ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603220096
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: G-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRENDA MCDANIEL SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Today's employees don't have to work for an international corporation to experience the challenges of the global marketplace.
Ask workers at Western Virginia's growing number of companies with ISO 9000 certifications. They'll tell you that even though their companies may do no international business, the workers march to a tune being whistled by the European Union, the organization of European trading partners.
That tune is called ISO 9000, international standards that define quality management.
The movement, despite its international designations and lingo, has its roots in America when the U.S. military set quality standards for goods manufactured for the World War II effort. In their current form, the standards were revived during the 1980s and in 1987 many foreign trade groups and nations began adopting them and making them mandatory.
Now associated largely with the European Union's effort to establish worldwide standards of quality, ISO 9000 is seen by many American companies as the ticket to compete for global business.
Perhaps the most significant push toward universal quality standards is the recent adoption of them by the Big Three U.S. automakers. By the end of 1997, suppliers to Chrysler, Ford and General Motors will have to meet the standards.
What do international standards mean to a company that doesn't do business around the globe?
A lot, says Paul R. Higginbotham, vice president for sales and marketing at Corrugated Container Corp. of Roanoke. That company won its ISO 9000 certification last June.
``It makes us more competitive,'' he said, ``because our customers who do business internationally are starting to demand that their suppliers be ISO-certified.''
Thanks to its ISO certification, Corrugated recently won major contracts with General Electric Co, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Williams Supply Inc. of Roanoke, which sells electrical supplies to industries, recently captured a new contract not because it was the lowest bidder, but because ``the customer thought since we had our ISO we'd do a better job,'' said Bill Gamble, the company's vice president of operations.
ISO has that kind of domino effect. Companies that want to trade with foreign partners are required to meet the ISO standards for quality. To do so, they are requiring the same standards from their suppliers at home. Because ISO is good for business, employees believe it is good for them as well, even if they never set foot on foreign soil.
Workers also repeatedly echo the belief that a stronger, more competitive company gives them more job security and marketability, should they decide to seek greener pastures.
But there are other benefits as well. Kevin Peters, a customer service representative for Corrugated Container for one year, says as a recent college graduate in his first job, ISO ``gave me a great structure to start off.
"With ISO in place everything is documented, so there aren't a lot of questions about what am I supposed to do now.''
Doug Parris, a production supervisor who has been with Corrugated Container for 23 years, admits he was skeptical of the process at first, but now is fully on board. ``Once we got into it and saw it was cutting out mistakes, we knew it was a good thing.''
Reducing errors and customer complaints is what ISO is all about. Before earning certification, companies must put into place specific procedures and then document that they are followed.
Gamble of Williams Supply summarized it this way: ``You've got to say what you do, do what you say, then prove you've done what you said you'd do.'' Employees usually are skeptical in the beginning and wonder how they will ever find time for the additional paperwork that documentation requires.
Ed Banker, warehouse manager at Williams Supply, said worries about extra paperwork dissolve as employees see that doing a job right on the first try saves time. Kevin Peters at Corrugated Container and Larry Ellis, an inside salesman at Williams Supply, both said they enjoy the confidence ISO gives them, because they can talk knowledgeably with customers and know that the company will deliver on the assurances they make. Indeed, since implementing the ISO standards, Corrugated's customer complaints have dropped from 50 a month to seven a month. Empowerment and team building are other benefits employees of ISO companies mention.
Carl P. Geoghegan, quality assurance manager at Corrugated Container, said every employee is empowered to do whatever it takes to get a job done right. ``If that means shutting down a press, the employee has the power to do that,'' he says.
Empowerment goes back to the importance of employees knowing exactly what is expected of them. Roy H. D'Ardenne, an ISO certification specialist in Pulaski, said, ``People feel most comfortable when they know what they are to do, how and when it is to be done, and who to contact when they need assistance.
"ISO 9000 puts in place all things needed to achieve this `knowing,' thus creating a much stronger confidence level for everyone.'' He added, ``ISO also requires involvement and team efforts from every member of the organization. Involvement equals understanding. Confidence and understanding promote higher self- and trade-esteem, which leads to higher quality, productivity and customer satisfaction.''
Banker put it more simply: ``The beauty of ISO is that the little man has a say. For the first companies to receive ISO certification in a community or an industry, there is a certain pride of being better than the rest.''
``Companies that know about ISO kind of put us on a pedestal,'' Peters said. < ISO in Western Virginia
Irwin Professional Publishing's ISO 9000 Registered Company Directory of North America lists 146 Virginia companies that had received certification as of February 1996.
Thirty-six are in Western Virginia; according to Roy H. D'Ardenne, an ISO certification specialist in Pulaski, many more are in the process of seeking certification.
ABB Power T&D Co. Inc., Bland
Alcatel Telecommunications Cable, Roanoke
AMR Contract Manufacturing, Rocky Gap
Baker Performance Chemicals Inc., Roanoke
BBA Friction Inc., Dublin
Bristol Compressors Inc., Bristol
Chesapeake Packaging Co., Roanoke
Corning Inc., Christiansburg
Corrugated Container Corp., Roanoke
CSI Services, Martinsville
Dollinger-Filtrona Co., Rich Creek
East River Metals Inc., Rocky Gap
E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Martinsville
Electro-Tec Corp., Blacksburg
Emerson Electric Co., Alco Controls Division, Wytheville
Federal Mogul Inc., Blacksburg
General Electric Co., Electronic Services, Salem
General Electric Co., Industrial Systems & Services, Salem
Grayson Electronics Co. Inc., Forest
Hoechst-Celanese, Narrows
Hubbell Lighting Inc., Christiansburg
Ingersoll-Rand Co., Roanoke
Lightnin, Wytheville
Litton Industries, Poly-Scientific Division, Blacksburg
Marion Composites, Marion
Optical Cable Corp., Roanoke
Precision Fabrics Group Inc., Vinton
Robertshaw Controls Co., Independence
Sybron-Biochemical, Salem
Tele-Path Industries Inc., Salem
Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corp., Dublin
Westinghouse Electric Corp., Abingdon
Westvaco Corp., Bleached Board Division., Covington
Westvaco Corp., Chemical Division., Covington
Williams Supply Inc., Roanoke
Xaloy Inc., Pulaski
Sources: Irwin Professional Publishing's ISO 9000 Registered Company Directory of North America, August 1995, and D'Ardenne Associates Ltd., Pulaksi.
LENGTH: Long : 185 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Keth Graham. Bill Gamble, vice president of operationsby CNBand quality, says ISO certification was instrumental in helping
Williams Supply land a new contract recently. color.