Since United Mail became ISO 9001:2008 certified, the associated procedures and guidelines have encouraged our employees to think about “quality” in a whole new light. A quality culture is now the mindset throughout United Mail. Our motto is “Do it right, and on time, every time.” It was a collaborative effort that allowed us to achieve the certification and that remains so today.
Our employees grow from co-workers to teammates to ensure the finished product meets the customer’s standards. People not only learn from the mistakes they make on their own, but from errors their counter parts make as well. It’s imperative that each individual is held accountable when their work does not meet the standards set forth by the company. We’re all supportive of each other in making sure our quality assurance requirements are met.
By documenting non-conformances, we can create solutions to prevent any further occurrences and ensure clients are getting a quality product in a timely manner. We always see room for improvement and opportunities for growth when establishing a quality culture. It is the job of all of us to continue to improve and grow.
By performing quarterly internal audits we can ensure that the quality standards are continually improving. United Mail has 30 trained internal auditors that are constantly rotated and scheduled to assess the effectiveness of our quality system. These internal audits allow issues or potential issues to be documented and addressed before problems occur. Opportunities for improvement are also assessed in these internal audits. Having employees audit departments outside of their own allows for a fresh set of eyes to review the procedures for that area.
Employees also provide instrumental information on how the company as a whole can improve not only from a quality perspective but also efficiency of operations. Therefore, we encourage our employees to offer suggestions to improve our company, and we assess whether the change can be made and whether or not the recommended change is feasible as well as beneficial.
Creating a quality culture starts with the employees, and the customer sees the end results.
By: Melissa Brown, Corporate Quality Assurance Manager
