Central Wire Industries has successfully transitioned each of its facilities to the latest versions of the respective QMS standards, including Sanlo Inc. and Strand Core. CWI maintains two highly recognized quality management system certifications. All our manufacturing facilities are ISO 9001:2015 registered and our CWI-Perris and Strand Core locations also have AS 9100:2016 (D) registration.
“As CWI has grown, so has the complexity for managing and maintaining different quality systems at our many locations and businesses,” says V. Jeff Martin, CWI Director of Technology and Quality. We take the necessary steps to be independently registered at all nine of our manufacturing facilities.
Potential customers, buyers, and clients look for and expect these certifications. But for CWI the process is not simply to check a compliance box; the structured procedures, documentation, and standards reinforce our meticulous effort around safety, quality, and customer service. In fact, it pushes us to do better, exceeding client expectations.
Outside certification registrars check and verify that the plants are meeting the requirements of the various standards. Our many facilities require a variety of assessors; we are certified by BSI in the US and UK, Smithers Quality Assessments, SRI, and Preferred Registrar Group. Those certification checks are periodic, but with the updates in ISO 9001:2015 more closely aligning quality and successful business strategies, CWI sees the benefits of maintaining the standards and adhering to the requirements day in and day out.
At CWI we are continuously self-monitoring and performing our own internal audits. We revisit goals and adjust as necessary, working towards continual improvements. We are always examining our processes and considering ways to improve them. We go beyond the certification requirements to most efficiently provide the highest quality and services.
CWI is proud to have advanced to the ISO 9100: 2015 and AS9100:2016 (D) standards. They are less rigid in many ways, having a greater focus on performance. They require involvement from top-level management down to the factory floors and offices. This leads to focused goals that are clear throughout an organization. The updated ISO 9100:2015 has a new “high-level structure” that, through creating commonality, allows easy integration and communication across management systems and among managers.
It combines the process approach with risk-based thinking, and it employs the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle with the inclusion of knowledge management principles as well. “CWI uses the PDCA cycle at all levels of the organization –at sales order entry, production planning, contract review, manufacturing, testing, certification, shipping, claims, accounting/finance, and management,” Martin says. It allows the company to serve customers’ individual needs while maintaining industry standards and manufacturing high-quality products and services. The ISO and AS standards help CWI and CWI companies remain on the same page and speak the same language across industries, state lines, and international borders.