It has been a pleasure to work with Mawdsleys over the last 6 months to improve and update the existing Quality Management System (QMS). Mawdsleys is a Bristol based engineering firm who specialise in the design, manufacture and repair of rotating electrical equipment, including AC and DC motors - Mawdsleys pride themselves on their ability to repair any sort of rotating electrical equipment.

Mawdsleys have held certification to ISO 9001 since 2006 as they are part of the defence supply chain and certification is a key requirement. The QMS had been previously updated as part of the transition process to the 2015 standard, however this had not been carried out effectively and there was a disconnect between daily operational activities and the QMS itself. Following a review of the existing documentation and processes, we re-christened the system and turned it into a Business Management System (BMS) to emphasis the integration in daily operational activities.

We focussed the improvement project on the following key areas:

• Goods in and inspection (clause 8.1 Operational planning and control)
• Process flows through the business in the three key operational areas, Defence, Commercial and M&E Services
• Supply chain management (clause 8.4 Control of externally provided processes, products and services)
• Identification and investigation of internal non-conformities (clause 10.2 Nonconformity and corrective action)
• Management review meetings (clause 9.3 Management Review)
• Setting SMART objectives aligned to the strategic direction of the company (clause 6.2 Quality objectives and planning to achieve them)

Involving various people from across the business, the improvements we’ve made in these areas have made a significant difference to the integration and use of the BMS on the shop floor.

Both the Business Development Manager and the Managing Director were very pleased with the outcome of the project and particularly with the successful re-certification audit carried out by Eric Russell on behalf of QEC.

As the new Business Development Manager at Mawdsleys, I was really worried about the forthcoming re-certification audit. I didn't feel confident in the documentation or records I could find and although the shopfloor was operating well and delivering motors on time and to spec, the quality management system didn't seem to match what was going on. Helen was able to brief me on the requirements of ISO 9001 and explain how our processes and records fitted in, she was also able to help me re-organise everything in a way that made sense to us all! Ewan used his engineering experience to carry out thorough internal audits of our main income streams (Defence, Commercial and M&E Services) and identified various problems and opportunities for improvement which we were able to put right. I had no idea what to expect from the remote re-certification audit and was very relieved that it went so smoothly (apart from the inevitable technology difficulties!) and the auditor only raised one OFI which we are very pleased with. 

We are looking forward to working with Mawdsleys and supporting the business by carrying out internal audits over the next 12 months!