Seeking 'Kaizen'. Good change

We often hear the term ISO? but unless you work closely with the standards you may not know that this stands for The International Organisation for Standardisation. Founded in the late 1940’s, ISO are an independent, non-governmental international organization who have been developing and publishing standards since 1951.

Certification to an ISO standard is gained via a third party, an accredited certification body who will verify, through audit, that an organisation's management systems meet the requirements of the standard.

We are absolutely delighted that Paula Rosa Manhattan have, for the 19th year running, had a successful audit. This means that we continue to meet the requirements of the standard ISO 9001:2015, along with ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018.

We also enjoyed some amazing comments from the auditor. In summary, Paula Rosa Manhattan can declare our organisation to have:

• Excellence in ‘Gemba’
• Step change in ‘Kaizen’
• Lean manufacturing techniques ‘Best in class’

'Gemba' is a Japanese word meaning 'the real walk'. In a gemba walk, an inspector carries out a workplace walk-through to experience what is really going on at the site and look for signs of continuous improvement.

'Kaizen' is a Japanese word meaning 'good change'. The theory of kaizen is that many small, regular changes lead to big improvements.

What is ISO?9001?

ISO 9001 sets out criteria for a?quality management system (QMS). What that means is that Paula Rosa Manhattan can demonstrate that they consistently provide quality products that meet customer (and regulatory) requirements.?Our leadership team set the tone for continuous improvement, top down and we see that in incremental improvements across the board.

What is ISO?14001?

ISO 14001 is an internationally agreed and recognised standard for?Environmental Management Systems. It provides a framework to allow us to identify, measure and optimise our environmental impact. Our positive performance is something Paula Rosa Manhattan are so very proud of. Sustainable development, carbon reduction and the responsible use of materials is embedded in our culture. It is fully supported from above by Ballingsl?v?International at group level and the ISO audit is verification that we are doing it right.

What is ISO?45001?

ISO 45001 is an international standard for Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). It puts a framework around our management of OHS. In every organisation health and safety must be a priority. We work in an environment with a multitude of hazards. Having a management system certified to ISO 45001 demonstrates that not only are we meeting our legal duty to ensure the health and safety of our people, but we are also seeking to continually improve our performance through setting ambitious targets for employee wellbeing, risk and reduction and the elimination of harm.

Looking towards the 20th ISO audit at Paula Rosa Manhattan:

A sample of the conclusions from our 19th ISO audit are:

"Good objective evidence of continuous improvement was seen during my site tour of the plant in July 2023."

examples being:

• Risk reduction in “dust management” through lean thinking and continuous improvement."
• Assembly areas have embraced continuous improvement and lean manufacturing techniques “Best in Class”.
• Step change visible in the audit areas sampled during the audit “Kaizen”.?
• Staff appear to be motivated by the leadership and values of the business “Leadership”.

?We will have to think of a good way to celebrate should we pass the ISO audit for a 20th year!

Thank you to everyone across Paula Rosa Manhattan for your involvement in passing these important benchmarks.

More details on Paula Rosa Manhattan on our website: www.prmf.co.uk