How a custom sheet extruder earned ISO 9002 certification.

When Vinyl Plastics Inc. (VPI) earned ISO 9002 certification in May, it became the first domestic sheet producer to achieve a level of international quality recognition attained mainly by large resin and machinery suppliers.

The path taken by VPI shows how certification can bring about productivity gains while imparting a competitive edge. And it serves as yet another example of the trend toward ISO certification by processors, especially those with export ambitions (PT, May '93, p. 54; June '93, p. 82; July '93, p. 114).

Located in Sheboygan Falls, Wis., VPI's Sheet Products Division makes a variety of thin-gauge polyester and polystyrene sheet in thicknesses between 5 and 60 mils and widths up to 56 in. Right now, international sales make up about 5% of the division's $25-million/yr business in the medical, electronic and graphic arts markets. But with the ISO stamp of approval, marketing manager Randall Thomas expects overseas sales to contribute as much as 15-20% to an expanded total by 1995. "ISO will give us instant credibility in Europe," Thomas says.

On top of cracking new markets, VPI had another reason for seeking ISO certification: "We just want to be the best," says company president Bruce Grover. The certification, in fact, grew out of VPI's existing quality program, known as Total Customer Responsiveness (TCR). Both the in-house program and ISO 9002 encompass nearly every aspect of the manufacturing business--everything from order entry to process control, from packaging to die changing. So the company already had many of the necessary quality measures in place before it even considered ISO, Grover notes.

VPI did need, however, to address the primary difference between the two programs--the rigorous documentation and third-party audit required by ISO. For the latter step, VPI chose the British Standards Institution (BSI) of London as its auditor. "They've done the most audits and they're the tough-est," Grover says. "We believe a BSI audit means more to our customers."

For the eighteen-month process of documenting quality measures, VPI turned to its workers rather than hiring an outside consultant. "Some companies go through and mechanistically put the quality procedures in place," says Grover. "Our employees live them." To that end, VPI allowed its shop-floor personnel to come up with many of the best work procedures for meeting quality goals. "Everybody on the shop floor knows what they should be doing," explains quality manager Steve Neumeyer. Each VPI extrusion operator must pass a 32-hr training regimen in extrusion as well as related course work in SPC and communication.

What's more, even the ISO-related equipment needs hinged on worker input. Neumeyer recalls that one shop-floor team noticed a marginally acceptable process-capability, or CpK, level for web width on one product, so the group asked for a new trim-knife system. It solved the problem.

QUANTIFYING QUALITY

The company has long measured CpK for a number of customer-specified attributes--such as width, gauge, shrinkage, and opacity. VPI also includes non-production variables like order entry and delivery in its measures of quality. "Delivering the rolls to customers on time is just as important" as gauge conformity, says Grover. Since pursuing ISO 9002, all the numbers have improved dramatically.

Says Grover, the percentage of attributes meeting a CpK level of 1.33 or better went from 80% before its TCR program up to 92% by the time of ISO 9002 implementation. That degree of quality means only six off-spec measurements out of 100,000 for nearly every attribute that VPI tracks. "Before, scrap never got out the door. Now, it never gets into the warehouse," says Grover.

These quality levels have already benefited customers. Grover says one developed enough confidence following ISO certification to eliminate inspections of incoming VPI sheet. "ISO prevents bad material from ever getting to our customers' production," notes Grover.

ISO FOR PRODUCTIVITY

Of course, aiming to be the best doesn't come cheap. Even with its existing total-quality-management program in place, Grover estimates that VPI spent between $50,000 and $100,000 on ISO 9002, all told. "But the real cost will be something less than zero," he quickly adds, offering some compelling productivity gains as evidence that ISO won't really end up costing a dime. Overall downtime, for example, has dropped by 50-70% since ISO implementation, Grover says.

One program that grew out of the TCR and ISO efforts exemplifies the relationship of the quality efforts to productivity. Called Single Minute Exchange of Dies, or SMED, its objective is to bring die changes below the 10-minute mark by providing standard switching procedures. Before the program, it often took 34-hr to change a die. "We realized that was way too long," says Grover, noting that the right tools often weren't in place when they were needed and the replacement die wasn't preheated. "These are very simple things," Grover says. So, VPI put together tool carts with everything needed for a die switch and also developed a proprietary quick-fastening system. Today, changeover times have fallen to a half hour, and Grover expects to soon break the 10-minute mark as workers refine SMED methods.

Beyond the shop floor, office functions such as order entry have also benefited from the ISO program. Thomas says the pre-ISO ordering process took four people performing five steps and an average of eight days before an order even reached the floor. But thanks to a new streamlined procedure, that same order now reaches the shop floor in half a day. "And it's not like we spent a half million dollars for a new computer," Thomas adds.

In addition to the sheet products unit, VPI runs a flooring products business and a contract manufacturing division. A new extruded profile division started up at the end of last year with a medical tubing line. Plans call for both the profile and contract extrusion divisions to go after ISO 9000 certification. Here, too, Grover predicts a relatively easy path because quality management was essentially designed into these businesses from the beginning.

ISO 9002 Targets

ISO 9002 demands documented quality procedures in the following areas:

Management Responsibility Quality System Contract Review Document Control Purchasing Purchaser Supplied Product Product Process Control Inspection and Testing Inspection, Measuring/Test Equipment Inspection and Test Status Control of Non-Conforming Product Corrective Action Handling, Storage, Packaging, Delivery Quality Records Internal Quality Audits Training Statistical Techniques