S&K Solutions is now ISO 9001-certified – and it really shows

After more than a year of intensive preparation, the company has now been awarded ISO 9001 certification – the internationally recognised standard for quality management. Whilst this may sound rather matter-of-fact, it is in fact the result of a great deal of hard work, team commitment and the odd “We’re really going to do this differently now” moment.

In this interview, Boris Kulinna, Operational Director at S&K Solutions and head of the ISO project group, explains how an ambitious kick-off in March 2025 led to a certificate that is now available on the website – and what this really means for customers and staff.

The path to certification: many stakeholders, a common thread

It all began with a project group of six colleagues who took on the mammoth task of completely rethinking all of the company’s core processes. The initial focus was on defining the core processes at S&K – starting with the sales process when a customer wishes to place an order, through to checking availability, purchasing, manufacturing, fulfilment and finally dispatch. The IT department was brought on board as a further core process to complement the whole initiative. The end result was a comprehensive process map – including supporting processes such as marketing, which complements the core process by maintaining the website and related activities.

In short: almost the entire company played its part in ensuring that, in the end, everything meshed together like a well-oiled machine.

Why customers benefit from this

It might sound like a lot of paperwork at first – but it brings tangible benefits. When asked what specific benefits customers gain from the certification, Kulinna puts it plainly: If you order ‘green’, you get green – and not suddenly black or yellow. In other words: thanks to clear specifications, customers can be confident that the ordering process isn’t arbitrary, but that the entire process chain follows a fixed standard. This ensures consistently high quality – and guarantees that agreed prices and delivery dates are actually met. That is precisely what counts in the end: reliability you can count on every step of the way.

At the same time, the new, standardised process structure is proving its worth internally: where staff used to have to improvise on a case-by-case basis for each customer, clearly defined standard procedures are now in place. This not only saves a lot of stress, but also simply saves time and money – resources that are put to much better use elsewhere.

No walk in the park: day-to-day business comes first

Of course, the road to certification wasn’t without its challenges. According to Kulinna, the biggest challenge was defining and setting up all the processes alongside day-to-day operations – and when in doubt, day-to-day operations always took priority. Internal audits and documentation had to fight for their place whenever there was a bit of spare time.

What is particularly noteworthy is that there was no external support. The project team produced around 95 per cent of the ISO documentation entirely on its own – and AI was also used to assist with the creation of some standard documents. Perseverance was therefore certainly required, as Kulinna openly admits in the interview.

The actual certification process, by contrast, was almost unspectacular: a single day’s audit with an external auditor from DEKRA was sufficient to confirm that all the required documents were in place. The same auditor will then examine in more detail during the follow-up audit in the spring whether the processes described are actually being implemented in day-to-day operations.

Continuous improvement as the ultimate goal

S&K Solutions has officially held the certification since April this year. For Kulinna, however, this is more of a starting point than a finish line. This is because at the heart of ISO 9001 lies the continuous improvement process – and that is precisely what S&K aims to actively put into practice: once a year, the core processes are audited internally, with the auditors specifically selecting three to four areas and scrutinising existing procedures.

A glance at the figures shows just how seriously the company takes this: following the very first internal audits, the team identified 63 non-conformities and recommendations for action in the core processes – more than 90 per cent of which have now been implemented. This is complemented by clearly defined KPIs that enable progress to be measured year on year.

Looking ahead

The team has set itself a clear goal for the future: where customised solutions were often required in the past, the new standard process is to be applied consistently from now on – with deviations only where they really make sense. According to Kulinna, this noticeably increases reliability: You know what you’re getting and what to look out for at each stage of the process – and the risk of something going wrong continues to decrease with every well-rehearsed routine.

A milestone for S&K Solutions, then, which not only looks good on paper but is also making a tangible difference in day-to-day operations, from sales to dispatch. And, in keeping with the spirit of ISO 9001, this is by no means the final word.