Pennington, N.J. -- Direct Group, a fully integrated direct marketing services provider, has been awarded a Certificate of Registration for operating a quality management system that complies with ISO 9001:2008 requirements.  The certification applies to the company’s fulfillment operation, which handles direct mail, continuity programs, membership services, web-based marketing platforms, pick/pack services and a variety of digital print technologies.
 
Administered by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO 9001 is the world’s most established quality standard.  It addresses elements such as: 
 
- setting measurable quality goals;
- ensuring customer requirements are understood and met;
- training employees in quality principles;
- controlling production processes;
- purchasing from suppliers that provide quality products;
- correcting problems to ensure they do not recur; and
- testing, measuring and analyzing performance to ensure continuous improvement.
 
“The ISO 9001 certification is an important milestone in Direct Group’s companywide initiative to achieve total quality management, and reflects our intense focus on delivering consistent, high-quality processes, production and service to our clients,” said Matt Graham, Direct Group’s Chief Strategy Officer.  “These standards are now in play at all Direct Group facilities.”
 
Graham noted that the company’s commitment to quality is also reflected in a number of other initiatives, including securing a $446,000 grant earlier this year from the New Jersey Department of Labor to expand the technical and leadership skills of the company’s employees through training courses.  In addition, Direct Group has several employees who are certified as Black and Green Belts in Six Sigma process control.  Six Sigma is a data-driven, systematic approach to problem solving with a focus on eliminating defects, understanding and controlling variations, and improving the predictability of business processes.
 
Obtaining the ISO 9001:2008 certification was a year-long process for Direct Group.  Ryan Malino, Director of Business Development for the company, said the certification should help communicate to customers the company’s genuine commitment to quality.  “This important recognition, along with our training and other quality initiatives, really helps demonstrate to customers that both our people and our processes are focused on quality,” said Malino. “We know that, especially in this economic environment, quality is more important to our customers now than ever before.”