Gustafson LLC manufacturing plants recently passed audits to maintain their ISO 9002 certifications.

Gustafson plants at Marsing, Idaho, and Des Moines, Iowa, and the Trace Chemicals plant at Pekin, Illinois, met all requirements for passing their ISO 9002 re-assessment audits. ISO 9002 is a set of universal standards for a quality assurance system that is accepted by some 90 nations around the world.

The plants were officially certified to the ISO 9002 standard in November 1996 by the Quality Management Institute (OMI), a division of the Canadian Standards Association.

"A facility must undergo an annual re-assessment by the registration body to maintain its registration under the ISO standard," said John Gessick, Gustafson's quality manager/ISO facilitator. Gessic said the reviews assure that each site maintains its quality system, follows standard operating procedures and demonstrates evidence of continuous improvement.

Ed Dydo, the lead auditor for QMI, said the Gustafson plants continue to conform with all aspects of the ISO 9002 standard. During his week-long audit of the Gustafson plants, Dydo found the company to be in full compliance with the Quality System and found no discrepancies in the company's documentation or record-keeping systems.

"Mr. Dydo was extremely impressed by our people and our commitment to maintaining high quality standards," Gessick said. "We at Gustafson are proud of our accomplishment so far and will continue to deliver to our customers the high level of quality and service they have come to expect from Gustafson."

Gustafson LLC, based in Dallas, Texas, is the nation's leading researcher, manufacturer and marketer of seed treatment technologies and application equipment.

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