Metaflex is a specialist in airtight doors, door systems and advanced vending machines for the healthcare, food and pharma industries. Metaflex doors can be found in more than 60 countries and more than 5 million people walk through them every day. Yet beyond that business scale, the human touch is still very much present in the Aalten company. Asked about the character of the company, QHSE & IT Manager Jos Ariens first mentions the social commitment. This translates primarily into striving for happy employees, who function well and are treated fairly.
What was the challenge?
Metaflex is also an innovative company. Metaflex doors can be airtight, smoke-resistant, water-resistant, fire-resistant or radiation-resistant, but also gas-tight, noise-reducing or resistant to low temperatures. The requirements associated with these special functions are becoming increasingly demanding, and the company must keep up with that. In that light, we don't need to explain that managing product and organizational quality is a challenge in itself. A good quality management system like that of ISO2HANDLE helps tremendously in this regard.
When Jos Ariens became responsible for Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE), he had a clear vision: quality management okay, but new style. The quality manager does not sit on an island and is not busy managing his self-made manual. There is no Quality department, because everyone in the organization is responsible for quality. The goal, according to Jos, was to make quality a living subject that everyone is actively working on every day.
The existing structure consisted of a quality manual in a SharePoint-like environment, which was very difficult to change and for hefty consulting fees. That environment was also not optimal from an information security point of view. After an extensive orientation and several demos, ISO2HANDLE emerged as the new facilitator for quality and risk management.
