Wypepak already hold industry-leading certification in Quality Management, Environment Management and Health & Safety (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001). We caught up with Gary Brookes, Wyepak’s Engineering & Quality Manager to find out why this is so important.
Hi Gary, can you tell us why accreditation is so important to Wyepak?
Well, the reality is that the copacking industry hasn’t had a brilliant reputation for quality in the past – as an industry, we’re usually expected to deliver a speedy, low cost service to customers – and for some copackers, that means cutting corners. That’s not something we’re prepared to do at Wyepak. The quality and reliability of our work is one of the things that sets us apart, so we never compromise on that.
OK, but why do you need the accreditation?
Well accreditation offers reassurance to our customers. It shows we’ve achieved a quality standard. It means that we can be audited, that there’s a paper trail. We’re always accountable. It shows that we have robust practices in place. To remain accredited we have to maintain high standards – and that means that our customers can have complete confidence that we won’t be making silly mistakes, and where problems occur, we can show them exactly what went wrong and why. And of course, it also means we can put measures in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
So what exactly is your role?
In my capacity as Quality Manager, I’m responsible for ensuring we achieve and maintain our accreditations – I work with two Quality Control Technicians who take responsibility on the factory floor for quality checks. They raise non-conformance reports where needed, forward pictures and information to the customer, and liaise with the team on any action required.
You said “in your capacity as Quality Manager” – do you have another role?
I’m also the Engineering Manager. Essentially, I do everything that’s considered technical. We have two Maintenance Technicians, who can repair pretty much anything – so as a team we look after all the machinery on site.
And what does that involve?
Well, we have a planned schedule of maintenance works – it’s part of our systematic approach for delivering consistent quality. It means we suffer fewer breakdowns, meaning we have less factory downtime, which in turn means we can deliver our service efficiently and on schedule. Where we do have a breakdown, we can get on to it immediately. All parts are sourced from the manufacturer – so we never compromise on quality or put safety at risk.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Only that we’ve got a great team here – there’s a lot of experience in the company and in my role it’s great to know that the Board is fully committed to the principles of continuous improvement. It means we can take pride in what we do, we’re always open to ways of doing things better – and we get very happy customers. Which makes it a really good place to work!