Goscor Lift Truck Company has been ISO 9001:2008 certified and according to GLTC MD, Darryl Shafto, this is an important confirmation of the company’s high levels of service, efficiency and product quality.
“It’s all very well believing that the way you run your business is excellent, but the fact is that until this has been objectively tested against global best practice you cannot be sure that there are not things missing from your strategy and implementation,” says Shafto. “Having been certified after being audited and evaluated by a renowned, international certification authority according to the prestigious ISO 9001:2008 standard we now know that our belief in our own quality is more than justified.”
The ISO 9001:2008 standard has been in place for over a decade and is used by both customers and companies as a method of controlling their quality. The standard provides a framework to manage one’s business and to ensure a philosophy of continuous improvement in all aspects of the business.
Shafto says that one of the important aspects of ISO 9001:2008 is that it is externally assessed on an ongoing basis. “This leaves no room for complacency. Our all-round quality levels are excellent now and we must ensure that we not only maintain these levels but that we improve on them on a continuous basis,” he says.
ISO 9001:2008 is based on eight quality management principles: Customer focus; Leadership; People – i.e. the creation of an environment where all people in the organisation become fully involved in achieving the organisation's objectives; Process approach – i.e. to achieve organizational objectives, resources and activities need to be managed as processes; System approach to management – i.e. the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation depends on a systemised approach to work activities; Continuous improvement; Fact-based decision making; and Mutually beneficial supplier relationships.
Shafto says that the entire company nationwide pulled together to make the certification happen. “The fact, though, is that this company works hard as a cohesive unit all the time. It’s not that we had to do things differently in order to achieve the ISO recognition, but rather that this recognition reflects the way Goscor Lift Truck conducts its business 24/7,” Shafto says.
He adds that ISO 9001:2008 will definitely be good for business. “Many potential customers ask for an ISO certificate to be included in the tender pack and we now will be able to give them that extra, objective security,” Shafto says. “Also it is not that common for companies like ours to be ISO certified and this recognition will be another important arrow in our quiver in our objective to be the most competitive warehouse equipment supplier on the continent,” he concluded.