At the moment, less than 50 companies in the world have attained the new ISO/TS 16949 certification. One of the first to do it was ITT Industries, Cannon's plant in Dole, France. ISO/TS 16949 is the new quality standard for automotive parts suppliers. It harmonizes the quality requirements of U.S., French, German and Italian automakers, creating a single document and single third-party registration that the European automakers and the U.S. "big three" have agreed to accept. A company that is ISO/TS 16949-certified can work for any automotive manufacturer in the world, Cannon's Dole facility was awarded its certification in January 2003, even though it had passed the audit months earlier. "Because we're the very first company to apply for this certification, the French certification body was not even accredited yet. So we had to wait until January to be officially certified," says Jerome Brochot, director of Quality at Dole. Not only was Dole first -- it was amazingly fast. Where other companies may take up to two years to prepare for the ISO/TS 16949 audit, Dole did it in six months. Each process conducted in the factory, from design of new products to delivery, was addressed on a project-by-project basis. For each of these projects, Dole created performance and efficiency metrics, annual targets, improvement plan schedules and a review system. "The whole factory was involved in the process," says Brochot. "We had 52 projects running in parallel, with different managers responsible for different projects, and top management coordinating and reviewing the status of our efforts." The ISO/TS 16949 certification is important to Dole's bottom line -- 40 percent of the plant's switch products are designed for the automotive industry -- and to its continued competitiveness. The certification process yielded significant and lasting improvements, including a 30 percent reduction in customer complaints, a 20 percent reduction in scrap costs and a 12 percent increase in on-time deliveries versus customer requests. The certification also boosts Dole's status as a valued supplier. "Being the first to reach this certification highlights our position as a leader in quality and customer satisfaction," says Brochot.			The ITT Industries, Cannon plant in Dole, France.