Florida MEP: Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2005

For more information please contact:
Gene Lussier
Board Chair, Florida MEP
321-939-4000

Florida MEP Helps Jacksonville Firm Get ISO Certification

JACKSONVILLE, FL - CF Machine & Tool Co. of Jacksonville has been noted for the manufacture and repair of precision machine parts since its inception in 1986, but company officials recently felt a need to become ISO certified in order to retain and attract new contracts.

"A lot of our customers have been asking recently about ISO certification," said Christy Brooks, internal auditor at CF Machine & Tool Co. "Although we have always maintained the highest quality in our procedures and believed we were ISO compliant, we felt it was time to go through the formal certification process."

Company owners Earl and Cindy Hildebrand believe strongly in the ISO program and contacted the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Florida MEP) as the first step in becoming ISO 9001 certified.

"We are quite experienced in leading companies through the ISO certification process," said Maria Alfano, director of operations for the Florida MEP.

"We are also affordable for companies of all sizes," she added, "and our project managers were delighted to work with Christy Brooks and the employees at CF Machine & Tool."

While the process to become ISO certified entailed a lot of hard work, time and effort, it was definitely worth it, according to Brooks.

"I knew we needed to document all our procedures in order to become certified," Brooks said, "and the Florida MEP project managers helped us make our 11 employees understand the necessity for certification and the process we were about to undertake."

The company began the certification process in January of 2004 and received its certification in September. "It really went quite well," said Brooks, "and the MEP project managers were there at all times to assist us and help move us along in the right direction."

Brooks said the Florida MEP project managers were knowledgeable, easy to work with and took time to understand the company philosophy and what it was hoping to accomplish throughout the certification process and beyond.

"They really got us organized and made sure our documentation and procedures were correct," Brooks said. "I would certainly recommend the Florida MEP to any company considering becoming ISO certified."

Brooks is pleased to have all CF procedures documented and believes the ISO certification will lead to new and diverse contracts for the company. "It was hard work going through the process," she said, "but the ISO certification will certainly help us in the future."

The Florida MEP is an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The national MEP is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Through MEP, manufacturers have access to more than 2000 manufacturing and business "coaches" whose job is to help firms make changes that lead to greater productivity, increased profits, and enhanced global competitiveness. For more information on the Florida MEP program call 321-939-4000.

-END-

####