Minneapolis - Japs-Olson Company, one of the country's 10 largest commercial printing and direct mail production firms, has received the ISO 9001:2008 certification.  ISO 9001 provides organizations with useful, internationally recognized models for operating a quality management system.  The company was assessed and approved by National Quality Assurance, U.S.A.
 
This is the first time that Japs-Olson Company has received the ISO certification, which will be effective through October 2012.  Currrently over 50,000 organizations in North America are certified to the ISO 9001 standard.
 
"An ISO certification is unusual for commercial printers and rather unique for those in the direct mail industry because the standards for a quality management system are very rigorous," said Japs-Olson CEO Mike Beddor.  "Our company has always had a commitment to provide customers with excellent service and products.  The ISO certification is a natural extension of our Lean Manufacturing Continuous Improvement program that we instituted four years ago.
 
"Using the Continuous Improvement program as a model helped us achieve certification status in record time.  Customers recognize that an ISO certification means that Japs-Olson has documented and verifiable standards in place throughout our service, procurement and production systems.  ISO also validates the training and corrective action programs we have in place which are proactive rather than reactive."
 
ISO 9001 was originally published in 1987 by the International Organization for Standardization, a worldwide federation of national standards bodies, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.  The organization was founded in 1946 to develop a common set of standards for manufacturing, trade and communications.
 
"Your fine management system has proven itself in a thorough audit by professional registration auditors," said Kristine King, president of QPA (Quality Process Associates) Inc., which worked with Japs-Olson during the certification process.  "Those auditors evaluated Japs-Olson's processes and systems and found that they are well-planned, disciplined and ensure all parts of the organization communicate effectively to meet customer requirements."