SAVANNAH, Ga. — Great Dane Trailers is pleased to announce that the company’s Savannah plant has received certification for its Quality Management System under the new ISO 9001:2000 standard. This is a transition from the plant’s ISO 9002:1994 certification, which it received March 2001.

"This is confirmation of the quality practices and standard procedures we engage in the Savannah plant, which translate into a quality product for our customers," said Phill Pines, chief operating officer, Great Dane Trailers

Great Dane began applying for ISO certification under the standards available at the time in the late 1990s. More than half a million organizations in more than 60 countries are implementing ISO 9000 standards, which provide a framework for quality management throughout the processes of producing and delivering products and services for the customer. While one of many in that regard, when two of Great Dane Trailers’ trailer manufacturing facilities were presented with ISO 9002:1994 certification in November 1999, Great Dane became the first U.S. trailer manufacturer to have a U.S. trailer manufacturing location receive this honor.

"As the internationally recognized standard, the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO system was the natural choice," said Bruce Long, Savannah plant manager, Great Dane Trailers. "Modern trailer manufacturing is a very competitive environment, and the ISO standards provide a structured approach to help promote the continuous improvement process."

In addition to Savannah, three other Great Dane manufacturing facilities have received registration under ISO 9001:2000. Great Dane’s Terre Haute and Brazil, Ind., locations received ISO 9002:1994 in November 1999; Terre Haute made the transition to ISO 9001:2000 in May 2003 and Brazil made the transition to ISO 9001:2000 in June 2003. The Wayne, Neb., plant received ISO 9001:2000 certification in January 2002.

Great Dane hopes to eventually certify all of its manufacturing locations to the ISO 9001:2000 standard.

"We have been busy applying parallel quality systems to the ISO standard in our five remaining plants and look forward to moving toward registration at these plants in the future," said Ron Gordy, director of quality assurance, Great Dane Trailers.

For more information, visit www.greatdanetrailers.com