Far East District is ISO recertified

Published Feb. 13, 2012
(Left to right) Kim Myong-son, FED Utilities and Services Branch, Walt Thompson, LRQA, and Kevin Shanahan, discuss some of the quality management processes of the Utilities and Services Branch Feb. 7.

(Left to right) Kim Myong-son, FED Utilities and Services Branch, Walt Thompson, LRQA, and Kevin Shanahan, discuss some of the quality management processes of the Utilities and Services Branch Feb. 7.

SEOUL, Republic of Korea — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Far East District was recertified during the ISO 9001 audit Feb. 6-10.  The new certificate will be issued in April.

The District successfully passed the week long recertification audit and was recommended by Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) Ltd. for continued certification of FED’s entire business processes under ISO 9001 standards.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the largest international organization for developing standards and LRQA is authorized to conduct audits as an ISO registrar.  ISO 9001 is an internationally recognized quality management system standard and the preferred solution for over half a million organizations in 159 countries.

When products work well and safely it is because they meet standards.  FED must demonstrate to its customers that its products will continuously meet customer satisfaction and applicable regulatory requirements. ISO 9001 contains a standardized set of requirements for implementing a quality management system.

“A successful quality management system is really about a workplace cultural philosophical shift,” said Walter Thompson of LRQA.  “QMS is not a program but a way of conducting business each day and every day.”

There are two types of auditing required to become registered to the ISO 9001 standard: auditing by an external certification body (external audit) and by internal staff trained for this process (internal audits).

The District recently underwent an external audit which is conducted in three-year cycles.  Thompson and his assistant, Jeff Sherman, also of LRQA, traveled to FED Headquarters and to the area offices throughout Korea to inspect every staff business process.

The auditors found FED personnel to be knowledgeable of their respective functional area requirements and understood how their areas supported the entire FED mission.

They also found that FED had several processes that showed evidence of using continuous improvement techniques to enhance customer service and provide products and services in a more efficient and effective manner.