Thursday, August 20, 2020

Scully Signal Company Completes Virtual Audit

Scully Signal Company was one of the first companies worldwide to successfully complete TÜV® Virtual Recertification Audit.


In April 2020, Scully Signal Company successfully completed a rigorous three-year recertification audit through TÜV USA, Inc., which is part of German-based TÜV NORD Group—one of the world’s most recognized ISO 9001 certification agencies.

Ed Sullivan, Certified QMS Lead Auditor, conducted an extensive, three-day virtual audit via Microsoft® Teams meetings, extensive document reviews, and real-time video footage of Scully’s processes and procedures. Mr. Sullivan audited Scully’s incoming inspection and manufacturing operations as well as Engineering, Customer Service, and other departmental standards throughout the company’s US-based facility.

“I was impressed,” said Mr. Sullivan. “We were able to review all of the procedures in great detail, and the level of commitment and support that all of the stakeholders showed at Scully was amazing. They have made a commitment to quality that is clearly evident throughout the company, from the CEO to the technicians on the factory floor. I was pleased to be one of the first TUV auditors to be involved in a virtual audit.”

Chris Hristov, Quality Assurance Manager at Scully, was instrumental in organizing the process and implementing technology to enable the virtual audit through online meetings, file transfers, and camera sharing. He stated, “As a diverse team, all of us at Scully bring unique perspectives to the challenges we face and welcome change and continuous improvement. Whether in person or virtually, we are committed to quality, innovation, and the organization’s heritage of protecting people and the environment.”

Scully has been ISO 9001 certified since 1996 and was one of the first organizations certified to the ISO 9001:2015 requirements in 2016. “We have a long history of commitment to quality and safety,” said CEO Katrina Scully Ohl. “It’s part of our DNA, so it is critical that we ensure the proper culture, organizational structures, procedures, and focus on continuous improvement are in place to deliver on our promises. This is not a piece of paper—this is a way of doing business that we embrace.”

About Scully Signal Company

Founded in 1936 by Francis P. Scully, Scully Signal Company is a third-generation, family-owned manufacturing company that engineers and manufactures self-checking fluid detection and delivery systems. Scully equipment and service support are world-renowned for enabling the reliable and safe loading, transportation, and storage of valuable liquid resources.


Thursday, August 6, 2020

TÜV NORD Lebanon: Employees are safe

by Svea Fricke, Corporate Communications TÜV NORD GROUP

Yesterday at least 135 people died in the Lebanese port city in the explosion of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate and 250,000 people lost their homes. Now it´s clear: All TÜV NORD Lebanon employees are well. "We are relieved, but at the same time our thoughts go out to the families of the victims and to the many people who have been injured by this tragic accident", says Harald Reutter, Member of the Board.

TÜV NORD has a long-standing partnership with Lebanon. Initially as a branch of TÜV NORD Hellas, last year TÜV NORD Lebanon was founded in the form of a joint venture. The team around Managing Director Shadia Moubarak has its office in Beirut.


Monday, May 18, 2020

TUV USA, Inc. looks to growth with appointment of new Program Manager

Salem, New Hampshire -- TUV USA, Inc. announced today that it has appointed Mr. Yuksel Eyyuboglu as its Program Manager for their Food Safety Division.

“We are delighted to welcome Yuksel Eyyuboglu to the TUV USA Family. Yuksel will take over the responsibilities of the Program Manager and Operations Manager for the Food Safety division. He has proven expertise in the field of Food Safety certification and with his enthusiasm to grow and succeed, he will give further growth to our Food Safety division,” says Hakan Sen, TUV USA Managing Director.

His role will include the development of services, sales, and marketing activities across the food division, nationwide, and globally. Advising Executive Management on market opportunities and related staffing, training, and investment needs.

Mr. Eyyuboglu holds a M.Sc., Food Science & Engineering from Aegean University, Izmir, Turkey, and was formerly the program manager with SAI Global Northamerica. Yuksel has an impressive work history and a list of accolades that includes SQF Auditor of the Year (2016 - SQFI International Conference) and BRC Auditor of the Year (2017 – Food Safety Americas Conference).

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

TUV USA Remote Auditing During COVID-19

 As the coronavirus spreads more widely, we are receiving ever more questions about the performance of remote audits. Because of the current situation, the standard owners have made a large number of special arrangements, which mean that remote audits can be performed in more situations than before. We would now like to answer some of your questions and have put the most important information together for you here. 


Thursday, March 19, 2020

2nd notice to customers re: coronavirus outbreak

TUV USA is tracking closely the updates related to the COVID-19 outbreak and taking appropriate actions, prioritizing the safety of our office personnel, audit team, personnel working for organizations certified by TUV USA and the members of society in general. The actions also aim to minimize the impact on our activities and ensure that the required audits are performed so the certifications of our customers are maintained.

We have been discussing with the accreditation bodies and regulatory authorities in the past days and we are happy to communicate that the remote assessments have been accepted for most of the certification schemes under the condition that a Risk Analysis is performed addressing the requirements of the IAF document ID 3:2011 Informative Document for Management of Extraordinary Events or Circumstances Affecting ABs, CABs and Certified Organizations and other standard’s specific requirements.

Read more by downloading the document.

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Actions for customers affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

What is TUV USA’s process for managing the clients that are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak?

  • A Notice has been sent to customers on how TUV USA is managing the affected organizations.
  • TUV USA will operate according to the procedure GOP 030 Management of Crisis.
  • A Specific Crisis Management Plan is established for the COVID-19 Outbreak.
  • The Plan contains a Risk Analysis of the customer’s certification
  • Actions will be determined based on the result of the Risk Analysis

I am an auditor, what if customers communicate that their sites are affected and the audit cannot take place?

  • Please, inform the respective project manager
  • Please, understand that the virus outbreak is an exceptional situation and the audit might be cancelled for the dates that were previously agreed with the customer and you might need to re-schedule the audit according to the accreditation rules and notifications from scheme owners.

I am an auditor, what if I start presenting symptoms related to the corona virus or concerns were identified in the area where the company I am scheduled to audit is located? 

  • You won’t be required to travel
  • Please, communicated the related Project Manager

What are Project Managers expected to do when communicated by clients and/or auditors that the scheduled audit cannot take place?

The project Managers shall contact the customers and request:

  • A copy of their policy or an official statement regarding visitors on their facilities (e.g. auditors)
  • The policy shall contain a date when the clients will start allowing visitors to their sites
  • Request the clients to complete the Questionnaire GOP100F022
  • Send the required information obtained by the customers to the Quality Manager

What happens to the information provided by the organization? 

  • Will be used as input to the Risk Analysis and determination of actions

What are the possible courses of action? 

  • Where the risk to maintain certification is considered high, a course of action will be determined case by case.
  • Where the risk is determined to be low, it will depend on the standard. We may have the assessments completed remotely were it is allowed.

What do I do for auditing scenarios not covered by this Notice 

I am an auditor what is required to complete a desktop audit? 

  • Where a remote assessment is allowed, please refer to the specific procedures applicable for each certification scheme.

What happens if the remote audit result for a recertification audit is not satisfactory?

  • The client’s certification must be suspended.

Monday, November 18, 2019

MEDPRO The Innovative Audit Processing Tool

Contributed by: TÜV NORD CERT GmbH


In response to the transition from MDD 93/42/EEC to MDR EU 2017/745, TÜV NORD CERT GmbH has developed the MEDPRO system. With MEDPRO, TÜV NORD Cert GmbH offers its customers and auditors worldwide an innovative, web-based audit tool for the simple and joint processing of audits - from audit planning to certificate release.

Available standards in MEDPRO

Currently, MEDPRO can be used to support audit and certification activities for ISO 9001:2015, EN ISO 13485:2016, MDSAP, MDD 93/42 EEC, and (in future) MDR EU 2017/745. Additional standards will be integrated moving forward.

 

MEDPRO includes a variety of features that greatly simplify the exchange of certification related information involving customers, auditors, and our project management team. An overview is provided below, showing the process steps the auditor and project manager will communicate with the customer via MEDPRO in order to jointly prepare, execute and post-process the audit activities:

Audit preparation (customer information, updates, etc.) 

  • Company data n Processes & Products
  • Location data

Audit planning

  • Audit scheduling Audit results (audit conclusion)
  • Action management

Advantages, at a glance 

  • Ability to check your basic information for accuracing, inlcuding the processes, shifts and location data 
  • Ability to coordinate and process the audit schedule and action plans with your auditor
  • Storage of your data exclusively on TÜV NORD Group owned and certified data systems
  • Protection of your data with SSL encryption

Timeline

The MEDPRO system will be made available to all customers, working with the previously mentioned standards, starting 01.10.2019.

How it works: You need an internet connection and access details for MEDPRO. Your account will be activated by your project manager after talking to you.

Further information about MEDPRO can be found on our website

If you have any questions, please contact our team.