ISO 9001:2015 Certification

IEC, including Alpro, is pleased to announce that it has achieved certification to ISO 9001:2015 as of 4th April 2018, having been audited by BSI. For many years prior to this we had held the previous certification ISO 9001:2008. 

The new standard is very different from its predecessors in that not only does it focus on quality management systems but also on business management systems and strategy. Within that there is emphasis on risks to the business and to what extent they are mitigated, communication throughout the company, accountability, and continuous improvement.

‘It was a long journey that we embarked on going after this approval, especially taking into account the demands of the day to day running of the business. The whole process took us something like 18 months. What was highlighted to us was that we already did most of the things required within the standard although they were not fully formalised. Therefore, it was really good to rationalise what we did and get everything down and documented.

Moving up to the new standard has served to affirm the robustness of our business going forward.’ says Peter Keen, Sales Director.

The new standard, as opposed to those that have gone before, does not solely rely on the input of the Quality Manager with Senior Management paying ‘lip-service’. It requires the full commitment from the whole management team and as such requires a great deal of team work. It certainly forced us to work very closely together.