(Jan. 25, 2008) — I am writing to share my experiences and the ISO standard burden on small and medium-sized plastics companies.
The major concern is that many third-party-registered companies are still not delivering products and services to customer expectations, and third-party-registration costs are extremely high. Most auditors are generalists, inexperienced and unable to help companies improve, creating an unnecessary abundance of documentation and not promoting quality at the source.
Thanks to globalization and rapid advances in technology, today's plastics manufacturing environment is increasingly competitive. Manufacturers need to stay focused on finding new ways to design, produce, sell and deliver products.
The purpose of ISO is to plan, control and provide leadership to the quality-management system throughout all functions of the site to improve organizational effectiveness and customer satisfaction, eliminate quality costs and enhance opportunities for the company to achieve financial objectives.
Here are the ISO industry-sector-specific responsibilities — the president, operations manager or plant manager will have full responsibility for sales, all plant production including direct supervision of human resources, injection molding, and assembly department managers. Duties will include:
* Development of strategic and tactical objectives and criteria to measure performance.
* Manage production operations through the directing and mentoring of plant management personnel.
* Implementation of lean manufacturing and continuous process improvement systems to improve efficiency, quality, and safety.
* Implement training and development programs designed to promote world-class manufacturing.
* Development of systematic or scientific injection molding techniques and process control.
Successful partnerships are built on clear expectations, honest and frequent communication, the understanding of all customer expectations, performance measurements and a commitment to continuous improvement.
Lewis P. Yasenchak
P&Y Management Resources
Ocala, Fla.
