2021 marks the 4th year that O’Keefe Controls Co. remains part of the elite group of companies, across 170 countries worldwide, that adhere to the established standards of ISO 9001:2015. In October 2021, O’Keefe Controls Co. passed its annual surveillance audit that ensured their quality management system (QMS) was meeting the requirements of ISO 9001:2015. This annual surveillance audit, a requirement of the ISO 9001:2015 standard, is part of a three-year audit cycle. The audit was performed by American Systems Registrar, LLC, (ASR) a provider of third-party registration and accredited by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB).
Beyond the goal of QMS adherence to the ISO 9001:2015 standard, O’Keefe Controls Co. has focused on leveraging the system to provide opportunities for continuous improvement. Significant streamlining of existing procedures and alignment of all procedures to maximize operational efficiency while maintaining the highest level of product quality has been a top priority. Product designs and overall offerings have expanded. The company has invested in automation, personnel, and process. All of these improvements have been made while maintaining strict adherence to the ISO 9001:2015 standard.
O’Keefe Controls Co. President, Patrick O’Keefe, states: “We remain committed to our quality management system (QMS); everyone is more deeply involved in the deployment of the system. Far from an academic exercise, the daily deployment of our QMS is a company-wide endeavor. Fuller participation, greater understanding and continuous improvement are all hallmarks of a QMS that is working. It is a team effort.”
Among those “in the know”, mentioning the intent to pursue ISO (International Standards Organization) registration would definitely garner respect — but might also cause some trepidation. Understandable — as this reaction is most likely caused by visions of a daunting task – consisting of meetings, discussions, audits, review of policy & procedure writing. Well, it is definitely not a walk in the park, but after having gone through the process successfully twice, we can tell you with confidence — not only has everyone survived, we have actually gained quite a few wins along the way since our initial ISO 9001:2015 registration in 2017. In fact, we are happy to announce that we have just earned our SECOND three-year recertification! AND we have found the entire process to be positive & helpful towards our overall goal of continuous improvement.
When you get the QMS (Quality Management System) ball rolling in your organization, you immediately see how the momentum can develop. There is an energy injected into every process as people look for — and develop — ways to increase efficiency as they work without changing the routines that are already producing desired results. Our staff become more engaged and personnally feel accountable for overall company performance and quality. And whenever you have process ownership, you are going to have good morale.
You cannot downplay the significance of that, especially when you set our accomplishment in the context of the recent global pandemic and the economic & political turbulence that followed. While we can’t say that we predicted a pandemic, we did already have an operating mode in place which prepared for unexpected change as an ISO 9001:2015 registered company.
Meeting the Challenge of the Recent Pandemic
In the midst of the pandemic, when many companies hunkered down, downsized and even mothballed production lines, O’Keefe Controls Co. actually expanded production to meet the immediate needs caused by the pandemic. In reaction to the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers, we deployed our 3D printing capabilities to provide face shields for local area hospitals. Our engineers rose to the challenge of developing and very quickly producing devices for use in ventilators. And make no mistake — these products conformed to the stringent standards for repeatability and reliability that define the O’Keefe Controls Co. brand.
With production demands increased in this vital area, the safety of our staff was a top priority in ensuring our production lines would never go down. And in fact, solutions initially implemented due the pandemic, such as increasing the number of workstations to avoid staff having to share the same area, have actually caused overall expansion of our production lines and capability. Continuous improvement – even in a pandemic!
Our ISO 9001:2015 certified QMS, with its focus on continuous improvement, helped us turn adversity into opportunity, allowing these gains to happen. All while never missing a beat in customer satisfaction, efficiency and total quality.
O’Keefe Controls Co. earned its initial ISO 9001:2015 registration for its QMS in 2017. The company conducts routine audits as a way to ensure it is in conformance with every aspect, every clause, of the entire process. Yearly surveillance audits by a third-party ISO registrant are conducted and O’Keefe Controls Co. has passed every one. And in November 2023, our secondthree-year recertification was proudly received.
What This Means for Our Customers
ISO 9001:2015 is the most updated version of the standard; it focuses on a quality management system’s structure and performance. It assists companies in developing a robust quality management system that aligns quality with a wider business strategy. The current version of the standard emphasizes risk-based thinking and accountability in all organizational processes in order to improve effective communications and to facilitate continuous improvement. This translates into continuously improving overall customer satisfaction in the process.
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.
All over the world people are doing what they can to provide help and support during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Here at O’Keefe Controls Co., we are manufacturing components that are used in ventilator equipment in healthcare. We’ve been doing everything possible to keep our staff safe including having local people help us with the production of face masks for every employee. We’ve also had many local allies step in to help us secure local supplies such as hard-to-find cleaning chemicals used for our production line. Down the road, across town and elsewhere we have many friends and family members working diligently in healthcare, in public safety – college students working in local grocers too – all doing what they can during this crisis.
For all of that and more, we are grateful – and we hope our humble banner outside our headquarters provides a little well-earned salute from everyone here at O’Keefe Controls Co.
In this period of uncertainty, no one has been left untouched by COVID-19. It is important—maybe more than ever—to remember that we are here for one another. At O’Keefe Controls Co., we are taking action to address the ongoing needs of our employees and our business so that we may continue to provide the technologies that are so vital to our world. Our leadership has been working tirelessly for our employees, for our customers, and for our community. Below are some of the actions we are taking as an organization.
Providing Our Customers with Innovative Solutions
O’Keefe Controls Co. products and systems are helping with the front-line effort to combat the spread of COVID-19 and support treatment around the world. We have been working with a variety of customers to supply them with precision orifices for ventilator and other breathing equipment to support hospital workers. With the limitations on supply chains we are seeing, we have found innovative ways to be able to assist customers in developing precision orifices that fit the form, function, and performance requirements needed, and which we can manufacture. During these trying times, we want to do what we can to make our country stronger, get products to hospitals faster, and do our part to help save as many lives as possible.
Helping Our Community
In reaction to the shortage of PPE for healthcare workers, O’Keefe Controls Co. has stepped in to utilize our 3D printing capabilities to provide face shields for local area hospitals. Using open-sourced shield designs, engineers at O’Keefe Controls have been iterating through configurations to provide protection to the nurses caring for our community. “Healthcare workers are on the front-lines every day dealing with this crisis, we want to do our part to support them,” says John Butala, VP of Technology & Engineering.
Safeguarding Our Employees
At O’Keefe Controls Co., the health and safety of our employees is our number one priority. As a company that supplies product to the OEMs of the medical community, our employees are essential to providing equipment that is needed to save lives. “We are enormously proud of our employees who have stepped up and have worked tirelessly to deliver technologies used in ventilators to treat those who are sick, while balancing their own safety at this time,” says Patrick O’Keefe, President of O’Keefe Controls.
While we have had no cases of COVID-19 among our workforce, we have taken early and aggressive action to help prevent the spread of the virus in our workplace. Several weeks ago, we installed individual computer stations for each manufacturing employee to check-in and check-out parts. This action eliminated the need for the use of common workstations. Out of an abundance of caution, we have now transitioned to split shifts to further reduce contact and interactions and have implemented factory wipe downs between shifts. With Team A working in the mornings and Team B working in the evenings, O’Keefe Controls is working around the clock to serve our customers.
