On demand advanced manufacturer Ivaldi Group has attained internationally renowned ISO 9001:2015 quality certification for its manufacturing capabilities. Providing 3D printing, and now metal fabrication, as a service, Ivaldi Group’s goal is to deliver spare parts within 24 hours to clients in construction, maritime and offshore industries. With this new approval, the service provider has proven its ability to consistently meet quality standards, and it takes the first crucial step toward achieving certification for specific end products.
“Certifying our quality management system has helped us to structure our processes to create a solid foundation,” comments Anna D’Alessio, Quality Management Specialist of Ivaldi Group.
“This will allow us to improve efficiency, productivity, and traceability.”
Sending files not parts
Ivaldi Group was founded in 2016, though the company remained very much in stealth mode until 2018 when it announced a partnership with Wilhelmsen, the largest maritime network in the world. For the past several months it appears, the company has been working on attaining ISO 9001:2015 certification. Espen Sivertsen, CEO of Ivaldi Group, comments, “Standardized and certified processes are a necessity for any company wishing to provide a serious contribution to on-demand logistics.”
“That our team has achieved ISO 9001 in the short timeframe we did is a testament to our team and a strong indicator of our commitment to evolving the heavy industry supply chain by sending files not parts.”
The “files not parts” soundbite is a key motto upheld by the company. Its Parts Replacement as a Service (PRaaS) exists as an enabler to digital warehousing, making manufacturing accessible at a variety of centers local to the customer. It is also trialing drone delivery of 3D printer consumables.
Though essentially such services are valuable to many industries, Ivaldi has chosen to focus on shipping. In doing so, it fills a niche of industry-specific parts, as Sivertsen explained to me in an interview, “[Maritime is] one of the spaces that not a lot of people are paying attention to.”
3D printing was a key part of getting this service off the ground, but the company remains technology agnostic when it comes to manufacturing, and there are plans to expand its capabilities in the future.
Consistent quality manufacturing
Written by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ISO 9001:2015 is a generic certification document “intended to be applicable to any organization, regardless of its type or size, or the products and services it provides.” The certification is granted when a business is able to:
1. Demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and,
2. Show that is aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
D’Alessio adds, “Global quality management systems are important to align processes and optimize operations across facilities. This certification proves our commitment to meet requirements of stakeholders affected by our work.”
Further demonstrating a commitment to quality, Ivaldi Group previously participated in the development of DNV GL’s first classification guideline for additive manufacturing in the maritime and oil & gas industries.
Closing comments on ISO certification, Sivertsen stated:
“Watch this space: we are just getting started.”
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Featured image shows an illustration of Ivaldi Group’s 3D printing capabilities. Image via Ivaldi Group
