audit. This audit was completed October 20, 2016 with a full walk-through of the facility and complete reviewed with the administration. We received a list of hazards that needed to be abated; we are proud to say that the list was not extensive. These hazards were abated and reported directly to Safety Works. Our Maine Business Unit also had to come into compliance with the Global Harmonized System for labeling hazardous chemicals. All employees were trained in the new GHS system and stickers were purchased to label containers. All abatements and corrections were made and reported to Safety Works, Maine Department of Labor and approved to meet current OSHA standards.
Lean Manufacturing
On October 5, 2016, Winslow, Maine BU, embarked on a long, exciting, fun and treasure-rich journeyof Continuous Improvement Lean Manufacturing program to improve efficiency and productivity through the elimination of waste in building #1, #2, and #3. Lean also leads to better service to the customer, improved quality, lower costs, improve profit margins, greater market share and growth, all of which is very important to us all with W-M being an employee-owned company. With a strong endorsement, and introduction by the BU Manager Alan Libby and Denny Euers, the presentation began with a history of Lean and some definitions of Lean. Lean is a term coined by James Womack and Dan Jones in their first book, “The Machine that Changed the World”, a book about the Toyota Production System. This book gave the wrong impression that Lean applied to only the automobile industry. A second book, “Lean Thinking” went on to explain that Lean applied to all industries and organizations, as Lean is based on the elimination of waste, and there is waste in all companies and organization.