HERNDON, Va., Nov. 3, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Technical Services sector has achieved a single, sector-wide, ISO 9001:2000 certification signifying that its quality management system meets stringent international standards.
"This recognition reflects our commitment of driving to be the best in the world at what we do and validates our continuous process improvement culture in the quest for ultimate customer satisfaction," said James L. Cameron, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Technical Services. "Team Technical Services has brought together thousands of engineers, technicians and administrators, effectively creating a powerhouse in the logistical support, sustainment and technical services marketplace. This third-party certification, which reflects the outstanding work and process-driven culture from employees located in all 50 states and more than 20 countries around the world, underscores our commitment to infuse a process-based, quality-focused culture to the next level. Further, strategically utilizing a sector-level approach allows for an almost real-time sharing of 'best in breed' techniques and innovations across the entire sector enterprise."
The ISO standards define internationally recognized quality management systems. Northrop Grumman received the certification after a third-party audit by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), a leading quality management systems registrar. Auditors visited a cross section of major sector operating locations gathering representative data including: Herndon, Va., Sierra Vista, Ariz., Rolling Meadows, Ill., Lake Charles, La., Oklahoma City, Okla., Fort Irwin, Calif., Lakewood, Wash., Lanham, Md., and Warner Robins, Ga.
To earn ISO 9001 certification, a company must implement a quality management system encompassing the enterprise's activities, including management responsibility; resource management; product realization; and measurement, analysis and improvement.
"The audit and certification validated that we successfully standardized our core processes across our sector and evolved our quality management system to one managed at the sector level," said Tom Fallon, Northrop Grumman Technical Services' vice president of Mission Assurance. "This sector-level management approach allows us to more effectively manage and improve our key processes to meet and exceed internal and external customer requirements and expectations."
Inspections at Northrop Grumman Technical Services facilities led to ISO 9001:2000 certification not only at a sector level, but also recognized the Quality Management System approaches used across a wide spectrum of programs and functions, including: life-cycle product and weapon system sustainment; supply chain management; warehousing and inventory management; field services and mobilization; sustaining engineering; repair and overhaul supplies; weapon, equipment and facility maintenance; infrastructure and base operations management; military and police training design and delivery; linguist operations; and, information systems support.
"The quality system was demonstrated to be well-suited to meeting the requirements of its customers," said lead auditor Michael Harder in LRQA's final report. "The centralized use of dashboard performance reporting was found to be exceptionally useful for providing management visibility." Harder said the audit found Northrop Grumman Technical Services to have a management approach that strongly promotes continual improvement at all organizational levels.
The audit also verified Northrop Grumman Technical Services' commitment to eight quality management principles: customer focus, leadership, involvement of people, process approach, system approach to management, continuous improvement, factual approach to decision-making and mutually beneficial supplier relationships.
Northrop Grumman's Technical Services sector also contains sites that are third-party certified by LRQA to the AS 9001 Aerospace standard, endorsed by U.S. aerospace regulators including the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Defense and NASA. The standard contains all the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 along with the addition of 80 additional requirements deemed critical to Aerospace Quality in order to achieve a global, harmonized aerospace standard for quality assurance in design, development, production, installation and service.
This sector-level ISO 9001 certification is the latest in a series of independent certifications for Northrop Grumman Technical Services. This certification compliments the existing Software Engineering Institute's (SEI(sm)) Capability Maturity Model Integration(r) for Systems Engineering/Software Engineering (CMMI(r)-SE/SW) certifications, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Voluntary Protection Program Star certification, ISO 14001 environmental management certifications, and the TickIT scheme, which validates software development conforms to rigorous quality standards.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.