ISO: The Gold Standard for Businesses as well as Customers
What are the quality attributes that customers appreciate in a company? Is it the product quality? The friendliness of customer service? Or perhaps smooth transactions? There are so many criteria that make a company a good one. But how can customers recognize and companies signalize that they are striving for high standards? The answer is shorter than one might suspect: „ISO“. It’s a certificate probably everybody has stumbled upon sooner or later. However, behind this acronym lies more than just a certificate; it is the key to credibility, efficiency, and competitiveness for businesses, and a seal of quality for customers.
Plasmion places great value on the quality of its operations, which is why we can proudly call ourselves ISO 9001 certified since the 8th of January 2024. Valentin Kloos, our Working Student for Business Development, was responsible for the certification process. We interviewed him on this topic. In addition, our CEO Dr. Thomas Wolf gave his perspective on the impact that the ISO certification has on the company.
Before delving deeper, could you briefly outline what ISO certification actually means?
Valentin: It is a quality management system that ensures that the company implements its processes that ultimately always aim for customer value to the best of its knowledge and operates according to certain standards. Some refer to ISO as a kind of recipe book containing instructions and rules that ensure the company’s added value.
What are the benefits of ISO for a company?
Valentin: The biggest advantage is probably that, during ISO 9001 certification, the company must reflect on its own relevant areas and establish standards for its work. These are also annually checked for implementation. Through the continuous improvement processes, which is part of the certification, the basic processes behind the added value are lived and reconsidered. This results in constantly reviewed and standardized work within the company.
How does Plasmion specifically benefit from ISO certification?
Thomas: Plasmion is a young and innovative company, which means it finds itself constantly evolving. Especially in the last two years, Plasmion has grown significantly. The challenge that comes with organizational growth is always to define and align task, roles, and responsibilities of the involved people to enable the company to operate smoothly and efficiently. The ISO certification process in one way or another requires you to establish a quality management system that incorporates and addresses all these topics. Thus, if you play it smart, the ISO certification not only is a certificate or regulation burden to comply with, but it might enable you to set up living structures that help to provide the necessary guidance for an efficient and smooth operation of the company.
What personal learning do you draw from your work on this project?
Valentin: I have learned primarily about flexibility in dealing with changes and adjustments that occurred during the project. Additionally, I was able to understand how a comprehensive quality management system is built and functions within an organization to the detail. Through intense communication with various responsible parties and their requirements, I gained a lot in terms of coordination and teamwork and came to get to know and understand the company Plasmion on a very profound level.
What potential does the ISO certification bring for Plasmion’s future?
Thomas: Having implemented the quality management system (ISO) as a living and vital part of our organization, we not only established the foundation for smooth and efficient operation but also for further growth and development. Based on the established structures, we are able to onboard new people more quickly, adjust to environmental and organizational changes more efficiently, and live up to high, professional standards for us and our customers.
Thank you, Valentin, for this excellent interview on your work with ISO certification! And thank you Thomas for your interesting insights from the managing perspective!
Once again, it became clear how deep reflections on a company’s own essence and operations are necessary to strive for continuous improvement. Leading a good company does not happen in a week. It requires constant reflecting, aligning, and optimizing of the smallest steps to positively influence the value chain in the grand scheme. Only then can a company thrive and best satisfy its customers.