Certification According to DIN EN ISO 9001 since 30 Years

In May 1987, the first edition of the DIN ISO 9001 standard on the subject of "quality assurance systems" was published. 5 years later Nabertherm received the first customer inquiries as to whether Nabertherm would comply with this standard.

At that time, only very few companies in Germany had set up a quality assurance system in accordance with the requirements of DIN ISO 9001 and had it certified by an external body. The topic of "quality assurance" was increasingly discussed, but detailed knowledge was not widespread.

In 1992 the Bremen Chamber of Commerce invited to an ad hoc working group on “Quality Assurance”. A group of companies from Bremen economic area came together at the event. Here, too, not every participating company understood what DIN ISO 9001 required in detail, but the opportunities that could result from the introduction of a quality assurance system were recognized.

The day after the event, Conrad Naber defined the corporate goal that Nabertherm should be the first furnace manufacturer in the world to introduce a certified quality assurance system.

Together with three other companies from the ad hoc working group "Quality Assurance" and the advisory support of Dr. Günther W. Diekhöner and his team from the "Denkfabrik" in Bremen began in the summer of 1992 to set up and introduce the quality assurance system.

A good, lean corporate organization and the manufacture of high-quality products have always been a central corporate philosophy at Nabertherm. So, there was already a good basis to implement the corporate goal of "quality assurance system" within a very short time.

Due to this good starting point and the excellent support from the "Denkfabrik", the system was already so far developed and introduced in June 1993 that an initial certification by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance could be submitted. On June 24^th, 1993, Nabertherm received the first DIN ISO 9001 certificate. At that time, fewer than 500 companies in Germany were certified accordingly. It has never been possible to reliably determine whether Nabertherm was really the first furnace manufacturer in the world to be certified, but the probability is very high.

Over the years, the term “quality assurance” has become the term “quality management”. The requirements of DIN ISO 9001 have also changed. However, the basic idea has remained the same: Quality means recognizing and fulfilling the needs and expectations of customers.

In July 2023 the Nabertherm quality management system was again successfully recertified. Nabertherm proudly look back on 30 years of quality management and, on this basis, is pleased to be able to promise its customers and partners consistent, high-quality products in the future.