Global business certification and customised assurance business, LRQA recently presented a 30-year milestone award to long standing customer Vesuvius to celebrate the company’s commitment to quality management systems.
With 76 sites and three customer locations certified for ISO 9001:2015 globally, Vesuvius provides engineering services and solutions to the steel and foundry industries. Certifying to the international quality management standard ISO 9001 confirms that Vesuvius meets the stringent regulatory requirements demanded and that these requirements are applied effectively to benefit their customers. As one of LRQA's key services, ISO 9001 certification has been achieved by more than one million organisations worldwide – making the standard arguably the most important piece of business literature ever written.
“The challenge with assurance is to make it translate into meaningful business activities that have a really positive impact on the customer experience,” commented Nigel Graham, Risk & Systems Manager - Operations at Vesuvius.
“Successful assurance is a move away from a tick-box exercise into something tangible that drives positive change – and this is what ISO 9001 certification has enabled us to do. As part of the certification journey, we implemented a ‘quality breakthrough’ project to drive continuous improvement through identifying quality gaps and root cause analysis in our systems and processes. This enabled us to prioritise and tackle those issues – and take corrective action which reduced customer complaints and increased business retention.”
The relationship between Vesuvius and LRQA has grown considerably over the last 30 years. To date, LRQA has presented Vesuvius with site and multi-site certificates across the world including 44 certificates for ISO 9001, 19 certificates for environmental management standard ISO 14001 and seven certificates for occupational health and safety standard ISO 45001.
Nigel continued: “Compliance has evolved considerably over the last three decades – it used to be very process driven but is now more focused on outputs. Compliance is increasingly important to our customers who have high expectations about not only quality management but also for Environmental, Social and Governance issues. Being able to demonstrate that we have very robust standards in place is of real value to both customers and investors.”
“We need assessors who are experts in engineering and manufacturing who understand our business and that’s what LRQA provides,” explained Nigel. “Working with LRQA has ensured we’ve created a quality focused working environment, led by senior management and which now includes all our staff who have responsibility for running their own internal audits. Embedding a quality culture means we don’t have to tell or remind staff about the importance of quality – it’s inherent in everything they do.”
Paul Butcher, Managing Director at LRQA said: “Reaching a 30-year milestone in quality management systems showcases the work and commitment Vesuvius has made to delivering the best service to its customers. The team at LRQA is delighted to celebrate 30 years of quality management excellence with Vesuvius.”
To find out more information, take a look at our range of ISO 9001 assessment and training services.