Bulletin Board

It was in February 2005, David Pender asked Katherine Beaver to his office. As she entered his
office she was asked to close the door. This is usually a sign that a serious conversation is about
to happen.....and it was. "Katherine", David said, as you know this company has been blessed
with tremendous growth over the years, but if we want to continue growing we must become
ISO certified. "Yes, she replied. I know we've had many conversations about it, but have never
committed to doing it". "Well, that has changed" - He said. The two had a very long conversation
about why it was so important to the business future of American Tool & Die and what a total
commitment to achieving ISO certification meant.

They were both in total agreement and understanding of such an endeavor. David went on to tell
Katherine that the actual commitment had been made weeks earlier, but he had been pondering
over who would be the best person to nominate as the ISO Management Representative. "It's you
Katherine" - He said. I think you would be the best person to manage the project and see it
through to certification. "Would you accept the challenge?" - He asked.

Katherine accepted the challenge without hesitation. The time frame for achieving certification
was one year. She immediately started putting her plan together. Like any effective manager, she
started assembling a good team. First she called on her good friend and associate manager Tina
Hutto to assist her in the endeavor. Tina also said yes without hesitation.

A certified ISO Auditor was contacted to assist. They worked tirelessly. When necessary they
came in early, stayed late, and worked on weekends. When Katherine and Tina were not being
trained by the auditor, they were training themselves. Everyone was trained and sometimes
re-trained. A team of internal auditors would join in the audit process and they too did all that
was necessary to achieve the goal.

The months went by very fast! The time for the certification audit was almost here. It was
crunch time and that's exactly what Katherine called for from everyone. She grabbed the bull by
the horns and didn't let go!! She did it!! We passed! We passed!