Grainnet

West Central Cooperative Receives ISO 9001:2000 Certification

Ralston, IA—West Central Cooperative’s grain division has received the elite ISO 9001:2000 certification.

The cooperative’s Quality Management System has been certified as compliant with the International Standard ISO 9001:2000, as awarded by the Bureau Veritas.

Only one other cooperative location in the state of Iowa has received this distinction and certification.

West Central implemented its Quality Management System (QMS) in 2006.

The cooperative’s quality management system is an internal system, put together by employees to guarantee that the highest standards of quality are met when working with and marketing locally produced grain.

Simultaneously, these standards correspond with those of the ISO 9001:2000.

The system provides quality checks for grain grading accuracy, grain handling (both quality and quantity), internal audits verifying system effectiveness, continual improvement, identifying best practices and meeting customer requirements.

Meeting the ever-growing customer demand for the highest level of quality is vital to the future success of companies in any industry.

This certification and QMS gives West Central greater credibility in the grain industry and provides consistency between the cooperative’s grain facilities.

It allows for efficiency increases, greater employee awareness and improved customer satisfaction.

The ISO certification is valid for three years, after which re-certification can be applied for.

Currently, six locations, as well as West Central’s corporate grain marketing department, are ISO 9001:2000 certified.

In the future, Quality Management System’s will be put into place at six additional grain locations and three feed and soy locations, in an effort to also certify these locations.

West Central is a full service, farmer owned cooperative with a nationwide and international presence.

Currently, West Central is the 16th largest grain company in the United States with 3,148 stockholders, and inbound grain of 78 million bushels in 2007.

The company is a full service agronomy inputs provider, and further processes soybeans into a variety of value added products.

These products include SoyPLUS®, SoyChlor®, and other livestock nutritional products.

For more information, call 712-667-3200.