Lighting
Components and Design, Inc. (LC&D, with headquarters in Deerfield
Beach, Florida, is the world's leading manufacturer of custom engineered
and manufactured lighting products. It recently earned "world-class
recognition" following an independent audit for adherence to the
highest international quality standards, ISO-9001 and QS-9000. To assure
adherence to those demanding standards, independent audits are conducted
twice yearly by Entela, Inc. the world’s largest auditor of QS-9000
compliant companies.
At the
conclusion of this year's semi-annual quality audit, Entela’s auditor,
Mike Zawacki, praised the company for having successfully transformed
itself into a "World-class company" with "Outstanding
people and systems… (delivering) great performance… and outstanding
customer support."
Following
successful completion of the audit, Jon Cooper, President of LC&D
said: "Since we formed our company in 1993, our team has dedicated
itself to the continual improvement of our business, its design standards,
manufacturing processes and product quality and, most importantly, its
customer service and support."
"This
semi-annual QS-9000 Registration Certification and Audit from Entela
is yet another indication of the success we have achieved. The QS-9000
Registration plaque from Entela occupies a place of honor along side
our awards from the South Florida Manufacturer's Association as 2001’s
"Manufacturer of The Year", and our award from The Business
Journal as "Finalist in the Year 2000 Manufacturing Awards Competition
for Company of the Year."
"At
LC&D quality is not merely a product and service characteristic,
it is an obsession which drives every interaction we have with customers,
suppliers, employees and stakeholders.
"The
results speak for themselves with 75% higher sales, 99% customer satisfaction
and loyalty, "zero defects" from many of our production lines,
total defects fewer than 300 parts per million, and a 35% increase in
productivity. Attention to quality does not "cost", it pays!"
Lighting
Components and Design, Inc. (LC&D, headquarters in Deerfield Beach,
Florida, is the world's leading manufacturer of custom engineered and
manufactured lighting products. It recently earned "world-class
recognition" following an independent audit for adherence to the
highest international quality standards, ISO-9001 and QS-9000. To assure
adherence to those demanding standards, independent audits are conducted
twice yearly by Entela, Inc. the world’s largest auditor of QS-9000
compliant companies.
At the
conclusion of this year’s semi-annual quality audit, Entela’s
auditor, Mike Zawacki, praised Lighting Components and Design for having
successfully transformed itself into a "World-class company"
with "Outstanding people and systems… (delivering) great performance…
and outstanding customer support."
At a meeting
following successful completion of the audit, Jon Cooper, President
of LC&D said: "Since we formed our company in 1993, our team
has dedicated itself to the continual improvement of our business, its
design standards, manufacturing processes and product quality and, most
importantly, its customer service and support."
"This
semiannual QS-9000 Registration Certification and Audit from Entela
is yet another indication of the success we have achieved. The QS-9000
Registration plaque from Entela occupies a place of honor along side
our awards from the South Florida Manufacturer's Association as "Manufacturer
of The Year", and our award from The Business Journal as "Finalist
in the Year 2000 Manufacturing Awards" for Company of the Year.""
"What
was acceptable yesterday is inadequate today and today's best will be
grossly unacceptable tomorrow. In order to stay "World-class,"
we and our customers must keep 'raising the bar' as improved technologies,
design tools manufacturing techniques and customer support solutions
evolve."
Ty Ramsey,
LC&D's Director of Quality added "Our QS-9000 Registration
Certification and Audit, while important, doesn't mean we have met all
of our quality goals. Our goals are not a "fixed target",
but rather one that gets more aggressive every year. We must remember
that "quality is a journey, not a destination" and we must
keep working to give our customers better and better products and customer
service."
LC&D’s
Chief Financial Officer, Dave Dickler added: "We are just beginning
to see the fruits of our labors. We run our business based on a "balanced
scorecard" of objective quality measurements. Here are the latest
results for some of our key measurements:
- "Sales
– Up 75% over the levels of two years ago, and almost 30% over
last year.
- "Customer
Approval and Loyalty - 98.4% customer approval rating vs. competition
as "one of the best compared to other suppliers of similar products
and services."
- "On
time delivery – 99.6%, the best in the industry.
- "Productivity
– Up 35% in the past month vs. last year’s levels.
- "Product
Quality – "Zero defects" from many of our production
lines, with total company wide defects of less than 300 parts per
million," on a growing number of our production lines for almost
a full year. This is a quality level that is virtually unheard of
in an industry that is relatively labor intensive, with only minor
automation."
The initial
"Certification" review process extended over more than 12
months and was extremely rigorous. The audit went into virtually every
area of LC&D's Operations: Manufacturing, Customer Service, Engineering
Design, Purchasing, Materials Management, Business Operations, Planning,
Quality, etc. Follow-up audits and on-site visits are twice annually
with Entela, Inc., a "world-class" firm in its own right,
serves as Lighting Components and Design's independent ISO/QS9000 auditor
and registrar.
The latest
Entela audit involved extensive and time consuming "paper audits"
of process documentation and procedures, plus two days on site meetings
with employees "on the line" to assure that procedures were
being followed. Entela rated the following separate areas, finding only
one (trivial) nonconformance in the myriad of process steps audited,
and gave LC&D a virtually perfect score on the audit.
- Management
Responsibility
- Quality
System
- Contract
Review
- Design
Control
- Document
and Data Control
- Purchasing
- Control
of Customer Supplied Product
- Product
Identification and Traceably
- Process
Control
- Inspection
and Testing
- Control
of Nonconforming Product
- Corrective
and Preventive Action
- Handling,
Storage, Packaging, Preservation and Deliver
- Control
of Quality Records and Internal Quality Audits
- Training
- Customer
Satisfaction, etc.
LC&D’s
President, Jon Cooper, closed the post-audit meeting by saying: "At
LC&D quality is not merely a product and service characteristic,
it is an obsession which drives every interaction we have with customers,
suppliers, employees and stakeholders."
"The
results speak for themselves with 75% higher sales, 99% customer satisfaction
and loyalty, "zero defects" from many of our production lines,
total defects fewer than 300 parts per million, and a 35% increase in
productivity. Attention to quality does not "cost", it pays!"
Background
Material on ISO-9001, QS-9000 and Entela, Inc.
Entela,
Inc. Entela is one of the largest and most respected independent Registrars
and Auditors of QS-9000 and ISO-9001 compliant companies.
Developed
by the International Organization of Standards in Geneva, Switzerland,
ISO-9001 is an internationally recognized set of quality standards
that contains elements for ensuring quality products and services,
continuous process improvements and customer satisfaction.
QS-9000
is a related automotive quality requirement established by the "Big
Three" U.S. Automobile manufacturers for their unique needs.
The QS-9000 Quality Standard Specification is derived from ISO-9001
(above) with the addition of even more rigorous requirements specific
to the automotive industry.
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