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Thermoseal News
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Thermoseal Industries, LLC, LLC, Achieves ISO 9001:2000 Certification
On June 29, 2004, Thermoseal Industries, LLC, LLC of Gloucester City, NJ, achieved another milestone in its recent history of continuing improvements in quality, technology and customer service.
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On our FIRST ATTEMPT, following 9 months of intense effort by our entire organization, we were recommended for ISO 9001:2000 certification by our outside auditor, KEMA - Registered Quality, Inc., of Chalfont, PA, USA. We received our formal certification effective July 8, 2004.
Our individual auditor, an experienced ISO auditor with specific glass industry experience, indicated that he was "most impressed with our Company, our employees, our management team, and our overall commitment to the principles of ISO certification." He was especially impressed that we were able to accomplish this tremendous achievement during our first audit, and on such an aggressive timeline for implementation.
We are very proud of our people and our operation, and we hope that our customers and suppliers alike will recognize this achievement, as well as our compliance with this internationally recognized standard of quality management processes. In recognition of this achievement, our employees were rewarded with an additional paid holiday over the Fourth of July holiday weekend — a fitting tribute to their hard work and enthusiasm for this initiative.
We believe that this is one more "feather in our cap" in terms of the value that we bring to our customers, and the discipline we look for in our suppliers. While ISO 9001:2000 certification certainly does not mean that we have perfect quality, it does mean that we have the systems and procedures in place to recognize our shortcomings, and to work to continuously improve these shortcomings, to prevent defective products from being shipped, and ultimately, from being produced in the first place.
We are committed to operating by the principles embodied in the ISO standard, and we look forward to continuing to serve our customers to the best of our abilities, and in compliance to these demanding standards.
CONGRATULATIONS to the people of Thermoseal Industries, LLC, LLC on a well-deserved accomplishment!
* ISO 9001:2000 Quality Systems Certification is an internationally recognized certification to demanding standards. This registration is held by only a small minority of companies around the world. At the end of 2002, the International Standards Organization (ISO) reported that there were approximately 167,000 of these certificates issued to date on a worldwide basis, and only 4,600 to date had been issued in the USA. To put this in perspective, according to the US Census Bureau at the end of 2001, there were more than 5 million firms registered in the USA! So, this means that Gloucester City's own Thermoseal Industries, LLC, is now part of a very exclusive group of world-class companies.
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Quality
In July 2007, Thermoseal successfully completed its ISO 9001-2000 recertification without a single non-conformance. Since our initial certification in July 2004, we have never has a major non-conformance during any interim audits. This is an accomplishment we are proud of, and that is not easily duplicated.
On May 9, 2005, and again on Nov. 7, 2005, Thermoseal successfully passed our follow up audits with KEMA, and we retained our ISO 9001:2000 certification with flying colors. Furthermore, we passed both follow up audits with no major findings. In addition to this achievement, we have maintained our Insulating Glass Certification Council (IGCC) "CBA" rating on our insulating glass unit designs. The IGCC-"CBA" rating is the highest independently-audited product quality rating that is available in the insulating glass industry.
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Personnel
Dan Henry was promoted from within the organization and now is production supervisor at the door plant.
In May 2007, Tom Myers rejoined Thermoseal as its new Manufacturing Manager for Insulating Glass Operations. Tom is a veteran Thermoseal manager, and returns to us from a stint at Patriot Manufacturing in Hammonton, NJ.
In March 2007, Paul Hinson joined Thermoseal as its new Plant Manager. Paul is a seasoned window and door production manager, with deep experience in lean manufacturing and quality control. He comes to us from Patriot Manufacturing, one of the MW group of window manufacturing companies.
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Operations
In December 2005, we completed the installation of a new overhead crane system which significantly increased the size of raw glass we can handle. This improvement now allows Thermoseal to accommodate factory-supplied Stoce-pak or V-pak glass instead of handling large lites of glass in wood crates. This change also now allows Thermoseal to accommodate uncut factory-supplied raw glass lites up to 108" x 144".
During the Summer of 2005, Thermoseal purchased and installed a state-of-the-art automated screen printing press, and we simultaneously upgraded our altitude compensation chamber to accommodate the higher temperatures necessary to cure a wide variety of polymer paints used in the decorating of glass and in the application of electrically-conductive bus bars for our broad range of heated insulating glass products. We now can offer a complete range of decorated glass to our customers in all industry segments.
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Facilities
In January 2007, Thermoseal completed the purchase of its current 60,000 square foot property, and initiated the long-awaited facility renovations shortly thereafter. Combined with the nearby offsite leased warehousing and manufacturing facilities, Thermoseal now controls approximately 90,000 square feet of property that is used in the production of insulating glass and insulating glass door systems for clients in the commercial refrigeration and glazing industries.
In June 2006, Thermoseal completed its move into nearly 30,000 square feet of additional offsite warehousing and manufacturing space, with approximately 15,000 square feet allocated to raw materials, and 15,000 square feet allocated to door operations.
In early 2005, we procured approximately 7,000 square feet of local warehouse space for the storage of raw materials and finished goods, and in February 2006, we will move into a 15,000 square foot local warehouse, bringing our total operating square footage to well in excess of 50,000 square feet.
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Product & Technology
In March 2007, Thermoseal went into full production of its patent-pending welded PVC sliding glass door system for refrigerated bottle cooler applications. This system represents a huge advancement in sliding glass door technology for the commercial refrigeration industry, and we expect to receive robust patent protection for this invention, particularly in light of its numerous novel features. More designs are "in the works" that leverage this new technology, and we anticipate launching numerous new products in 2008.
Throughout 2005, the development team at Thermoseal has been working on several exciting new products that will be introduced in 2006, including a new warm edge spacer system with special inert gas filling accommodation, development of proprietary state-of-the-art swing and sliding glass door technology for select customers, and new developments in electrically-heated insulating glass that help support reduction or elimination of edge condensation on electrically-heated glass. We expect all of these products to be protected with patents, since they represent new innovations in the commercial refrigeration and foodservice equipment industry.
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Lean Manufacturing
In 2006 and 2007, top managers from Thermoseal completed Lean Manufacturing Green Belt Training at Lockheed-Martin's training facilities in Moorestown, NJ. This is a top-rated program for Lean Manufacturing, and we are putting our training into action as part of our More, Better, Faster, Cheaper management mantra.
As you can see from the many initiatives and investments above, we have continued our longstanding efforts to develop Thermoseal into an industry-leading commercial insulating glass company. We will continue to update you regarding the many changes we are making.
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