Getting to the heart of the matter
Trisa from Triengen is on everyone's lips worldwide. The comprehensively certified traditional Swiss company produces over one million toothbrushes every day. Quality is ensured by over 1000 employees and a proven electronic assistant.
Management and quality at the same top level? At the toothbrush and hairbrush manufacturer Trisa in Triengen, they are convinced that it is all a question of will, the right networking and the targeted inclusion of employees in all company processes. But what does "proper" networking mean in a company that, in addition to ISO 9001 and 14001, also complies with BRC and ISO 13485 (quality management for medical products) and has also adopted OHSAS 18001 (occupational health and safety) and FSC conformity (use of wood from environmentally and socially responsible forestry)?
Quality must be allowed
If you want to work as efficiently as possible, you first have to make this possible. That's why more and more companies are turning to electronic quality management. Used correctly, such programs bring tailor-made security and cost optimization. However, Laura Haasmann, Head of Business Excellence at Trisa, makes it clear: "You really have to want change. And there's no point in polishing up an outdated Q system that nobody wants to work with anyway. For this reason, we decided to make a fresh start in 2012".
"Well-trained employees have room to think for themselves."
Solid software, seamless file management
The electronic quality manager IQSoft from IQS AG in Zofingen was chosen. Haasmann: "We live a healthy mix of comprehensive control and employee involvement. IQSoft enabled us to visually model and display a comprehensive process map. We call it the Trisa Atlas. For this map we have so far centrally stored around 1000 processes and 2300 documents from our various companies. This includes standard values, customer requirements, everything relating to occupational safety or environmental management, forms, checklists, training courses, certificates, contracts and so on. The whole thing is designed to be comprehensive and traceable. We recently started giving external auditors open access to this system before the actual audit date. This works very well".
At Trisa, we know that the best quality can only be achieved if everyone can participate. Laura Haasmann also emphasizes the importance of consistent employee integration: "If necessary, we send new people to German courses so that everyone can talk to each other. After all, people from over 30 nations work in our team.
Clear rules, clean documentation
"We have many production facilities. Thanks to our software, we now know at any time who is qualified for which job and who has to do which training or further education. Everything is linked to the CIP and the action planning. Recurring training courses are automatically initiated. I'm thinking specifically of all areas of occupational safety and the regulations surrounding ISO 13485. We wouldn't have to implement this standard everywhere. But we want to and we do."
Ideas from all sides
Well-trained employees have room to think for themselves. Trisa makes use of this and relies on the IQSoft modules "Ideas Management " in combination with "Opportunities for Improvement". Employees with access to a PC record their input online. Idea forms are available in the production area, which are also readily used and recorded by a specially trained employee. Every three months a review is carried out to see what has been achieved. Outstanding contributions are regularly awarded prizes, and the names of the winners are published. The implementation rate? Not high enough yet, says perfectionist Haasmann. She would like to achieve more.
Quality management from the bird's eye view
Laura Haasmann as division manager, her quality manager Mathias Jaros as operational manager and a clerk regulate the application of IQSoft in the entire company: "The weekly pending list of all company divisions provided by IQSoft is always about 15 pages long. I appreciate this overview. No important document can or should slip past us. However, the following responsibilities are organized decentrally. We have decided quite specifically who may, can or should do what. It's not about overburdening people by randomly assigning responsibilities. We encourage!"
cross-departmental collaboration
Human Resources and Production therefore sit down at the same table at Trisa as do the Contract and Legal Departments. Whenever a process is to be improved, the motto is cooperation. Whether customer management, supplier care, internal messages or changed audit conditions: The Trisa Atlas, the process map mentioned at the beginning and conceived and designed by Mathias Jaros with IQSoft, is the reference point for seamless networking.
Everything go perfectly?
"We asked for great variability when we bought our management program. We got that." Laura Haasmann smiles: "At first we were almost overwhelmed. So many possibilities. On the other hand, useful things often only come to mind when you're 'on it' and working with the program. Then you always want more. In any case, I'm already looking forward to the introduction of the next module".
"People from more than 30 nations we send to German courses if needed."
implement a lot at the same time. The parallel implementation of ISO 13485 and IQSoft was lush. But fortunately I feel comfortable with the program and also with the people behind it. You can sense creativity and that something is constantly moving. We wanted a system that would support us rather than burden us. Our electronic quality manager has, as they say, delivered."
A little more shine, please!
So is Laura Haasmann happy as a clam? Not quite. She thinks the graphical evaluation should be more attractive. Hans-Peter Kost, Chairman of the Board of IQS AG, is aware of this wish: "This adjustment is at the top of our list of priorities. Just like a whole series of other further developments. Our product never becomes obsolete.
This is what Laura Haasmann has in mind: "We ourselves are constantly developing, just like the software. We make quality with IQSoft because it's good and the IQS AG team goes along with it. Risks decrease measurably with such a program. Processes become simpler. But some fine adjustments take time. From this perspective, only the everyday use of an electronic quality manager makes it clear how far sustainable optimization can actually take effect.