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Nobody likes to make mistakes. And nobody ever likes to make the same mistake twice. Two small but rapidly growing manufacturers in Lansing have adopted a means for taming workplace inconsistencies and for improving the methods of business. It's called ISO certification.
"ISO gives us a tool to be consistent, and to ensure we do things the same way," said Robert Sinke, quality assurance manager with TelGen Corporation, a producer of telecommunications and network product designs on Lansing's southern edge. "It's also a tool for improving our processes. If we're consistent, we can address any problem or situation that occurs."
Another small manufacturer in a dynamic field agrees.
"ISO helps tell you whether you're doing better or not," said George Shriver, quality director for Pratt & Whitney AutoAir, a Lansing-based company that supplies and services the aerospace industry. "You can look at what you've done and summarize.
You can say, 'We used to be at this level, and now we've notched up a few levels." That's a plus."
Strength in standards
Monique Esser started with TelGen when the company was called Phoenix Engineering, just 25 people strong and a little over three years old. Three years later, she became the director of customer service, overseeing the documentation processes and procedures while the company grew at a phenomenal rate.
"One of the biggest challenges was that I had never heard of ISO in my life," said Esser as she remembered TelGen's decision to join the movement to standardize processes, procedures and the design and delivery of goods and services worldwide. "So I did a lot of research. I read books, surfed the Web, went to the library and contacted quality assurance companies. But it was well worth it."
That was June 1998. In December of that same year, TelGen was recommended for ISO certification. Today, plaques, certificates and promotional materials boast the end result. What's more, the company has set guidelines that conform to universal standards and ways of doing business that attract and retain customers like Sprint, the Dearborn Group and Agere Systems (formerly known...