Document EvGp2ebKXybnXJvZXbm19Ok3j

CHEMICAL WEEK. November 10, 1993 page 67 MONSANTO REACHES A MILESTONE WITH FULL PLANT ISO REGISTRATION Improved training, employee confidence are benefits onsanto's Anniston, AL Ther- tice. A pre-assessment visit by the out Mminol functional fluids plant is side auditors turned up gaps in instru the company's first entire plant ment calibration--specifically, the site to receive ISO registration. Plnaenetd to periodically check that instru manager Bill DeFer says the pathmteonts measuring certification began with a total quality properties such as steering committee with total plant in viscosity are prop volvement. followed by a gap analysis erly calibrated using quality program and ISO 9000 against a reliable, standards. objective measure. A key challenge was to set up a "We had to make quality system framework without cre sure what we use to ating unnecessary paperwork burdens. check it against is "If you don't do it right, it can make traceable back to something that's real vour life miserable later on." DeFer ly right. The documentation and trace says. Documentation and other efforts ability was a change for us," DeFer were focused on areas that give value says. directly to the customer or add to the The need to document all training smoother operation of the plant, he received by employees "sounds sim adds. ple. but it's not." DeFer says. "We've Next came documenting all proce got people who've been here 20 or 30 dures. such as loading trucks with fin years." and determining the details of ished product and measuring through their training history is no easy task-- self-auditing any differences between many of them were simply "grandfa established procedure and actual prac thered in." The plant's previous train- CHEMICAL WEEK November 10, 1993 page 68 ing mix of classroom time and on-the- job learning has been replaced by "very' rigorous training program requirements for each division in the plant," DeFer says. Looking at the newest batch of employees he sees "obvious differenc es. The professionalism of the training has increased," as has the confidence level of the newer employees, he savs. "You can tell the difference." Certification came at the end of Sep tember. along with a warning from the assessor. "If I come back on the next visit and find everything just the way it is, I'm not going to be able to continue the registration," the assessor said, underscoring the importance of con tinuous im provement-- an aspect of quality man agement that should result from internal audits and corrective ac tion elements of the ISO standard. The Annis ton plant is also a Star DeFer: Traceability key. plant in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's voluntary worker protection program. Monsanto is committed to reaching that top level at all its plants by the end of 1997, says a spokesperson, who adds that two more plants expect ISO certi fication in the first quarter of next vear. NOTHING UNUSUAL In addition to the Anniston plant, this year has brought four other ISO 9002 registrations for Monsanto: the Pensacola Vvdvne ny lon operations in February-: the Indian Orchard (Springfield. MA) plant's Saflex interlayer for glass operation in September: the Newport, Wales De quest water treatment operations in September: and the Chocolate Bayou (Alvin, TX) Therminol raw materials operations in October. ]ohn Henshaw, director/quality and compliance assurance in Monsanto's corporate environmental safety and health group, says that as part of Mon santo's total quality program, "we're in the throes of examining how we're doing in managing environmental pro grams and how to measure them-- whether we're meeting our goals and objectives." Nothing unusual has turned up, he says, just the need for fine tuning and "wider communica tion of the process, wider acceptance and wider responsibility for managing environmental programs and for ac complishing our goals, from the plant line operator to senior management." With an eye to the ISO environmen tal standards in the works. DeFer says that with all such quality management systems, whether they focus on safety or the environment, "the thrust is the same: document what you do. Push the ownership of the quality or safety sys tem down to the lowest level of the organization. That's the key and the synergy for what you do with all these programs." RONALD BEGLEY DSW 133517 STLCOPCB4033475