Cormack Packaging has been recognised for their outstanding commitment to a total quality systems approach, being recognised as a national finalist in the 2009 SAI Global Quality Systems Awards in Brisbane on Wednesday 3^rd of June.

In conducting the Awards Program, SAI Global select finalists based on criteria of an organisation that can create confidence in the capability of its processes and in the quality of its products and services. They also look for organisation's who foster continuous improvement practices and demonstrate an ongoing commitment to delivering the anticipated outcomes of these programs. Underpinning this criteria are the fundamentals of the ISO 9001 standard.

With Cormack Packaging recently upgrading their certification to the 9001:2008 standards, this was an ideal opportunity for the business to showcase the dedication and commitment to Quality Management Systems across all levels of the organisation. The resounding sentiment of the Cormack quality process is ‘How we work together is as important as What we work on'.

Cormack's clear vision and values, simplification of the strategic process, leverage of global partnerships with customers and suppliers and a balance between aspiration and execution drive the delivery of core processes- being customer focus, continuous improvement, people and compliance. A robust and structured framework incorporates these factors building a foundation up that is inclusive of all facets and levels of the business from manufacturing floor to board of directors.

Representing Cormack packaging at the Awards ceremony in Brisbane were, Mathew Cormack Managing Director and Joe Nguyen Quality Manager.

Mathew Cormack reflected on the recognition of Cormack Packaging,

"The SAI Global Awards are a tool to recognise and benchmark our efforts against other class leading organisations. Cormack has a very simple vision we will be 'The Preferred Supplier' to our customer partners, indeed Cormack will be globally competitive in all aspects of service, quality and price. To achieve these goals we must have superior management systems that underpin our business and we must challenge ourselves to benchmark against best in class. In the high volume packaging industry process repeatability, six sigma methodologies to optimise those processes and a continuous improvement culture all assist to drive our business performance to this goal of being best in class. Recognition from the SAI of the efforts by the Cormack team is a welcome encouragement to continue to strive and deliver on our commitment to our customers."

David Mellows, Operations Manager was honoured to be included amongst the distinguished list of finalists for 2009,

 "From our point of view it is nice to be nominated in the company of organisations of that quality, it is a real honour. It is a great opportunity for us to continue to benchmark ourselves amongst organisations that we would not typically consider as peers."

"I am proud of the team that we achieved a finalist position in the first year of participation in these Awards, and we will continue to work towards improving upon this position in 2010" he went on to comment.

To view more on Cormack Packaging Certification and Quality Management Systems, simply click on the "Quality Assurance" menu at http://www.cormack.com.au/

Cormack Packaging recently celebrated the graduation of seven production employees who were successful in obtaining their TAFE recognised Certificate IV in Competitive Manufacturing. Cormack now has  60% of the total operations workforce- with a minimum of Certificate III and a further 20% of operation staff with a Certificate IV in Lean manufacturing.  Supply, Manufacturing and Engineering functions were represented as each employee received their certificate of completion from Cormack Packaging Managing Director Mathew Cormack, Operations Manager David Mellows, Quality Manager Joe Nguyen and from trainers representing Australian Apprenticeship Arrangements who conducted the ten month course with staff.

Reinforcing an organisational focus on delivering the highest quality standards to our customers and constantly improving our product delivery through the application continuous improvement and lean manufacturing principles, the education program which is focused on operational improvement and sustainability of high level performance through successful implementation and maintenance of process improvements.  It also highlights the strong strategic focus by Cormack into investing in the development of our people to increase performance and ownership across the organisation to continue our position as a leader in the market place.

Mathew Cormack said of the achievement of employees involved "Our Cormack Values state "Knowledge is our currency of the future, Innovation is our knowledge transformed into economic value. Our ongoing investment into training and education of our staff is a demonstrated and continued commitment to our core values, our people, and to lean manufacturing disciplines. As an organisation we place in high regard not only the skill acquisition of those involved, but also the enthusiasm of participants to share their newly acquired skills through application within the work place. What this means for our customers is the highest possible performance and consistency in their filling plants coupled with a commitment to world competitive supply costs. People do make the difference especially when your people have the right skills, the right game plan and the enthusiasm and commitment to be winners. At Cormack we live our Values, and at Cormack our people really do make the difference, this is a great demonstration of Our Cormack Values in action".

Cormack will continue to progress the Competitive Manufacturing program within the organisation with additional staff selected to commence Certificate IV qualifications throughout 2009.