Cluster Meeting Americas

The Americas cluster met in Mexico in September. Initially, a two-day corporate audit was conducted at TÜV NORD Mexico and TUV USA. Corporate auditor was Katja Hahn. The TUV USA audit was carried out online, which saved travel costs and expenses. Following the audit, the first Americas Quality Hub Meeting took place, as well as a Cluster Manager Meeting.

 

Hub Americas kick-off quality meeting in Queretaro

At the invitation of Quality and Environmental Management Division of TÜV NORD AG, participants from the TÜV NORD companies in America met with representatives of the management department to discuss possible steps to improve cooperation between the companies in the management systems field. The target is to delegate activities such as training and audits from the headquarters to the regional HUB.

The participants stressed that such a regional hub would bring many benefits: it would enhance regional acceptance and make use of an existing, functioning network; the sites would be located in neighboring time zones; and country-specific aspects would be taken into account.

«We arrived at a common understanding of our issues, and we have agreed on further close cooperation. The parties with responsibility aim to meet in person once a year, and the intention is also to hold regular regional meetings, so that we can work together on the TÜV NORD GROUP integrated management system. This will enhance our operational excellence worldwide», says Katja Hahn, who conducted the audit.

Cluster Meeting Americas

 

Following the Corporate Audit and the Kick-off Meeting, the four heads of the cluster Americas met for a cluster meeting: Hakan Sen, Raul Mitre, Amadeo Berdou and Reginaldo Maia. Among topics discussed were the following:

• Strategy 2020-2023
• Marketing and sales strategy and best practice
• Expansion of the service portfolio and activities in Central and South America
• Digitization strategy and development of S4S services
• Implementation and expansion of the Training Center in the Americas
• Establishment of the Shared Service Center Americas in Mexico. Idea: Bundling of resources and use of synergies (e.g. auditor qualification, calculation, ATEA, approvals and certificate creation etc.). The evaluation for the first pilot for the auditor qualification process was very positive. For example: With the support of the Shared Service Center, it was possible to qualify DAkkS-Auditors in TN-Argentine very quickly. The next processes could be calculation and ATEA in the areas of Food, Aerospace, and IATF. The goal is to become faster, share resources and expertise, save cost and increase quality levels.
• Implementation of remote audits: Establishment of uniform risk assessments and procedural instructions with TUV USA and TN Brazil to enable remote audits (special feature: goal is to carry out a complete (100%) remote audit without an onsite visit).
• Process and structural adjustment: In order to integrate Bold Move even better, processes, KPIs and structure within the cluster will be further harmonized.