Efficient processes are the vital signs of a successful business. This is the philosophy of Pitney Bowes South Africa, which pride itself on its service levels and capacity to add value to customers’ businesses.
The company, a leading provider of customer communication technologies, has proven that its management systems are on a par with its parent company, Pitney Bowes International, by acquiring ISO 9001:2008 certification.
This standard is based on quality management principles, including a strong customer focus, the motivation and involvement of top management, and a process mind-set which looks to continual improvement.
“Achieving the ISO certification meant taking a hard look at our entire system, and analysing the ways in which we could both simplify and optimise our existing processes,” says Luigi Pistilli, service manager at Pitney Bowes South Africa.
“ISO does not change procedures, but it gives recognition to our work ethic, and guarantees best practice a level of service excellence for our customers,” he adds.
“Achieving the ISO 9001 standards for management systems was important to the company as it generates quality and measurable processes. These processes, in turn, provide measurable and quality services to our customers, which includes optimising customer interaction during the sales cycle, ” says Michael Springer, MD of Pitney Bowes South Africa.
He continues: “Using ISO 9001:2008 helps to ensure that our customers get consistently high quality products and services which, in turn, bring many benefits to their own businesses. This is the cornerstone of our success.”
The company specialises in offering software, mail stream solutions and office equipment to help businesses communicate with their customers more effectively and drive profitable growth.
There are many other benefits of being ISO certified, including optimal stock management and improved levels of collaboration between management and staff, according to Springer.
“There has to be buy-in from all our people with regards to quality management systems,” he notes. “All managers have to ensure that processes are followed correctly – this is crucial to maintaining optimum workflow.
“In achieving on-going workable systems, we set our own objectives, which we make sure are measurable and manageable,” he explains.
Achieving ISO status does not end there, says Pistilli. “There are on-going internal audits to ensure that requirements are being adhered to. We also conduct quarterly management reviews on our entire system whereby process owners take responsibility for their own individual management systems.”
“We have always documented the way we work, but ISO means we now have recognition for the quality systems we have in place. It is our way of guaranteeing the local market the best international service standards,” Springer concludes.