Construction World September 2015

CEMENT AND CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY

ISO CERTIFICATION Lafarge South Africa’s Readymix business line has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 certification after a two year rigorous auditing procedure. This internationally highly-respected Quality

The core principle of the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System is accepting that the success of an organisation depends on its customers and it should focus on working closely with them to understand current needs, as well as anticipate how to add value to their businesses in the future. While traditionally being thought of as the sales team’s job, this principle has to be entrenched in the minds of staff at all levels of the company and their active contribution motivated at all times. QMS certification is by no means a once off exercise and requires continual vigilance, reinforcement and innovation to establish new and better ways of giving customer service. To ensure the standards are maintained at all levels of the organisation, Lafarge Readymix has established an internal team of auditors trained in the ISO processes and procedures. The ongoing validity of the ISO 9001:2008 certification is contingent upon their diligence and effectiveness being confirmed in spot surveillance audits by the SABS. “This has been a Lafarge Readymix team effort to enhance our standing in the marketplace and ensure continued growth our business,” says Lafarge South Africa’s Hennis van Zyl, area manager for concrete (Cape Town). “Everyone deserves congratulations for this successful outcome from their hard work and commitment: from the strong belief and leadership of our management to every member of our operating teams in ready-mix concrete plants throughout the country. Our appreciation also goes to our internal audit teams as well as the SABS.”

Management System (QMS) gives customers peace of mind by verifying that the procedures and people in the organisation are focused on continually meeting or exceeding customers’ expectations.

control to delivery and invoicing,” comments Anton Combrink, general manager of Lafarge South Africa’s Readymix business line. “It acknowledges that our company structure and the hard work we put into ensuring the effective control of all activities which are related, either directly or indirectly, to satisfying our customers are of a high international standard.” Lafarge South Africa is the local presence of the international Lafarge Group, a world leader in building materials. Lafarge’s commitment to use its unparalleled tech- nical strength to contribute products and solutions for Building better cities : cities that are more compact, have more housing, are more durable and better connected, while being more beautiful and desirable places for everyone to live in.

Handing over the ISO 9001:2008 certificate on 13 May 2015 at a ceremony held in Lafarge South Africa’s Johannesburg head office,

>

the Business Development Manager for the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Tony Fillmore said: “This certification is the foundation phase of entrenching quality management practices throughout your organisation. Now that it is in place you can build on it. Lafarge Readymix should now aim for the Environmental Management System ISO 14001 as the next step in the QMS certifi- cation process. “While one of the outcomes of the successful QMS certification process is reliable product quality, it actually embraces everything that we do to provide quality service to our customers, from raw material

50

From left: Anton Combrink (GM of the Lafarge Readymix business line); Hennis van Zyl (Lafarge Readymix – Concrete (Cape Town)); Tony Fillmore (business development manager, SABS); and Colin Sutcliffe (executive risk management solutions).

CONSTRUCTION WORLD SEPTEMBER 2015