Gurelan and quality: the engagement driving this project

Quality management is a critical asset for any company. Not only the managers are concerned about the quality of the services they provide, but also clients, investors and employees must be able to rely on the quality of a company´s internal operations.

Gurelan has recently completed a general update of different industry standards and ISO certifications related to quality and environmental protection (https://www.gurelan.es/en/quality). After successfully passing all internal and external audits, Gurelan certifies its good practices with the renewal of the following ISO certifications: ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management Systems) and ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management Systems).

Quality is the best business card 

ISO standards constitute an international norm, not a piece of legislation, and therefore the related certification represents an optional distinction, not a compulsory label. Each company is free to deal with quality issues as it sees fit. However, as we have already mentioned a few times, any company (especially an industrial one) has good reasons for complying with these guidelines.

What are the benefits of ISO 9001?

For example, let´s take ISO 9001. On the one hand, we have the advantages of the certification itself: ISO 9001 is an important standard in all business sectors, whether they are industrial, service-oriented, transportation, energy, or in the case of die-casting of Zamak and Magnesium parts... such as Gurelan. On an international scale, an ISO certification is an important added value in most countries of the world. Obtaining the ISO 9001 means that a company creates confidence for itself on the international stage through its Quality Management System. Clients and other business partners know that they can rely on consistent quality standards for long-term effects.

On the other hand, ISO 9001 is also an excellent guideline in terms of quality management. Instead of trying to define all sorts of rules on their own, with the consequent risk of errors, this standard offers to companies an excellent framework for quality management. ISO certification is the result of the study of a large number of experts and is subject to regular review.

Guaranteeing quality, also in environmental management

On the other hand, the ISO 14001 standard also renewed by Gurelan is an Environmental Management System certification for companies to demonstrate their commitment towards managing environmental risks associated with their activity. In the case of Gurelan, the aim of this audit is to preserve both the environment and our quality label by ensuring a responsible and exhaustively controlled industrial production from start to finish.

This certification acknowledges those organisations complying with this standard, which helps to prevent environmental impacts, using the necessary means to avoid, reduce or control them. This must always be in balance with socio-economic efficiency and focusing on continuous improvement. Furthermore, the ISO 14001 standard makes it possible to communicate commitment in a direct and reliable way, as well as to obtain economic benefits by optimising the consumption of energy, raw materials and water, improving processes, whilst reducing legal risks.

Spanish companies stand out in terms of quality

Certificates issued according to the ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems standard are still the most frequent and exceed one million certificates in 189 countries. According to the ISO Survey, Spain remains among the top ten countries in the world in the ranking of the 12 main ISO certifications, and has climbed positions in most of them, according to the report of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for 2019.

In the ISO 9001 quality management category, Spain remains fifth in the world and third in Europe with nearly 60,000 work centres certified according to this standard. In ISO 14001 for environmental management, Spanish companies are fourth in the world and second in Europe, with more than 26,000 certified work centres.

ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are the international standards for Quality Management and Environmental Management control, and the most widely used reference both in national and international customer/supplier relations. In this type of exchanges, ISO standards are the universal language in many sectors and have special importance for exporting companies such as Gurelan, demonstrating their ability to meet the needs of their customers wherever they may be.