I have been working with Galbox Ltd on behalf of ConsultQA to transition their existing quality management system from the 2008 to the 2015 requirements and we recently had a successful transition audit with Exova BM Trada.

Galbox is a UK subsidiary of the Italian packaging company ICSS and Galbox operates as a ‘shop in shop’ manufacturing facility for the Whirlpool factory in Yate who make tumble dryers for the UK and Irish markets. Galbox produces expanded polystyrene (EPS) packaging to protect each tumble dryer for shipping – each tumble dryer needs a base, a top, 4 corners and 2 wooden battens before being shrink wrapped and stacked ready for dispatch.

The manufacture of EPS is really interesting and involves using steam and Pentane gas to expand micro beads before heating and compressing the loose beads into the familiar moulded shapes of polystyrene packaging. My favourite bit of the factory is the aerial conveyor system which moves the finished packaging from the Galbox manufacturing area to the Whirlpool production lines. Double layer baskets hang from the aerial conveyor and these are filled with bases, tops or corners as they come out of the moulding machines and then the full baskets move quietly around the factory looking like fluffy clouds.

I worked with the Production Manager and Local Manager to review and update the existing Quality Policy, Manual and Procedures to meet the new requirements particularly those for identifying the context of the business and managing business risk, we also carried out the Management Review meeting with the Managing Director via Skype (as he is based in Italy). The quality management system is well established and has been certified since 2007 so needed tweaking rather than rewriting.