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M.A. Ford Europe secures ISO 9001:2015 quality accreditation

Less than 18 months after being awarded the ISO 9001:2008 quality standard, M.A. Ford Europe has now achieved the latest ISO 9001:2015 accreditation, which covers both its Leeds manufacturing operation and the company’s head office and warehouse facilities in Derby.

This latest version of ISO 9001 takes a much more holistic view of the organisation, its quality systems and management processes, which encourages the management team to adopt risk based thinking and analysis as an integral part of its operations. This helps identify areas that could become issues, as well as those that may also present business opportunities.

A key aspect of this approach is the engagement of interested parties and stakeholders to ensure the business takes account of their needs and responds to them effectively in a changing and competitive environment, which also provides another dimension in quality control.

M.A. Ford Europe’s Managing Director, David Ward, explained: “The differences between the 2008 standard and the 2015 are subtle, yet vitally important, as there is a greater emphasis on aspects, such as leadership, performance evaluation, organisational context and improvement.”

He added: “Even when we went through the process of gaining ISO 9001:2008, we were already preparing for the next step working towards ensuring that our quality systems, operations and management processes would comply with the additional demands of the 2015 standard.

"Clearly, I’m delighted that we’ve now achieve this standard, which would not have been possible without the input and commitment of everyone in the business, but especially our quality management team.”

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