APPLETON, Wis. (October 27, 2010) – Pierce Manufacturing, an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) company, today announced that it has successfully completed its ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9001:2008 Surveillance Audit by ABS Quality Evaluations (ABS QE), an independent third-party organization. ISO 9001:2008 is an internationally recognized standard that sets forth a set of requirements aimed at achieving customer satisfaction. Pierce completed its surveillance audit and there were no major or minor findings. The company was first certified to ISO 9001 standards in 1998.
“The ISO 9001:2008 standard, which is recognized around the world, is extremely comprehensive. This reassures our customers that Pierce Manufacturing maintains consistency in all phases of our operations,” said Jim Johnson, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president, Fire & Emergency. “We’re extremely pleased to have gone through the surveillance without a single major or minor finding. It speaks volumes about the people and the processes we have in place to build quality vehicles that will perform for firefighters and the communities they serve.”
Two types of auditing are required to become registered to the standard: auditing by an external certification body, such as ABS QE, and audits by internal staff trained for this process. The aim of the audit is a continual process of review and assessment, to verify that the system is working as intended. The audit also finds out how the system can improve and to correct or prevent problems identified. The ISO standards require that all employees in the company, especially upper management, embrace quality control in their day-to-day activities.
“We have more than 25 internal auditors, throughout the company, who are organized into cross functional teams,” said Chris Bronikowski, Pierce Manufacturing director of quality and continuous improvement. “These are all employee volunteers, who gladly take on this extra responsibility to ensure that we are following procedures and are compliant with ISO 9001:2008 standard.”
The International Organization for Standardization was established in 1947 and is an association of 170 members, with each representing their own country. ISO employs a system of technical committees, sub-committees and working groups to develop international standards.
Photo Caption: Pierce Manufacturing has passed its ISO 9001:2008 Surveillance Audit.
About Pierce Manufacturing
Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation [NYSE: OSK] company, is the leading North American manufacturer of custom fire apparatus. Products include custom and commercial pumpers, aerials, rescue trucks, wildland trucks, minipumpers, elliptical tankers, and homeland security apparatus. In addition, Pierce designs its own foam systems and was the first company to introduce frontal airbags and the Side Roll Protection system to fire apparatus. To learn more about Pierce, visit www.piercemfg.com
About Oshkosh Corporation
Oshkosh Corporation is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialty access equipment, commercial, fire & emergency and military vehicles and vehicle bodies. Oshkosh Corporation manufactures, distributes and services products under the brands of Oshkosh®, JLG®, Pierce®,McNeilus®, Medtec®, Jerr-Dan®, Oshkosh Specialty Vehicles, Frontline™, SMIT™, CON-E-CO®, London® and IMT®. Oshkosh products are valued worldwide in businesses where high quality, superior performance, rugged reliability and long-term value are paramount. For more information, visit www.oshkoshcorporation.com.
®, ™ All brand names referred to in this news release are trademarks of Oshkosh Corporation or its subsidiary companies.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that the Company believes to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this presentation, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project” or “plan” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include the impact on revenues and margins of the projected decrease in M-ATV production rates; the cost of any warranty campaigns related to the Company’s products; the Company’s ability to start production under the FMTV contract at targeted margins; the cyclical nature of the Company’s access equipment, commercial and fire & emergency markets, especially during periods of global economic weakness and tight credit markets; the duration of the ongoing global economic weakness, which could lead to additional impairment charges related to many of the Company’s intangible assets and/or a slower recovery in the Company’s cyclical businesses than equity market expectations; the expected level and timing of U.S. DoD procurement of products and services and funding thereof; risks related to reductions in government expenditures in light of U.S. defense budget pressures and an uncertain DoD tactical wheeled vehicle strategy; the potential for the U.S. government to competitively bid the Company’s Army and Marine Corps contracts; the consequences of financial leverage associated with the JLG acquisition, which could limit the Company’s ability to pursue various opportunities; risks related to the collectability of receivables, particularly for those businesses with exposure to construction markets; risks related to production delays as a result of the economy’s impact on the Company’s suppliers; the potential for commodity costs to rise sharply, particularly in a future economic recovery; risks related to costs and charges as a result of facilities consolidation and alignment; risks associated with international operations and sales, including foreign currency fluctuations and compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; risks related to disruptions in the Company’s distribution networks; and the potential for increased costs relating to compliance with changes in laws and regulations. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any obligation to update such forward-looking statements.
