Uplifting quality

Founded in Chicago in 1957, Intrupa Manufacturing Company Holdings (IMCH) has grown into a leading manufacturer and wholesale distributor of replacement parts for materials handling equipment, with sales and distribution centers across the globe. Moving to its current headquarters in Grayslake, Illinois in 1985, IMCH today offers a single source supply for fork-lift trucks, personnel and burden carriers, and plant maintenance equipment throughout the USA.

To date, three of the Group's subsidiaries have been guided to ISO 9000 certification by IMSM. The IMCH Reno Warehouse serving West Coast customers was the first to be certified by QAS in 2002, with MHS Automation (specializing in precision-engineered components) and CMC/EVC (manufacturing electrical contacts and electronic vehicle controls) following suit in 2003.

Joe Rollhauser, IMCH's Engineering and Quality Manager who was responsible for ISO implementation at all three facilities, told Quest: "We felt a need to document our quality processes for consistency throughout the organization. We wanted a uniform process for handling quality related issues and customer satisfaction. Some of our customers were asking about it. It was also important to stay ahead of the competition".

He continued to explain why it is important for the Group to maintain its ISO status: "ISO 9000 certification is a driver for continuous improvement and provides to the employees a better understanding of what the goals and expectation are. It has resulted in a higher level of pride and ownership of the work processes. By focusing on the elimination of the root causes of customer issues, our level of service has improved in the eyes of many customers".

"We chose IMSM because of their expertise and overall value compared to the others we considered. They just about did everything for us when it came to the manuals, procedures and documentation. Many of us expected the ISO process to be complex and time consuming to the point of going beyond the available resources. IMSM provided the extra resources and simplified the process. We will be working with them again in the near future. The service they provided was excellent".

www.intrupa.com
www.liftparts.com

30/07/04