Interduct, with operations in the U.K., Canada, and Malta, has always been a leader in the area of duct cleaning, having worked hard to achieve a reputation of being the industry’s premiere quality service provider. That reputation includes a long list of blue chip clients known for their stringent and comprehensive quality standards, such as the British Airport Authority.

(From right to left-) Mickey Jawa, Astrid Bruce, Bill Duffy

Jim Bruce, the President of Interduct, was still unsatisfied, and so the company examined several quality improvement tools that might help Interduct raise the competitive bar for exceptional and reliable service quality. After considering several options, Jim chose to register the organization’s operations in the U.K. and Canada to the ISO 9001:2000 quality management standard. In part, ISO 9001 was chosen because of the world-wide acceptance of the ISO system of quality standards. The Interduct management team felt that registering to the ISO 9001 standard would finally bring external recognition for Interduct’s outstanding achievements in the area of service excellence. ISO 9001 also requires that Interduct demonstrate improvements in the level of quality delivered to their clients, a key objective, as the Interduct team was determined to maintain and enhance its leadership position in the area of service quality.

After interviewing prospective ISO consultants, the Interduct team chose SatiStar, a Canadian consulting company that had successfully registered nearly 800 sites around the world. SatiStar convinced the Interduct team that their extensive ISO experience, combined with SatiStar’s focus on process improvement, would result in a QMS that would be more than a banner on Interduct’s building. It would be just the tool that Interduct needed to drive further business improvement. Furthermore, SatiStar’s unique and rapid methodology would enable Interduct to being using their new quality management system to drive improvement that much sooner.

Following 3 months of hard work, Interduct was awarded their ISO 9001 registration from Underwriters’ Laboratories. Upon reflection, the Interduct team is very pleased with the impact of their new quality system.

“Achieving ISO registration was far less onerous than we thought,” said Astrid Bruce, Interduct’s Manager. “Our employees really rallied to the cause. The registration effort really brought us closer together as a team, and SatiStar really came through for us when we needed them.

Sara Prue, the General Manager of Interduct’s U.K. operations adds, “ISO has made a significant difference in the way that we do things. Before ISO we always did a lot of performance measuring, but now, we are much better at using the data that we collect to drive quality improvement. We publish our results and review performance data with our representatives.”

“It has become an educational process for our service technicians,” says Grant Marshall, the Service Manager for Interduct’s U.K. operations. “Now our service technicians can identify the root cause of service problems and use that improved understanding to better their future performance.”

“The Interduct team are exceptionally proud of their achievement,” says Jim Bruce. “And I think that the company now commands even more respect in the marketplace for our outstanding quality because of our ISO registration. It lets the world know what we knew all along.”