So when Crown made the decision to obtain ISO 9001:2000 certification, it made the commitment to have all manufacturing facilities and key support areas go through the certification process.

The result: all Crown manufacturing facilities – including the small components, motor, mast, and final assembly plants – and other areas such as engineering, purchasing, design, distribution center, and tool rooms, have obtained ISO 9001:2000 certification.

ISO 9001:2000 is an International Standard for Quality Management Systems that focuses on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

"Because we are so vertically integrated, we have more direct control over how our lift trucks are manufactured," says Crown Director of Quality Mark DeGrandchamp. "As a result, we felt it was critical for us to have a broad scope of our operations obtain ISO 9001:2000 certification. It really helps define how you want to run your business and the level of service, quality and integrity that goes into each lift truck you make.

"Completing the ISO 9001:2000 certification process, along with implementing other Crown initiatives such as demand flow technology, has played a pivotal role in enhancing customer satisfaction, improving performance metrics and increasing employee development," added DeGrandchamp.

Process enhancements Crown has made have increased Crown's ability to respond to requests for product customization. Crown manufacturing facilities have also seen improvements in meeting and exceeding performance objectives including increasing inventory turns and reducing lead times. An additional benefit was that Crown has focused on developing a more highly skilled workforce via performing individual job performance assessments and providing training accordingly.

Crown has put rigorous measurement metrics in place to help ensure that customer satisfaction is maintained. "We measure our performance not only with our dealers and branches, but internally as well with plants rating other plants on customer service. It really helps us all maintain the highest service standards possible," says DeGrandchamp.

Crown Equipment Corporation is the number one brand of electric lift trucks in the United States and the fifth largest manufacturer in the world. Crown’s award-winning line of trucks has earned a reputation for exceptional product design, engineering and manufacturing. From the smallest hand pallet truck to the highest lifting turret truck, Crown seeks to provide users with safe, efficient and ergonomic lift trucks that lower total cost of ownership and maximize uptime. Headquartered in New Bremen, Ohio, Crown lift trucks are manufactured and sold throughout the world.