Quality: The Foundation and Cornerstone of Global Plastics

Quality is a word every business uses in reference to itself or its products and services. Whether it’s backed up by the systems and protocols required to ensure it happens is the differentiating factor between a real commitment to quality and just paying lip service to the concept. At Global Plastics, our holistic approach to quality is the foundation upon which everything we do has been built, and the cornerstone that ensures what we’ve built remains securely in place as we move forward.

Something we realized early on in our understanding of quality is that the system and protocols we’ve developed and adopted related to quality are applied to every single project, regardless of size or scope. This consistency in the application of our quality system is how our customer clients know the end result for the simplest injection molded plastic part to the most complex medical component or assembly will meet the highest quality standards possible. The way we demonstrate our focus on and devotion to quality is through the various certifications we have achieved.

What’s important to know about these certifications is that they prove we have met rigorous global standards for ensuring quality in the way we run our business. These certifications can only be achieved by submitting evidence showing we adhere to the standards. It is not a “one-and-done” process. There is continual monitoring and auditing to ensure we are maintaining compliance with these standards. They include an emphasis on continuous improvement to ensure we keep evolving and improving in an ever-changing landscape.

Our experience has been that these standards do in fact ensure quality in the results, which is why we have incorporated these standards throughout all our operations. They help us achieve quality, successful outcomes for our customer clients.

ISO 9000 is a set of standards that delineate the kinds of quality management systems (QMS) a business should have in place to ensure meeting the needs of customers and other stakeholders while also meeting the regulatory requirements related to any given product or service. These are the fundamentals of QMS, including the seven principles of quality management that undergird the entire family of standards. ISO 9001 specifically spells out various requirements a business must fulfill to meet the standard, which will then be confirmed by a third-party certification body, including the demonstration of continual improvement.

Global Plastics is committed to ISO 9001 certification because independent studies have confirmed their implementation has resulted in better operational and financial performance, which has also been the case in our own experience. Here’s a link to the PDF of our current ISO 9001 certification:

While ISO 9001 are general standards for quality management that can apply across a broad range of products and services, ISO 13485 is a more specific and comprehensive set of standards for the design and manufacture of medical devices. Important focal points include quality system regulation for medical devices sold in the United States, which is something enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), work environment controls to ensure product safety, risk management and design control during product development, and many specific requirements related to particular types of products such as implants, sterile devices, product cleanliness, and so on. An ISO 13485 certificate is good for three years with annual surveillance auditing. Here’s a link to the PDF of our current ISO 13485 certification:

For any business who wants to be part of the automotive industry supply chain, such as being on the bid list of International Automotive Task Force (IATF) supply chain manufacturers, then ISO/TS 16949 (also called IATF 16949) certification must be obtained. Its quality management systems are especially focused on continual improvement that places emphasis on defect prevention, minimizing variation, and reducing waste. A certificate is good for three years but must also be confirmed at least annually during that period. Here’s a link to the PDF of our current IATF 16949 certification:

The Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification is a system to address quality management as it relates to products with any food safety implications. Its standards are applied in a comprehensive assurance, assessment, and audit program recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). There are three levels of SQF certification. Level 1 SQF covers the fundamentals of food-safety controls, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and Good Distribution Practices (GDPs). Level 2 SQF adds in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) risk assessment and implementation for a food-safety plan. Level 3 SQF goes even further by focusing not only on food safety but also food quality to ensure action is taken to rectify poor quality or contamination through the HACCP process. Our certification scope falls in the categories of manufacture of food sector packaging materials and plastic molded food closures. Here’s a link to the PDF of our current SQF certification: