Tuffa UK is delighted to announce that we have recently been awarded the prestigious Quality Management System BS EN ISO 9001:2015 Certification.

The ISO is the International Organisation for Standardisation. ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 162 national standards bodies. They outline the criteria of the rigorous Quality Standards they work to.

Their guidelines state: “The standards provide guidance and tools for companies and organisations who want to ensure that their products and services constantly meet the customer’s requirements, and that quality is consistently improved.

“The ISO 9001: 2015 is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continuous improvement. ISO 9001 helps ensure customers get consistent, good quality products and services.”

Our ISO 9001:2015 Certification process was undertaken with Stoke based Management Support consultancy, ISA. They offer support to businesses to comply with nationally and internationally recognised management systems and standards. They advised Tuffa on the implementation of the systems and processes required to meet the BS EN ISO 9001: 2015 standards and subsequent UKAS accreditation.

UKAS, The UK’s National Accreditation Body is responsible for determining the competence and integrity of the organisations offering Certification Services.

Tuffa undertook the application process to support their innovation in the design and manufacture of  AdBlue® Tanks. The Certification process took around six months, with the Quality Management Systems set up to provide more efficient work practices. We will be audited annually to maintain those high management standards. Our Quality Policy Statement refers to the fact that Tuffa “are committed to a process of continuous improvement of the products and services delivered to our customers through Quality Assurance improvement programmes.”

Continuous Improvement in Quality Management Systems

Continuous improvements were made with regular review and update of the management control systems together with a revamped work schedule. Google Sheets and tablets were introduced to enable live communication between factory and management, and a spreadsheet created to enable fast and efficient estimations of the supply and demand of the supply chain and sourcing.

ISA’s HR Business Support Manager, Alexis Fitzpatrick, was impressed with Tuffa’s commitment to the application process. On receiving the Certification, she said: “Well-deserved and huge congratulations to Tuffa on completion of their ISO 9001:2015.  Their hard work and dedication has really paid off and seen them fly through their accreditation. It has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside them throughout the whole process.  Well done Tuffa!”

Tuffa UK’s HR and Office Manager, Kerry Shenton was equally delighted, saying: “Attaining ISO 9001 is one of Tuffa UK’s proudest moments. All of the staff got involved in the process which contributed to our success. The ISO 9001 quality system is essential for our business and helped us develop our quality management system to suit our business operations. We went to great lengths to understand our processes which has resulted in an effective and sustainable quality management system. The system is easily maintained and structured to our needs.

“As a result, we are able to provide an extremely high level of service to our customers and respond efficiently to changes, whilst growing rapidly,” she added.

Tuffa’s commitment to investment in continuous improvement doesn’t end there. Kerry Shenton again: “Having been successfully awarded the ISO9001:2015 certification, we are now planning to continue our pursuit of even higher standards of quality management by working towards BS EN 14001:2015 for Environmental Standards, followed by the BS OHSAS 18001 Health & Safety Standard.”