Norvic
Norvic is an international company with specific needs which made it a lengthy process to choose a supplier for a new quality management system. Who was able to accept all our demands and help us towards an ISO 9001 certification? IPW Systems was.
Norvic was facing an ISO certification, all the while we were determined to create SOPs for our entire business. There needed to be no confusion about who does what and why. However, we are a company in a very particular line of business, and we had quite a few demands for a new quality management system, including language and multi-location audit. We were in close contact with our different departments and our network, and we connected with 8 different suppliers in Denmark, USA, and Dubai.
As soon as our choice fell on IPW Systems things really sped up. We received a thorough introduction, saw examples of how others had utilized the system, and felt VERY safe in the process. IPW put us in touch with Danish ISO consultancy Valcert, an ISO specialist whom IPW collaborates with. The fact that Valcert knows the system and speaks the same language, so to speak, has been priceless. They have taken us by the hand and helped us all the way to our certification.
Started completely over and achieved the goal quickly
By recommendation from Valcert, we started completely over with IPW. We would have spent more time sorting through what we already had than starting completely anew. A complete mapping of the company ahead of audit was unrealistic. Instead, we interviewed our team managers and chose three key assignments in each department that we would make SOPs for. This resulted in approximately 60 SOPs. Also, the team managers created job descriptions for all employees which are now added to IPW and linked to HR. Meanwhile, we stumbled upon double work, improvements, and useful processes which can be used in other departments.
Overall, we have divided the system into 3 sections: Intro (assignment, stakeholders, employees, and information for new employees), Departments (SOPs, main tasks), and QMS (Quality Management System). Moreover, we have named our IPW-platform Athena–the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology. As I say to my employees: “Don’t ask Siri, ask Athena!”.
Now, the journey continues. ISO 9001 is a dynamic project, and we see our good cooperation with Valcert and IPW lasting for many years to come.
