Production and customer processes at a leading steel fencing systems manufacturer have been through the mill of audits in recent weeks – by customers, the security rating standards body and an international certification agency.
Firstly, Zaun’s processes have been re-certified to the 2015 standard of ISO9001 by Bureau Veritas. The 2015 standard puts more emphasis than its 2008 predecessor on stakeholder impacts and requires greater awareness of risks by the manufacturer.
Conversely, the scrutiny by the Loss Prevention Certification Board at the Buildings Research Establishment is entirely on the security performance of products in their actual installed state. As a result, Zaun’s SR product range has been re-accredited to SR4 to SR1 ratings.
But the acid test surely is when a customer with the need for Critical Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) gives you a ringing endorsement – which is exactly what one of Zaun’s largest and longest-standing CPNI clients has just done.
Quality control and health & safety manager Dave Sayers, who has driven continuous improvement at Zaun, has a raft of developments to put in place for the new standard, emphasising people, training, and the environment.
He says: “This has to be driven from the top, so senior management has to be on board to ensure we embed a passion for people, training and the environment and a focus on quality and excellence throughout the organisation.
“The first thing any auditor does is to interview a director to ensure there is senior management buy-in.”
Just last month, Bureau Veritas gave Zaun a ‘flying colours’ re-certification of its ISO9001 standard with only a couple of observations for improvement.
Zaun has undertaken extensive work through its continuous improvement plan to understand its processes and how they interact and impact each other.
It is now monitoring that all deliveries arrive right first time, including being on time, in the right quantity and of optimum quality. It has also introduced KPIs for complaints handling and is so far performing pretty favourably.
Sayers says the drive is never ‘for the sake of getting the certification but is rather driven by customer demands.
