Quality and Compliance

Overview

'Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten' (Gucci family slogan)

Customers and consumers need to be assured of quality standards in their purchased goods and services. At SerCom Solutions, we have blazed a pioneering trail where quality standards are concerned. We were the first indigenous Irish company within our sector to obtain ISO 9000 in 1988 and we were also the first to be awarded the Environmental Management System - ISO14000 certification. Obviously, we have updated these awards and maintain the most up-to-date standards. We have also been awarded OHSAS 18001, which is an international occupational health and safety management system specification. This is part of SerCom's drive to properly manage, in all respects, the health and safety of our employees and we continue to lead our competitors in this regard.

Our stringent standards for our internal operations and that of our suppliers have served both ourselves and our customers well for almost thirty years. These standards are attained consistently and globally through deployment of robust processes, a 'right first time' ethos and highly qualified staff positioned throughout our global supply chain.

Sourcing goods from China can pose challenges for many organisations. We at SerCom have been sourcing from China and the broader Asian region for more than fifteen years. Our existing supplier evaluation methodology is supplemented with local knowledge and skills to ensure quality and control. We have also expanded our highly skilled quality team in Shenzhen whose priority is to manage supplier quality at source.

In addition to ongoing quality control services, performance and reliability testing are key requirements for specific components and products. Some of SerCom's clients require us to provide this service due to our experience at managing this process, and our success at gaining regulatory approval for a wide range of products (examples include CE, UL, SCC, CSA, Bluetooth Certification & Made for iPod).

In general, we conduct pilot programmes for all new suppliers and components prior to qualification. Initial shipments of products and components are inspected at source to ensure any issues are found and dealt with quickly and without impact to our customers. In some cases we work collaboratively with our customers on a directed buy basis - the customer may in this instance provide specific part and supplier approvals.

Continuous improvement is a way of life for us at SerCom. We have continued to enhance our processes and capabilities as our business has grown. Our expansion into new commodities and products required us to add skills, equipment and supporting processes. Quality assurance is always a central part of each new activity. In recent years we introduced a Lean Six Sigma program and many of our staff are now certified Green Belts.

SerCom's customers can be assured of an excellent, metric-driven management system for their products and 2nd tier suppliers. Tactical execution is successfully managed by our own Supply Chain function with strong local resources close to the source of supply.