Another Milestone in Quality Management

Railways are one of the safest methods for transporting goods and to ensure this safety record is maintained, the European railway industry has developed the International Railway Industry Standard (IRIS), an international “railway-specific“ standard to assess transport suppliers. The Böllhoff Group set itself these challenging guidelines early, and in August of this year it was one of the first companies in the world to be IRIS-certified. Klaus Dirkschneider, Head of Quality and Environmental Management at Böllhoff,
describes the award as a “seal of approval, which underlines the level of competence that the company has achieved the railway industry and honours the Böllhoff Group’s long-term drive for quality.“

Since the liberalisation of European rail traffic, rail operators and manufacturers alike have been faced with demanding requirements for quality assurance and monitoring. IRIS will lead to further improvements in quality and reliability, while considerably reducing the number of audits for manufacturers. UNIFE (the European association for the railway supply industry), the Brussels-based body behind the IRIS initiative, is also talking about a “win-win situation“. The certification standard for quality management systems is based on the internationally recognised ISO 9001 quality management standard, with additional requirements specific to the railway industry.
Manufacturers in the railway industry see IRIS as a reliable instrument for the future, for assessing suppliers. The standardised requirements will mean that the individual audits, which were previously required, can now be reduced to a single comprehensive audit. This saves manufacturers time and money, while IRIS certification makes Böllhoff an even more attractive choice for the rail sector. “IRIS is the most recent indication of our constant dedication to maintaining the highest quality in our products and services“ explains Klaus Dirkschneider.

Böllhoff has already won various other awards for quality management, including DIN ISO 9001 as well as ISO/TS 16949:2002 certification, the highest quality management standard in the world. Böllhoff has its own laboratory, which has been certified under DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2000 since 1999. The facility is equipped for mechanical and physical tests and chemical analysis using the most modern processes. In the same year, Böllhoff was certified under DIN EN ISO 14001, the “Environmental Standard“, underlining its resource-saving environmental policies.

Since the start of 2004, the company has also been meeting the standards of a Q1 supplier for the German rail network, Deutsche Bahn. This title further attests to Böllhoff´s 100 percent quality assurance in its products, a standard it maintains through continuous improvement measures. Q1 suppliers are re-tested every year by Deutsche Bahn and so far Böllhoff has always met the requirements.


Responsible:
Frank Nientiedt, Marketing leader of Böllhoff GmbH
Fastener Service Supply, Archimedesstraße 1-4
D-33649 Bielefeld
tel. +49 (0) 521/44 82-03, fax -93255, dlv@boellhoff.com

Copy requested to:
Böllhoff publicity manager
Wolfgang Sönel
Archimedesstr. 1 - 4
D-33649 Bielefeld