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24 business standards October 2007

When BSIs quality management systems

standard BS 5750 was adopted by the

International Organization or Standardization

(ISO) in 1987, the ISO 9000 amily o stand-

ards or quality management systems was born.

Twenty years later over 776,608 certifcates have

been issued in 161 countries, and businesses con-

tinue to seek out ways to maintain the highest

possible levels o quality management.

It was this that attracted the earliest

clients to ISO 9001. The Tarmac Group,

itsel over 100 years old and one o the UKs

best known brands, was the frst to achieve

certifcation to ISO 9001 by BSI. Since then,

the ISO 9000 amily o standards has drawn

thousands o companies seeking excellence

in quality management.Citi Global Transaction Services Dublin is

one such company. It was aware o the impor-

tance o having an internationally-recognized

and proven quality management system (QMS)

in place, to demonstrate to customers and sta

an on-going commitment to quality and innova-

tion. The organization is part o the Citi global

fnancial services company, which has 200

million customer accounts in more than

100 countries around the world.

The complex nature o the business demands

a strong ocus on consistently high standards andcontinual review and improvement o working

practices, in order to provide products and

>20 years of iso 9001

raising the standard

services in line with client requirements.

Citi Global Transaction Services Dublin

wanted to empower its sta, transerring

power downward and outward, to oster

site-wide employee participation in building

a quality culture. The company wanted to

commit to achieving set measurable objectives,

communicating these to all sta, and subjecting

the objectives to continual review.

It has given us greater consistency across

the certifed areas, which is critical due to the

complexity o the products we oer to our

clients, says Juan Rio Salvador, Citi Global

Transaction Services Dublin quality manager

and vice president. It has also resulted in proc-

ess improvement and innovations which help us

meet customer requirements and improve ourlevels o client satisaction. This has been

achieved by monitoring deects and taking cor-

rective action, which involves management

reviews, monthly quality circle meetings, and

internal and external quality audits.

Quality and innovation are now

embedded in Citi Global Transaction Services

Dublin and are an on-going ocus within the

business. In July 2005, the company announced

the creation o a Research and Development

centre o Excellence with an investment o

10 million. This is the frst dedicated Researchand Development centre established by Citi

worldwide and the frst ever Research and

Development investment by a fnancial services

company in Ireland.

The tanker division o Turners (Soham) Ltd

the UKs biggest independent haulage contrac-

tor turned to ISO 9001 as a way to improve

its quality management systems and discovered

that it oered additional benefts.

We are orever tendering or new business

and most companies look or some certifcation

such as ISO 9001, which oers reassurance

that we are a proessional company dedicated

to improving efciency, says senior contract

manager Terry Skelton. This certifcation also

verifes that we are undertaking improvements

which not only reduce costs and improve ef-

ciency but also take into consideration

environmental issues.One o the key areas BSI looked at was how

the company could improve the use o tankers.

A system has now been put in place whereby

the larger tankers are matched to larger custom-

ers more likely to fll the tanks to capacity.

This greener system now results in ewer

journeys with reduced costs to both custom-

ers in the ood industry and the company,

Skelton explains.

Ater 20 years, the ISO 9000 amily o

standards remains an ongoing success story

TC 176, the ISO 9001 technical committee, hasstarted its review on the next version o ISO

9001, with a planned release date o 2008.

ISO 9001 oersreassurance thatwe are a proessionalcompany dedicated toimproving efciency

Photograp

hy:istockphoto