Fontaine Modification has earned ISO 9001:2015 certification for its Charlotte, N.C., flagship location. This certification is recognized around the world as the highest standard for manufacturing quality management, Fontaine says.
“We chose to pursue ISO certification as a proven means to take quality management at our Charlotte headquarters to the next level of excellence,” says Jamil Young, Fontaine Modification president. “ISO certification tightens our quality improvement process to help us deliver the exact modifications that our customers order and on their schedule.”
Fontaine’s state-of-the-art headquarters in Charlotte includes corporate offices, product development and innovation centers, and a full modification center that serves a nearby Freightliner plant with post-production truck upfits and modifications.
Fontaine contracted with North Carolina State University’s (NCSU) Industry Expansion Solutions group to help guide the team through the process. NCSU staff provided training on how to establish consistent processes for quality improvement.
Achieving certification required the Fontaine team to more robustly define how to establish, implement, maintain and continually improve a quality management system (QMS) for all work at the facility. The QMS covers post-production commercial vehicle modifications such as dual steering conversions, electric drivetrain installations and fleet corporate graphics applications, as well as work conducted by the product design, purchasing and sales departments.
“Our goal in pursuing ISO 9001:2015 certification was to better establish standard processes and learn how to use key tools to deliver higher-quality results to better serve the needs of our customers and employees,” says Jeff Pigg, Fontaine director of continuous improvement. “And it’s not one and done. ISO requires that we pass periodic audits of our quality program to show we continue to meet their standards.”
