Diesel Exchange works toward ISO certification

ISO registration is a way to raise the level of quality and professionalism of the company, said Diesel Exchange President Steve Hendrick.

“It’s like a doctor passing the medical boards or a lawyer passing the bar,” he said.

Diesel Exchange, founded in 1992 by Steve and Lisa Hendrick, who is vice president, has 67 full-time and three part-time workers.

The Springfield company remanufactures engines produced by Detroit Diesel, Cummins and Caterpillar.

Many of the company’s products are used in amphibious assault vehicles, light armored vehicles and Humvees in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Steve Hendrick said that the company is about two years into a U.S. military contract, but is unable to discuss its terms due to a confidentiality clause.

ISO Assistance

Hendrick hired Missouri Enterprise Business Assistance Center, a not-for-profit corporation in St. Louis, to help Diesel Exchange with the process of ISO 9001:2000 registration. Missouri Enterprise’s Senior Project Director Shelly Hillhouse will provide training, documentation preparation and implementation assistance, auditing and on-site support.

“They’re guiding us through the process of how to get registered,” Hendrick said. “We know a lot about diesel engines but we don’t know much about the ISO process.”

Hendrick said the Diesel Exchange staff is examining both new and old procedures and putting them all in writing as part of the requirements for ISO 9001:2000 registration.

Harold Zinn, senior vice president for Missouri Enterprise corporate communications, said that ISO registration is vital when businesses deal with suppliers globally.

“The (supplier) has to have a standard by which to measure whether those procedures and policies that guarantee quality are being held to. That’s what the registration and the audit is all about,” Zinn said. “A lot of large manufacturers require that their suppliers have ISO certification. If you’re not registered, if you don’t have ISO certification, you’re not even allowed to bid on work.”

Missouri Enterprise

Missouri Enterprise charges its clients, but Zinn said the fees vary greatly depending on the types of services needed.

Missouri Enterprise provides business and technical assistance to Missouri companies.

The group manages the Manufacturing Extension Partnership in Missouri, an Advanced Manufacturing Specialist training program partially funded by a U.S. Department of Labor grant.

Founded in 1945, the ISO is an independent organization in Geneva, Switzerland, that constitutes a network of national standards institutes in 150 countries.

Compliance with the ISO standard is a voluntary practice that addresses a process approach toward design, development, production and service, and can be used in any business in any industry.