Program Helps Companies Ensure Quality
News from Tulsa Tech by DR. STEVE TIGER
Superintendent
IMPORTANT CERTIFICATION: Bart Pickens, left, with Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, and Chris Groden, with Tulsa Tech Corporate Training, recently helped the Carlson Company attain its ISO 9001 quality management certification. The certification helps the company ensure its quality management standards, see a larger market for their work and to be added to many preferred vendor lists.
Courtesy Tulsa Tech
Tulsa-based manufacturer the Carlson Company recently celebrated receiving its quality management certification, 9001:2008. The organization earned the certification with the help of the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, Tulsa Tech’s Business and Industry Services, and other local resources. The certification provides the company an opportunity to ensure its quality management standards, see a larger market for their work, and be added to many preferred vendor lists.
Carlson is a leading manufacturer of custom large diameter steel flanges, rings, and disks, some nearly 14 feet in diameter and weighing up to 50,000 pounds. The firm serves a diverse, worldwide customer base in petrochemical, heavy industrial, utility, and transportation industries.
The 9000 family of quality management standards is designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders, while meeting both statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product. 9001 deals with the requirements that organizations wishing to meet the standard must fulfill and includes third-party certification bodies, which provide independent confirmation that these requirements are met. Over one million organizations worldwide are independently certified, making 9001 one of the most widely used management tools in the world today.
Carlson began the registration process by contacting Bart Pickens, a manufacturing extension agent with the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, sponsored locally by Tulsa Tech. Utilizing the statewide network of manufacturing extension agents and application engineers, the Alliance connects small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses with the information and resources needed to expand and succeed.
“The Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance is a partner with Tulsa Tech,” Pickens explains. “Our goal is to reach out to companies in the manufacturing industry, help those organizations evaluate their processes from top to bottom, and improve their operations.”
Pickens worked to map out a timeline for training and implementation and help to facilitate existing industry funding through Tulsa Tech. The training cycle included seminars on the quality management standard, writing procedures to support the processes that would be implemented, and the training of internal auditors to evaluate how the company monitors procedures, as well as meeting customer quality requirements. Six months after the process had begun, the Carlson Company decided it was ready, and a registration audit was scheduled for late last year.
“This six-month cycle leading to a successful first registration audit is very fast for most companies,” Pickens says. “Everyone at Carlson, the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance and Tulsa Tech contributed to this effort.”
Jeff Carlson, Carlson’s vice president of sales, expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance and Tulsa Tech.
“I’m confident the efforts will lead to an expanded customer base,” Carlson says, “and contribute to the growth of the company well into the future.”
Tulsa Tech’s Business and Industry Services creates superior strategies and corporate training programs to help clients succeed in the world of business. Each year, Tulsa Tech provides services for more than 500 companies in the metro area, at state-of-the-art campus locations and on-site client facilities.
Chris Groden, a corporate training coordinator with Tulsa Tech, who was also involved in the Carlson project, feels that more companies should take advantage of the many services available.
“We have the expertise and the infrastructure already in place to help these businesses,” says Groden. “We offer services for continuous improvement, human resources, safety programs and fully customized training to meet any organization’s requirements.”
If you’re currently looking for quality corporate training, a career change, or exciting classes for high school or adult students, Tulsa Tech invites you to visit today. For more information, please call 918-828-5000 or discover us online at tulsatech.edu.
Updated 04-26-2016
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