5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
We hope that our blog posts have been providing some great information and explaining some of the common questions asked about our accessories.
5 things you should know – some insights of behind the scenes
As a customer driven company, each and every employee strives to do their best to bring the customer a high-quality product they can be proud of. Each member of the Panelite and Dieter’s team, takes our slogan of Our Reputation Is Stainless! to heart and understands that our customers have a lot riding on our products – after all it is being installed on their livelihood, their rig!
Here are some 5 things you should know about how things go on behind the scenes at our manufacturing facility.
- Our CAD (Computer Aided Design) files that our Research and Development team use to develop and create product are typically supplied by our OE partners to ensure exact fit applications. That being said, many of the parts are developed by using the actual physical truck that product is being designed for. This allows just another level of quality assurance, to confirm fit, installation technic, feasibility and reliability.
- All of the products that leave our facility has labels and barcodes on the one side. While this does help identify the part and component, it also gives us a lot of information should there ever be a warranty inquiry or question. We use this information to trace the product and component back to who packaged the item, who it was assembled by, who cut and formed the piece, which sheet of metal was used and when all of this was completed. By doing this, we can provide further training if needed to our team, or identify improvements in our process to help our high level of quality.
- Just about all of our products have lights – from ¾” round to 4” round, and many different oval sizes. While we do not manufacture the physical lights themselves, we do hold these components to the exact same high quality standards as our stainless steel. For example, for any new light type we bring out in our product offering we put it through rigorous testing. This testing includes water testing – our vice-president has been known to have containers of lights immersed in water sitting on a shelf in his office, just to make sure that they are water tight.
- We are currently registered to ISO14001:2015.Why is this an achievement? ISO14001:2015 Environmental Standard is written by the International Standards Organization (ISO). We are required to pass a yearly audit completed by an independent company to ensure we are conforming to a standard set of requirements. This registration sets us apart from companies that do not have a registered Environmental Management System because as a company we are demonstrating our commitment to protecting and improving the environment by complying with environmental regulations, including reducing waste, increasing recycling and ensuring that our processes are being carried out with the smallest carbon footprint possible.
We are currently registered to IATF16949:2016.Why is this an achievement? IATF16949:2016 the International Standard for Automotive Quality Management Systems written by the International Automotive Task Force. This standard piggy-backs on the ISO9001:2015 standard which means we need to meet the requirements of both standards. We are audited yearly by an independent company to ensure we are conforming to all the requirements of both standards. This certification gives us credibility to supply the automotive industry and creates a continual improvement culture that improves our efficiencies. It also requires a systematic process of problem solving that reduces the impact of issues when they occur and decreases the time needed to recover from issues which improves customer confidence and satisfaction.
- We pride ourselves in the industry leading customer service. On a regular basis we hear from dealerships, end users and other customers on our immediate or faster than normal response times. Our customer service team is well trained to quickly and efficiently find the answer our callers and email inquiries are looking for. After all, Our Reputation Is Stainless!
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