Axicor
Celebrates Reaching Quality Pinnacle
NC State
Assists Defense Contractor to Become ISO 9001 Registered
LUMBERTON (September 2, 2008) – Hiram Hester,
president and program manager of Axicor, Inc., held up a photocopy
of the ISO 9001 certificate of compliance his company received in
July because “it’s so valuable they wouldn’t let me have the
original.” The audience of staff, managers, local economic
developers and a mayor, all laughed.
About 60 people
gathered for lunch at the Quality Inn to celebrate defense
contractor Axicor’s achievement of reaching the ISO 9001
quality management system certification
milestone. The certification of a management system based
on ISO 9001 (formerly the International Standard Organization)
means that processes are fully defined, implemented consistently,
and that there is a self-auditing process to assure long-term
sustainable results. Certification
to ISO 9001 is now a requirement for most government contracts.
“We can remain
in the competitive game,” Hester said. “If we weren’t
certified, we would not be competitive.”
Axicor used the
services of the
North Carolina
State
University
Industrial Extension Service
(IES) to reach ISO 9001 certification. In honor of that successful
collaboration, extension specialists Nora Milley and Alex Reed
presented a banner to Axicor. “It’s been a long journey, but
it’s actually paying off,” Milley said as the banner was
unfurled. In return, Hester presented her with a plaque in
appreciation for her services.
Based in
Bladenboro, Axicor sends staff to military bases in
North Carolina
and
Kentucky
to rebuild mobile kitchen trailers, portable shower units, mobile
fabric repair shops, trailer mounted laundry units, parachutes,
generators and trailers. They also provide maintenance and
modification for the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle
and other "rolling stock.”
Hester told the group that he had learned at a conference a
week earlier that contractors needed to be ISO 9001 certified or
120 days from ISO 9001 certification even to be considered.
“This is one of the happiest days for Axicor,” he said. He
credited the Lumber River
Council of Governments for the $35,000 grant that made it
possible to pursue the ISO 9001 implementation process that would
keep Axicor in business.
Beginning in
January, 2007, QMS (Quality Management System) specialist Milley
began a series of visits to Axicor’s home office in Bladenboro
that would continue for the next 18 months. “This was a
life-changing experience for our company,” Hester said. “Alex
Reed first got us going and Nora is like part of our family, but
she’s tough.”
IES
is the outreach function of
North Carolina
State
University
’s
College
of
Engineering
. We help new
businesses grow and good businesses get better. We work with
industries from the coast to the mountains, from 1,000 feet
underground to 30,000 feet up, and we deliver results in quality,
productivity, safety, environmental protection, energy management,
and top-line growth. In 2007, working with IES typically
offered a return on investment of $13 for every dollar spent by
our client companies.
