What exactly does your job as quality manager involve and how long have you been doing it?
I joined the Rail Europe Solutions Group in 2015, as an intern for one of our subsidiaries. After my internship, I was hired by Rail Europe Solutions MFD after it was taken over (at the beginning of 2015), to set up a quality certification process.
In 2016, the Rail Europe Solutions MFD quality system became ISO 9001 certified.
In 2019, I updated the quality system at Rail Europe Solutions Béton (Emofer) and we gained ISO 9001 version 2015 certification, replacing the 2008 version that was already in place.
Meanwhile, CCB and Rail Europe Solutions Bois (Rail Europe) were already certified (ISO 9001 and 14001). All of these quality and QSE systems had to be kept up to date in order to maintain these certifications.
As the needs of Rail Europe Solutions MFD evolved, we developed a system to include safety and environmental aspects. Since 2020, the management system has been certified to ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 standards.
When I started in quality back in 2015, I mainly worked out in the field, ensuring the quality of the products. At the same time, I was, and still am, in charge of implementing and steering the quality assurance system, with the aim of maintaining certifications awarded by external bodies. This means working with the management to define the QSE policies and implementing and improving the company’s processes. To ensure that the quality system is well controlled, the management and I set annual quantitative targets in terms of product quality, logistics, supply chain, administration, human resources management and sales. All of this may sound rather complicated, but it is an exciting task that requires a great deal of patience and attention to detail. My day-to-day tasks include monitoring quality indicators and following up on corrective and preventive actions (in consultation with the departments concerned, with a view to improving the quality system and meeting customer requirements and satisfaction). I am also responsible for raising awareness of quality issues among employees and providing them with information on the procedures to be implemented. I also like to perform internal audits, which I carry out on a regular basis.
In what way is the work of a Quality Manager a guarantee of quality for a company?
The job alone is not a guarantee of the company’s quality; it is the certification itself and the subsequent actions that are the main guarantees of quality. We follow an international standard that proves our desire to do things well and that gives us guidelines to follow.
We have set up quality controls, which we call “quality lockdowns”. They ensure that the goods delivered to customers are in line with their requirements. They also help us to ensure that the specifications are met, not just in terms of the final product, but also in terms of the upstream process! We make sure that we can produce the product to specification before we start any manufacturing work. This involves making sure that we have the right tools, control equipment, control methods and control materials to comply with the specifications. We pass these methods and materials on to our personnel, but we also have to make sure that these control tools are properly calibrated.
No two days are the same and the work is extremely varied as we deal with many different areas in the company, such as skills development, employee training, etc. In short, all these different processes help the company to become more efficient.
What is the most satisfying part of your job at Rail Europe Solutions?
Obtaining the different site certifications of course! The goal is to introduce a process to obtain a certification, which is like earning a diploma at the end of a training course.
Starting from scratch at Rail Europe Solutions MFD, we managed to obtain 3 certifications, which is a great acheivement! However, this is not just a personal achievement: it didn’t happen by itself. This has been made possible thanks to the entire team, both the office staff and the production workers, and we couldn’t have achieved it without each and every one of them. As for the other certifications on the group’s other sites, it is by working together with Frédéric Dalimier and Fabien Delbove that we have succeeded in maintaining the existing certifications and setting up new ones.
What was the Rail Europe Solutions Group like back in 2015?
The quality system was less advanced, but the quality of our various products was already very high; otherwise we would not be at this level today, especially as such a large group. As for the rest, it was an alliance of SMEs that managed themselves individually (CCB, Rail Europe, and Woodprotect had been part of the group for decades, then MFD was acquired in 2015, and we had not yet acquired Emofer). We went from a wood business with equipment trading and recycling of old sleepers to 2 businesses that needed to be upgraded within the group.
How has the Rail Europe Solutions group changed since you joined?
The Group has been greatly expanded and improved as a result of establishing the “group” itself. As I said earlier, it started out as a collection of small, independently run SMEs. Today it has become a more globalised entity, with skill sharing between the companies, a strong business model and a significant focus on development. As far as quality is concerned, it has also evolved – we have stepped up our standards and made them more demanding. This was also a way to meet the demands of customers who have increasingly high expectations in terms of quality.
How do you feel about being part of the Rail Europe Solutions group?
I feel like I belong! It’s a great group to work for! Well, it’s a bit the opposite of what I’ve already said, but it’s a group with a lot of small SMEs, where everyone knows each other and is on first-name terms. And the fact that it is a French/Belgian group makes it much easier for everyone to communicate. I really appreciate the close working relationships I have with my colleagues. Everyone gets along well, everyone pulls together, and it’s a real pleasure to work in such a stimulating and motivating environment. The management encourages and supports us, seeks to develop quality, invests a lot, and the companies provide the resources the group needs to develop. For example, at Rail Europe Solutions MFD, we have invested in new machinery and employee training, things that would not necessarily have been possible without the strength of the group.
