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The
Joy of Certification
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The line card is a standard marketing tool for the job shop. It's how we display our capabilities to a prospective customer. If a lathe is listed, the buyer knows we can turn. The more tools we have, the more enticing our shop. It's tougher to convince a client of our ability to produce quality components. A consumer of machined parts takes a risk whenever a vendor is added. One of the ways to reduce that anxiety for the patron is to be certified for quality assurance. Picking up certification for an ISO-9000 standard is becoming a common goal for the out sources of commercial products.  The
ISO series were developed in Europe and have been adopted in the U.S.
in an effort to standardize quality procedures for manufacturing on
contract. Some quality standards are industry specific, like AS-9000
for aerospace or D1-9000 for Boeing aircraft manufacturing.Westwood Precision, Inc., a job shop based in Everett, WA, courts both the non-aerospace and aerospace trade. That led them to make the decision to apply for the ISO-9002 certification and AS-9000 compliance simultaneously. "It's a way of instilling confidence in our customers," said Ron Mortenson, Quality Assurance Manager of Westwood Precision, Inc. "They know that we have implemented a quality management system that is monitored by a third party." The company already had a word-of-mouth reputation for quality, but owners Gordon Nisbet and Jim Clark decided that certification would make the company more attractive to out-of-state customers. In 1997 they began the process of working towards compliance. "As we were getting organized, it had a positive side effect," Gordon said about the early efforts. "It pulled the company together, put us all on the same page." During the last five months of 1999, the company decided to "bite the bullet" and prepare for the auditors that would make the evaluations. Manuals were prepared, the workers in the various departments were educated in the overall system, some of the quality management people were subject to four day seminars. But the stress of the hectic pace has been rewarded with better work flow and less scrap. "Production runs more smoothly," Gordon admitted. "Things are more integrated. Our process is better defined and its eliminated confusion and the frustration that goes with it." By November of 1999 the company had passed the majority of the audits. Three minor points have since been corrected and the company expects their certification number early in 2000. The certification represents the most recent achievement in a business strategy for growth that included a new, 14,000 square foot facility and additional machinery.
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