Cooper Kenda Facility Ready for ISO Certification

Cooper Tire reports that Smithers Quality Assessments lead auditor Ricker Zoller recently conducted an ISO 9001:2000 stage one audit at its Cooper Kenda Tire facility in Kunshan, China. This stage one audit, the company adds, is comparable to the pre-certification audits that North American plants underwent in spring 2008 in preparation for their actual certification audits. The certification audit at Cooper Kenda Tire is scheduled for July.

Following the four-day inspection, the auditor commented that he found “no issues that would prevent Cooper Kenda Tire from obtaining its certification.” This positive feedback comes after half a year of preparation for ISO auditing, a time in which department leaders and employees have been engaged in establishing proper procedure documents. Cooper states that employees have developed all the required systems, such as document control, internal audit, corrective and preventive action and calibration systems.

Earning ISO certification will benefit CKT in enterprise management, product quality, competitive strength, market share, customer satisfaction and brand strategy, commented Cooper Kenda Tire General Manager Jim Fitzgerald said.