The quality of our products and services is a key factor behind our competitiveness and a strong argument for choosing NIBE. Our quality policy applies to every aspect of our activities and is a guiding principle in our systematic approach to improvements in everything from development and production to marketing, sales and customer support. It is important that all employees see quality as their own personal responsibility and are committed to producing fault-free products and services.
Customer-oriented approach
Our ability to create value for our customers and to learn from any mistakes we make is founded on the commitment of our managers to create a culture at NIBE that focuses firmly on a process of continual improvement. To ensure customer satisfaction and continuously fine-tune our quality control procedures, we carry out regular customer surveys of selected products or customer segments. These surveys usually confirm that we meet customer demands and expectations, but we are still constantly taking new initiatives to achieve further long-term improvements in areas such as delivery reliability, product performance, product quality and customer support. We believe that quality improvements in every aspect of our operations will be crucial to our ability to continue to grow in an increasingly competitive market. In 2011 just over one third of our units conducted customer surveys. The feedback was mainly positive, with customers expressing complete satisfaction with NIBE’s products and services.
Supplier assessments
We work closely with our suppliers to ensure the quality of components and systems, assessing supplier performance in terms of quality and environmental and social responsibility, based on the guidelines that we have laid down. In 2011 we assessed a large number of suppliers in this way, particularly those working with the larger companies in the Group.
Continual improvements
Work on continual improvements is crucial to improving efficiency and delivery reliability and to enhancing quality and customer satisfaction. It is essential to respond quickly to internal quality problems and to customer needs. This work varies from unit to unit, but high priority is always given to problem-solving and to creating new best-practice methods through skills enhancement initiatives. We set quantifiable quality targets and seek to continually improve by establishing new strategic objectives. In addition, we regularly benchmark our performance against that of our competitors in order to learn from others and make sure we remain a market leader in our specialist fields.
Production environments and manufacturing equipment are continually being developed and improved, and staff receive extensive training in working methods, product functionality and performance.
Existing products are improved and new ones with innovative functions and/or enhanced performance characteristics are developed to secure our future position in the market.
Continual improvements
Work on continual improvements is crucial to improving efficiency and delivery reliability and to enhancing quality and customer satisfaction. It is essential to respond quickly to internal quality problems and to customer needs. This work varies from unit to unit, but high priority is always given to problem-solving and to creating new best-practice methods through skills enhancement initiatives. We set quantifiable quality targets and seek to continually improve by establishing new strategic objectives. In addition, we regularly benchmark our performance against that of our competitors in order to learn from others and make sure we remain a market leader in our specialist fields.
Production environments and manufacturing equipment are continually being developed and improved, and staff receive extensive training in working methods, product functionality and performance.
Existing products are improved and new ones with innovative functions and/or enhanced performance characteristics are developed to secure our future position in the market.
Product liability
Our products are delivered with the relevant information about product functionality, servicing and safety. Where appropriate, we even offer training for our customers to ensure maximum safety as regards the installation and operation of our products. Our products are also required to meet the demands of a number of EU directives and international safety regulations, and we make sure that we do this by confirming our compliance with the relevant standards. No serious breaches of health and safety legislation, product information regulations or product labelling standards were reported by NIBE units in 2011, and no fines or penalties were imposed.
The impact of our products on personal health safety are evaluated throughout the entire lifecycle of the product, from drawing board to destruction. During the past year we have taken a number of steps to improve product performance in these areas.
Market communication
The Group’s marketing departments are responsible for making sure that all marketing and communication in the form of advertising, sponsorship and PR is factual and conforms to the laws and regulations governing these areas. NIBE has a clearly defined policy for communicating with various stakeholders that reflects applicable laws, standards and the Group’s Code of Conduct. We monitor developments closely to make sure, for example, that we do not sell any products that are prohibited in certain markets. There were no reports in 2011 of incidents where NIBE companies failed to comply with good practice or broke any rules in this area.
Quality assurance
Quality assurance work at most production units complies with international ISO 9001 specifications. Approximately three quarters of our production units are ISO 9001 certified and in most instances quality systems are integrated into the overall business management system.
Process orientation in the management systems lays the foundations for customer-oriented development and improvement work. Product development is quality-assured by preventive measures, with control, verification and validation points from the earliest stages of the development process. The aim is for new products not only to be of high quality and meet legal requirements and criteria for safety, but also to exceed the needs and expectations of users. For this reason, our customers and suppliers are involved throughout the development process.