Ingenious Quality
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News
Ingenious Quality sponsors child safety campaign
28 October 2021
Ingenious Quality is proud to sponsor a local primary school with the provision of safety booklets via the Kids Info Centre.
Consistent with our work with clients on Health & Safety advice and our commitment to support the local community, we are happy to support this initiative to help provide advice to primary aged pupils on various aspects of their personal safety.
Congratulations to Spirit Semiconductor on passing ISO9001 stage 1 certification audit
28 September 2021
Congratulations to Spirit Semiconductor for successfully passing their ISO9001:2015 Stage 1 audit in September.
IQ have been working with the team at Spirit since March to create and implement their management system and the stage 1 audit went smoothly. We are confident that the stage 2 certification audit will go well.
Spirit Semiconductor is a UK based company, founded by experts in the RF semiconductor industry. They are focused on developing high-performance RF products to support the rapid roll out of 5G massive MIMO (mMIMO), small cell base stations and other markets requiring high performance solutions.
Congratulations to Silicon Creations Atlanta on passing ISO9001 stage 2 certification audit
20 August 2020
Congratulations to Silicon Creations Atlanta GA office for successfully passing their ISO9001:2015 Stage 2 certification audit in July. This follows closely on the successful certification of their Kraków office certification in June and now means that all their locations are certified to ISO9001.
See the full press release.
Silicon Creations is a self-funded, leading silicon IP developer with offices in the US and Poland, and sales representation worldwide.
Ingenious Quality named as Cognidox partner
12 June 2020
Ingenious Quality have been using the Cognidox document management system for over 11 years with a variety of our clients and have become experts in its implementation within a variety of management systems. This knowlege has now been formally recognised by being named as a Cognidox partner. Whilst Cognidox are experts in developing world class lean document managment systems, they are less experienced in their deployment in a variety of industries so have partnered with a variety of industry experts who can apply the system for the benefit of end user clients.
Congratulations to Silicon Creations Kraków on passing ISO9001 stage 2 certification audit
5 June 2020
Silicon Creations is a self-funded, leading silicon IP developer with offices in the US and Poland, and sales representation worldwide.
Congratulations to Silicon Creations Kraków on passing ISO9001 stage 1 audit
17 April 2020
Silicon Creations is a self-funded, leading silicon IP developer with offices in the US and Poland, and sales representation worldwide.
Ingenious Quality offers Information Security Services
27 March 2018
After several enquiries from existing and new clients regarding assistance with GDPR compliance and ISO27001 certification, Ingenious Quality have now invested in training to understand the detailed certification requirements of ISO27001.
IQ teamed up with Alcumus Academy who provided this training which is also certified by the CQI and IRCA . Although a very experienced practioner and lead auditor for several other management system standards, it was useful to understand exactly what the auditor will be expecting to see during a new management system implementation to this standard. Alcumus also offer certification to this standard through their certification arm.
Ingenious Quality provides in-house auditor training
30 January 2018
IQ was recently invited to provide bespoke internal auditor training to the staff of one of our regular clients - CCS.
IQ provided training on the principles and practice of internal auditing based on the guidance provided in "Guidelines for auditing management systems (ISO19011:2011)".
Several CCS staff participated in the training course provided over a one day at the client's site which included both an explanation of the principles and practice of internal audits and also provided a practical demonstration of an internal audit.
Excellent feedback from participants was received following the training.
BitBox upgrades to ISO9001:2015 certification
30 July 2017
BitBox have successfully upgraded their ISO9001 certification to the latest version of the standard.
The company has been certified to ISO9001:2008 since working with IQ in 2012 and have recently been busy upgrading their quality management system to comply with the latest requirements of ISO9001:2015 under guidance from IQ. The transition went smoothly thanks to the efforts of all those involved. The new certificate is now proudly displayed on their own website.
Ingenious Quality assists Ultrahaptics in attainment of ISO9001:2015 certification
7 April 2017
During the latter half of 2016 IQ have been consulting with the Ultrahaptics team in their Bristol headquarters to help them prepare for the attainment of ISO9001:2015 certification. Their stage one assessment was completed in December with no issues found and they were immediately recommended for their stage 2 certification audit which took place in February 2017. Again, this was completed without issue and Ultrhaptics, the human machine interface experts, are please to announce today that they have attianed certificatin of their Quality Management System to the latest version of this international standard.
IQ worked with Neil Shute, their VP of Operations and the rest of the Ultrahaptics team to devise and implement a robust yet flexible set of operating procedures and systems to enable their continued growth. As CEO Steve Cliffe stated in the press release, this is indeed a significant milestone for a company only three years old.
Ingenious Quality provides in-house quality training
28 June 2016
The client asked for specific training on Problem Solving Methodology and Failure Modes and Effects Analaysis (FMEA). The problem solving methodologies course focussed on how to use a team approach to identify, analyse and put root cause corrective and preventive action in place using a variety of analysis tools and techniques. The FMEA course provided an overview of the general methodology and then focussed on examples from the client's product portfolio to better enable them to identify risks in their own product designs and manufacturing processes.
IQ provided two half-day sessions for 6 attendees at each session with very positive feedback from the attendees who provided an average feedback score of 4.5 out of a maximum score of 5.
Oncam passes ISO9001 recertification audits on two continents
20 May 2016
Oncam Global Group, a technology company that delivers effective and intelligent video and video-based analytic and business intelligence solutions with operational headquarters in London, have successfully passed their ISO9001 recertification audits in both the UK and USA.
The two single day audits in the Chiswick, London office and Billerica, Massachusetts office went very smoothly and resulted in a recommendation to recertify the company to ISO9001 for a further three years. As an added bonus, no non-conformities or opportunities for improvement were raised by the auditor, showing that the quality management system is effective and in good health. As usual with our clients, IQ assisted in preparations for and support during these audits.
FMP passes ISO9001 Certification audit
24 March 2016
With help and guidance from IQ, FM Print a printing and direct mailing business based in Basingstoke UK have successfully passed their ISO9001 certification audit.
Over the past few months all the staff have been identifying best practices and optimising their business processes to make sure they give the very best service and products to their customers.
All the hard work paid off when the Stage 2 certification audit went very smoothly and led to the recommendation for certification to ISO9001.
CCS passes ISO9001 audit
6 January 2016
CCS a communications company based in Cambridge UK providing self-organising small cell microwave backhaul systems has successsfully passed their ISO9001 certification with BSi.
Following a concentrated preparation programme with IQ, CCS passed their Stage 1 audit in mid-November and their Stage 2 certification audit in mid-December 2015.
This independent certification of their Quality Management System will allow CCS to expand their potential client base in this competitive worldwide market.
FMP passes Stage 1 ISO9001 audit
8 December 2015
IQ started working with FMP just a few months ago and helped them finalise and implement their quality management system ready for the audit by a UKAS accredited certification body.
This quality management certification is part of a more extensive integrated management system which will eventually cover Environmental Management and Health & Safety Management to the relevant ISO standards.
Congratulations to all at FM Print for this significant first step on the road to continual improvement.
IQ helps with client social responsibility status
29 May 2015
Following a request from one of our regular clients, IQ was asked by Oncam Global Group to assist in reviewing their social responsibility position as it relates to ISO26000:2010 Guidance on social responsibility and the United Nations Global Compact.
IQ worked with the OGG Global Programme Manager to review the recommendations in the seven clauses of the ISO26000 guidance standard, of which clauses 2-5 are also covered by the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact:
- Organizational governance
- Human rights*
- Labour practices*
- Environment*
- Fair operating practices*
- Consumer issues
- Community involvement and development
* Clauses covered by the UN Global Compact
The overall assessment was produced in a comprehensive 15 page report highlighting the overall good compliance with these standards and highlighting 28 opportunities for further improvement.
IQ assists with Business Continuity Management system
21 April 2015
IQ recently completed a project to assist one of our regular clients in expanding their management systems to incorporate the essential elements of Business Continuity management. We started the project in Q4 2014 by forming an implementation team with representatives of each of the key functions and used ISO22301 as a model for the implementation. After formulating a policy and objectives we set about understanding the business continuity risks from the bottom up and identifying control measures where practicable. We met the overall goal of completing the initial system implementation at the end of Q1 2015 and the business now has a much clearer understanding of where the major risks lie and what can be done to minimize their impact on customers and other stakeholders. As with all significant business system changes it is best to do this on a part-time basis but keeping a clear eye on the overall objective.
As ISO9001:2015 comes closer to publication with its greater emphasis on business risk management, this company will be well placed to meet the needs of the new quality management system standard.
IQ Celebrates 10 years
16 March 2015
Today, Ingenious Quality Limited celebrates 10 years since being founded by Trevor Gainey in March 2005.
During this time we have helped more than 20 clients at over 30 locations in all points of the compass from Congleton, Cheshire to Southampton, Hampshire and Medway, Kent to Boston, Massachusetts. We have also helped our clients gain UKAS accredited ISO9001 and 14001 certification at 10 locations starting from scratch, and also improved the management systems at many others.
Whilst most of the client engagement has been focused on operational improvement with Environmental and Health & Safety management taking up the balance, there is an increasing demand for additional support in Business Continuity and Corporate Social Responsibility which reflects the growing importance of managing distributed supply chains and the needs of global end customers.
We are happy to support to a wide range of high technology clients in their diverse needs for advice and help and look forward to the next decade!
IQ highlights Health & Safety improvements
23 February 2015
During a routine health & safety audit of one of its regular clients, Ingenious Quality highlighted over 20 improvements during the 90 minute audit. The results were readily accepted by the management and subsequently reported in a concise and easily understood format.
Whilst some of the issues had been previously recognised, and actions taken to eliminate the risks, many had not been recognised which highlights the need for a "fresh pair of eyes" who will see things that regular employees will often not observe as they are over familiar with their working environment. In addition to new risk identification, some recommendations were also given on how to improve the overall health & safety management system so that the company can demonstrate to its commitment to protecting the health & safety of its employees and visitors.
IQ assists Peregrine Semiconductor Europe with successful surveillance audit and lowers audit overhead
27 January 2015
After successfully passing their ISO 9001 certification last year, Peregrine Semiconductor Europe (PSE) were due for their two day surveillance audit this month by LRQA. With some preparation assistance from IQ ahead of the audits, PSE demonstrated that their Quality Management System is working well with only one minor finding throughout the two days of external auditing. IQ successfully negotiated a lowering of the ongoing surveillance at their Theale, Reading offices to one day per year going forward. This will halve their ongoing certification maintenance costs.
IQ helps steer Xaar through another successful ISO surveillance audit
19 December 2014
Following on from the successful ISO9001/14001 joint surveillance audit in June this year, IQ has again assisted Xaar in the completion of another follow-up audit. With their new Document Management System now fully operational and an improved Management System Review process, the external auditors were complementary about the continued management systems improvements initiated by IQ at Xaar.
Of particular interest was the new graphical user interface provided within the existing Document Management System which allows users to understand the underlying business processes from a flowchart and then browse to documents of interest using a simple point and click method within the flowchart or pictogram.
IQ Supports Charity Quiz Night
13 November 2014
For the fourth consecutive year, Trevor was invited to join the DisplayLink charity quiz team. The Pure Resourcing Solutions Annual Charity Quiz Night was held this year in aid of the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity (ARHC) at the Menzies Cambridge Hotel on 13th November. Trevor (Below Right) participated in the team of five with the four other team members from DisplayLink. The event was supported by local teams and raised over Ł1,280 on the night for the worthy charity.
To complete the exciting and enjoyable evening, the team won the event on a tie breaker!
IQ Invited to present to National Microelectronics Institute Operations Forum
21 October 2014
IQ was invited to present to the Operations Forum of the NMI on the subject of forthcoming changes to ISO9001 and ISO14001 in 2015.
At a well attended meeting hosted by CSR in Cambridge, Trevor presented the changes as outlined in the draft standards and the potential implications and timescales for upgrade for the member companies who are currently certified or those who plan to apply for certification.
The presentation can be found here:
Oncam Global Group extends certification to US office
18 July 2014
Oncam Global Group have worked with Ingenious Quality Ltd to extend their ISO9001 quality management system to cover the activities of their US office near Boston MA.
Supported by IQ, Oncam gained certification for activities in their Hammersmith and Guildford UK offices in November 2013 and started alignment of the US R&D and Sales activities in early 2014. Trevor supported the audit by ISOQAR in the Lowell office on 18th July and the result was a recommendation for an extension to their certificate to cover activities in this third location. Notably there were no non-conformities or observations raised by the auditor.
Oncam designs, delivers and deploys total security and technological solutions from customized designs – including award-winning 360-degree cameras and related technologies.
Xaar improved quality system passes joint ISO surveillance audit
14 June 2014
Following an extensive make-over of their quality system, led by Ingenious Quality Ltd, Xaar participated in a four man-day audit of their combined Quality and Environmental systems at their Huntingdon site. The auditors were impressed by the improvements and also pleased to see that work is underway to integrate the management systems across all UK sites, including the research & development activity at their Cambridge locations. Ingenious Quality Ltd continue to support this system development and capability improvement.
Xaar develop world-leading piezoelectric drop-on-demand inkjet technologies. They are also a world-class manufacturer of industrial digital inkjet printheads.
CamSemi passes ISO14001 re-certification
2 May 2014
Hosted by Ingenious Quality Ltd., Cambridge Semiconductor Ltd. (CamSemi) has passed their ISO14001 Environmental Management re-certification by BSi. No non-conformities were raised by the auditor during the day-long assessment and CamSemi now has a further renewal of their certificate for three more years.
Peregrine Semiconductor Europe passes ISO9001 Stage two audit
14 February 2014
Peregrine Semiconductor Europe, a provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits for Space applications, have today successfully passed their ISO9001 stage 2 audit. Working with Ingenious Quality Ltd, Peregrine have been extending their Corporate ISO certification to cover the UK office.
The audit by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), was successfully passed without any non-conformities being raised.The auditor remarked that it was unique in his experience to find a company passing their stage one audit without non-conformities and equally so for their stage two certification audit. Peregrine Semiconductor Europe have been recommended for Certification at their Theale offices to ISO9001 under ANAB accreditation (in line with their US offices in California and Illinois).
Peregrine Semiconductor Europe passes ISO9001 Stage one audit
6 December 2013
Peregrine Semiconductor Europe, a fabless provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits, based in Theale UK have successfully passed their ISO9001 stage 1 audit. Working with Ingenious Quality Ltd, Peregrine have been extending their Corporate ISO certification to cover the new UK office. They have developed the local Quality Management System with reference to their Corporate procedures and policies and adapting them to the unique activities taking place in their local office where products for a variety of European Space applications are developed. The audit by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), was successfully passed without any non-conformities being raised and the Stage 2 final certification audit is planned for February 2014.
Oncam Global Group gains ISO9001 Certification
21 November 2013
Oncam Grandeye have gained ISO9001 certification for both their UK offices with assistance from Ingenious Quality Ltd. The final audits at Hammersmith and Guildford completed without any significant issues being raised by the ISOQAR auditor.
Read the full Oncam Grandeye press release here.
Oncam Grandeye passes ISO9001 Stage one audit with rare commendation
18 October 2013
Oncam Grandeye have been working on their Quality Management System with help from Ingenious Quality Ltd and working towards gaining ISO9001 certification for their Guildford and Hammersmith offices. At their Stage 1 audit by UKAS accredited certification body ISOQAR, they were found to meet all necessary requirements and recommended to proceed to Stage 2 audits at each office during November.
As a rare bonus the auditor gave his first ever Good Practice Observation during a Stage 1 audit: "It was noted that the procedures and documentation reviewed thus far is of particularly good standard and well thought out. The whole approach to implementation of the system has been conducted well with inclusion of all staff."
CamSemi passes combined surveillance audit
16 October 2013
Cambridge Semiconductor Ltd. (CamSemi) has passed their annual surveillance audits for both ISO9001 (Quality Management) and ISO14001 (Environmental Management) with support from Ingenious Quality Ltd. The combined audit involving three auditors went without issue and the auditors particularly liked the new environmental metric which indicates that the 500 Million devices sold to date by CamSemi have saved the planet over 1 TeraWatt hours of power so far, due to their improved efficiency over lower performance devices. Trevor leads the CamSemi Green Team and supports their continued vigilance on environmental legislation as well as supporting their Quality Management System.
Client achieves Queen's Award
2 September 2013
PCME Ltd, leading specialist in the development, manufacture and supply of continuous particulate emission monitors for industrial processes worldwide, has been awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2013. This prestigious award recognises outstanding business achievement by UK organisations.
Ingenious Quality worked with PCME in late 2012 to re-map their Quality Management System and assist them in identifying business system improvements. We would like to congratulate them on this, their second Queen's award.
BitBox passes regular surveillance audit without issue
4 July 2013
BitBox Ltd. have passed their first annual ISO9001 surveillance audit by BSi with assistance from Ingenious Quality Ltd. Support has been provided to Bitbox since their initial registration with our help in October 2012. During that time IQ has been providing Internal Audit services to BitBox to ensure that they continue to follow their Quality Management System and follow continuous improvement methods. The external audit confirmed their continued good progress.
Ingenious Quality supports Westway Engineering Services Ltd.
31 May 2013
Westway Engineering Services Ltd has gained ISO9001:2008 certification with the help of Ingenious Quality Ltd and passed their Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits in the space of less than a week with not even a minor non-conformance being raised by the UKAS accredited audit body. Westway, based in Southampton is now certified with a scope of fabrication and supply of precision engineered components using their computer controlled fabrication equipment.
Ingenious Quality helps to organise industry summit
21 March 2013
Trevor has spent time over the last few months in collaboration with other industry experts in helping to put together an event entitled "Managing the ever increasing risk of ESD damage" hosted by 3M, Bracknell in association with the National Microelectronics Institute.
Ingenious Quality assists client in defining product qualification methodology
28 February 2013
Ingenious Quality was contracted recently by a client who manufactures complex electro-mechanical assemblies to assist in defining their product qualification strategy. This involved intensive discussions and review of their product testing regimes against industry requirements for their product application area and other relevant legislative requirements. The result was a Product Qualification Procedure with a detailed Schedule of Tests of both product performance and reliability. This system has since been adopted on all new products under development and for upgrades and improvements to existing products.
Ingenious Quality Ltd becomes member of Organisation for Responsible Business (ORB) and Trevor becomes Certified ORB auditor
24th December 2012
As a company that believes in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and ensuring that our obligations to the environment are fulfilled, Ingenious Quality Lts has recently joined the Organisation for Responsible Businesses. In addition, Trevor Gainey from Ingenious Quality was invited to become a certified auditor for this organisation and has recently been trained, certified and licensed by the Organisation for Responsible Businesses (ORB) to audit companies to The Responsible Business Standard. This standard is aimed at small to medium sized businesses who wish to have their CSR credentials independently audited and certified.
Ingenious Quality Ltd supports charity quiz night
16th November 2012
Trevor from Ingenious Quality was invited to participate in a charity quiz night by one of our clients - DisplayLink. The Pure Resourcing Solutions Annual Charity Quiz Night in aid of Stars Cambridgeshire Children's Bereavement Support Service and Wallace Cancer Care was held at the Menzies Cambridge Hotel on 15th November. Trevor participated in the team of five with the four other team members from DisplayLink. The event was supported by 28 local teams and raised over Ł1400 on the night for the two local charities. At the end of event, the team came in second place (again) this time by a narrow margin of two points.
Ingenious Quality Ltd guides BitBox Ltd to ISO certification
15th October 2012
Ingenious Quality has been working with an BitBox, an electronics design and development client based in Hampshire. After several months part time consultancy helping Bitbox to develop and document their internal processes we recently hosted an ISO9001 stage 2 certification audit by BSi. The result of the audit was that BitBox was recommended for certification and now holds Certificate number 7867403. IQ will continue to support Bitbox with internal audits and other continual improvement activities in order that they gain maximum benefit from their new certification.Congratulations to Quentin and all the BitBox team!
Ingenious Quality Ltd joins BSi Associate Consultant Programme
21st August 2012
As BSi cannot referee their own work (offer consultancy and then offer registration) they have partnered up with a selection of consultants who have met certain criteria and in whom they trust to ensure that potential clients requests are handled effectively. Ingenious Quality has accepted an invitation to join this prestigious programme and looks forward to working closely with BSi and providing even more benefits to new and existing clients.
Ingenious Quality now holds ACP membership number 35.
Yet another client successfully passes ISO9001 Stage 1 audit
31st July 2012
Ingenious Quality has been working with a fab-less semiconductor design and development client based in Cheshire and recently hosted their ISO9001 stage 1 audit by BSi. This was to evaluate their readiness for the full ISO9001 certification (Stage 2) audit. The overall result of the audit was a recommendation to proceeed to a full certification audit. For business reasons this is now scheduled for early 2013.
Another client successfully passes ISO9001 Stage 1 audit
12th April 2012
Ingenious Quality has been working with an electronics design and development client based in Hampshire and recently hosted an ISO9001 stage 1 audit by BSi. This was to evaluate their readiness for the full ISO9001 certification (Stage 2) audit. Despite many detailed and searching questions from the auditor, the implemented Quality Management System was found to be adequate for the purposes of the business and the result was a recommendation to proceeed to a full certification audit scheduled for later this year.
Ingenious Quality sponsors refreshment breaks at industry meeting
Meeting the Customer Quality Challenge The NMI Q&R network advisory group is now looking at the details of the next event to be held later this year.
Ingenious Quality joins MAS Consultants database
8th February 2012
Ingenious Quality has registered on the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) Directory. The MAS Directory is an on-line searchable directory for manufacturers seeking specialist consultants to address manufacturing issues. It allows them to select a consultant most suited to their needs. As a result of being registered on this directory, some Ingenious Quality clients may be able to benefit from grants available from MAS in support of significant business improvements. This can apply to UK registered companies who manufacture or design products in the UK. Please contact us for more details of how you may be able to benefit from this government support for your business.
Process audit cleans up
21st January 2012
Ingenious Quality was recently invited by a client in Cambridgeshire who manufactures complex electro-mechanical assemblies in a clean room environment to perform a line audit to evaluate any potential process improvements they could make which may assist their manufacturing yields and reduce customer returns. The one-day audit identified many issues with clean room practice and controls and ESD precautions. The comprehensive report made 36 recommendations in all. A few months after this audit the client had made significant progress in implementing the recommendations and their overall yields had made double digit percentage improvement.
Celebrating 50 years of the Great British Chip
23rd October 2011
Ingenious Quality participated in the salute to 50 years of the microelectronics industry in the Microelectronics Supplement in The Sunday Telegraph on the 23rd of October.
Ingenious Quality Trains Internal Auditors
1st May 2011
Ingenious Quality has recently trained 5 staff to be internal auditors for a client based in Cambridgeshire. During the half day introductory training session, the participants learned about the principles of auditing as specified in ISO19011, although these principles were adapted to their application in internal auditing. The participants have subsequently practiced their new skills under the guidance of Trevor Gainey who has over 20 years experience of leading audits.
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