Any company that has achieved ISO Registration and subsequent re-registrations understands the significance of this achievement. It is an accomplishment not merely in terms of the effort required to go through the process as described above. It is more significant in terms of how well we can service our customers and this is, in fact, why we initially sought registration 6 years ago, and persisted in maintaining and bettering our Quality Management System (QMS) ever since.
A Culture of Continuous Improvement
At O’Keefe Controls Co., our operating motto is “continuous improvement” and having a QMS in place per ISO 9001: 2015 standards has dramatically helped us inject this viewpoint into our everyday work. More than merely a motto, due to the commitment and energy the staff has brought to utilizing our QMS on their individual posts, we can look back and say we have achieved positive progress toward our overall goal of continuous improvement, and continue to do so.
Staff are encouraged to look for and develop ways to increase efficiency as they work, without changing the routines that are already producing desired results. Our staff have become more engaged with the quality control process and personally feel accountable for overall company performance and quality. This translates into increased personal production, which creates higher staff morale, and ultimately, improvement in product production cycles, schedules, customer communication, less waste, and many other positive effects.
What This Means for Our Customers
There are many small but significant ways applying this has had a direct positive effect on how well we service our customers. To name just one example: At the start of 2021, we optimized our process for the storage of finished goods inventory and selecting product to fill an order. The changes we made allowed us to better control how finished products are sorted and packaged for customers, reducing time and the possibility of order fulfillment errors. With customer satisfaction as our top priority, our ISO 9001:2015-based QMS is utilized to ensure that we are achieving top customer satisfaction. With our recent recertification, customers can be assured that our efforts in this direction will continue, creating a positive impact on overall customer experience.
An updated copy of the O’Keefe Controls ISO 9001:2015 certificate is available for download at https://www.okeefecontrols.com/quality/. Based in Monroe, CT, O’Keefe Controls Co. is a world-class producer of precision orifices and fluid control devices used in a wide range of liquid and gas flow control applications.