Roll-Kraft Completes ISO Audit

The tooling manufacturer confirms its adherence to ISO standards with a surveillance audit that is free of any major or minor non-conformities.

Roll-Kraft (Mentor, OH), a leading provider of tube and pipe and roll forming tooling, is pleased to announce that a surveillance audit was recently held at its Mentor headquarters and was completed without any major or minor non-conformities.

Gretchen Lazar, the executive management representative for the company, commented on the event: “This is a great accomplishment and would not be possible without the cooperation, support, and dedication of our entire staff.”

Periodic audits are imperative in order to maintain the company’s ISO 9001:2008 With Design status and are conducted by a third party to verify the integrity of the processes that are in place within the company.

ISO Surveillance Audits consist of reviewing the following elements:

• Management Review
• Changes to the Quality System
• Internal Quality Audit Review
• Corrective Action Review
• Selective Process Audit

Each element is pertinent to maintaining the requirements for consistency. Teams of internal auditors scrutinize individual procedures and work instructions throughout the year to assure compliance with the quality program.

Roll-Kraft was originally certified by ISO in 1997. In 2001, the company earned the ISO 9001:2000 With Design certification. In 2010, the company was re-certified to the latest ISO 9001:2008 With Design and has continued that designation through the current audit.

The ISO certification is an important identifier to companies around the world and indicates a corporate dedication to quality and standards that are set in place to provide a reliable product to every customer. Roll-Kraft also maintains other facilities in Frankfort,IL (Roll-Kraft Northern), and Ontario, Canada (Roll-Kraft Ltd.).

In other company news, the local Alliance for Working Together Foundation (AWT), a group in which Roll-Kraft is heavily involved in sponsoring, was formed by local business executives to promote careers in manufacturing and focus on developing programs to encourage students.  Roll-Kraft is pleased to announce the program’s recent achievements, which include:

• Conducting over 1,500 seventh and eighth grade tours of AWT member manufacturing plants
• Developing an Associate’s degree at Lakeland Community College with input from member companies
• Introducing a new manufacturing high school program at the local career center
• Conducting a video contest that drew over 27,000 website hits; all videos may be seen on the organization’s website
• Launching an AWT Speakers’ Bureau
• Forming a Scholarship Committee to support students in their educational goals
• Creating an Ambassador Team to promote rewarding careers in manufacturing at career and job fairs

In addition, the group attracted nearly 250 students and over 2,500 spectators to its most recent RoboBots competition. The RoboBots competition, conducted under the guidelines of the National Robotics League, is another way of introducing students to the many rewarding careers in manufacturing.

The AWT Foundation includes more than 75 manufacturing companies with executive-level representatives that understand they must first get students interested in and educated on manufacturing careers before they will have the skilled workforce necessary to sustain growth in the region.

Roll-Kraft strongly supports and participates in the efforts of AWT and takes an active roll in bringing students to Roll-Kraft to view its current manufacturing processes. To learn more, visit the AWT Foundation’s website at http://thinkmfg.com/ and www.facebook.com/AWTRoboBots. www.roll-kraft.com