The technology enterprise Rheinmetall has successfully introduced a new audit procedure at its plant in Neuss, Germany, winning an accolade from PSA Peugeot Citroën. The automaker, a member of the Stellantis Group, acknowledged the successful implementation by awarding the Neuss-based subsidiary the coveted QSB+ certificate, which honours the fulfilment of a customer requirement.
“We’re very happy to have met the evaluation criteria for the QSB+ certificate”, says David Papenfuß, plant manager of the Niederrhein plant and the project’s sponsor. “Without the active participation of everyone involved from the various departments and the plant management team, this would never have been possible.”
The success also has strategic significance: “By introducing the Layered Process Audit, or LPA, we also meet the IATF requirements for quality management systems that all carmakers will insist on in future – the perfect prerequisite for being the preferred partner for all of our customers”, explains Papenfuß.
The introduction of the new audit procedure in Neuss is the result of continuous cooperation between Rheinmetall quality organizations around Europe. Under the Layered Process Audit, various sequences in production, logistics and quality management are recorded and systematically observed. If necessary, improvements are planned, implemented, reviewed and kept under observation in an ongoing process of optimization.
“An LPA isn’t a short, one-off intervention. Instead, it’s an optimization tool geared to continuity and the long term. We focus on improving our processes in production and logistics, which influence quality management”, declares Steffen Grunert, senior quality manager at the Niederrhein plant in Neuss.
All departments and levels are involved here, including plant management. This way, production managers keep an eye on quality as well as customer requirements and play an active role in shaping their own improvement process.
Following the successful launch of the project in Neuss, this trendsetting process will soon be implemented at other Rheinmetall locations as well.
