With the QHSE Manager title, Steffen Koed has his fingers one hundred percent on working with quality, health and safety and environment at Letbek A/S. He has the overall responsibility for quality management, but at the same time he also does low-practice work, e.g. preparing procedures, guidelines and chemical risk assessments – and he is currently in the process of preparing the company’s ISO 9001 certification.
When Steffen joined Letbek in 2019, he was the company’s first in his position. Today, he has a several different assignments working closely together with the company management, as well as the development, sales and production departments at Letbek. He is in charge of both health, safety and environment, however, he primarily focuses on the product quality of the company.
– In the company we value all parts equally, and we generally work according to the QDE principles. Quality, Delivery and Economy are prioritized in the order mentioned. For me it as one of the most important tasks; to make sure that customers get the right quality at the right time. I put great value in working in safe and orderly conditions, for customers as well as employees, says 36-year-old Steffen.
Close teamwork and a flat organizational structure
Letbek is a company with a flat organizational structure, and we work closely together. Great ideas are easily turned into action, and I am involved in all parts of a project.
– When we work on developing new products, we use our common competencies and we work closely together throughout the entire process. I am involved in all parts – from development to implementation – and finally, all departments evaluate all parts and we ensure that the production, the final product and the delivery all meet the expectations of our customers and standards of our own company.
– Although I have the overall responsibility for ensuring that we comply with legislation and procedures, I do not see my work as lofty – rather low-practical.
The way to a certification
Over an extended period of time, work has been done for an ISO 9001 certification at Letbek. But in 2021, Letbek has been speeding up achieve the goals and obtain the popular certification.
– It is only this year that we have really focused on being able to obtain the certification, and I estimate that we have currently come approx. 85% of the way. It’s a lot about structure, and about always doing things the same way. We have learned a lot along the way, but right now we are working hard to get procedures incorporated throughout the organization to ensure that we all work towards the same goals and requirements. I hope we reach the finish line before the end of the year. But I also know that unknown things can happen and cause the work to be prolonged.
Quality matters gets crazier
There is a growing demand from customers on traceability and environmentally friendly products and materials. If you ask Steffen about the future within his particular area of work, the answer is unequivocal:
– Quality matters only gets crazier! Requirements for quality, traceability and environment are constantly growing. This applies to all aspects of the company – from raw materials to development, production and delivery. Everybody makes requirements and demands traceability. The various quality departments keep each other going, says Steffen with a smile.
The increase in focus on traceability, sustainability and recyclability is also very much at stake. The subjects are important parts of the corporate DNA at Letbek. It requires a lot of work to make development and production work perfectly – i.e. optimizing processes.
– There is no doubt that sustainability and recyclability is an important part of our future. But personally, I would like it to become acceptable for a product to look like it is produced from recycled materials. This will reduce the waste parts of the production.
