Salinas, California
December 11, 2000

Seed technology giant INCOTEChas received certification to ISO 9001 for its North America research and manufacturing operation based in Salinas, California. ISO 9000 is a series of international standards for quality control used in manufacturing, trade and government. 

Given INCOTEC's existing quality systems, the process took a year and a half to complete in the United States, according to Marybeth Vertovec, who oversaw the development of the quality system. Many companies take up to five years to navigate through the complex documentation system requirements, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The final approval was given earlier this week after a group of auditors from ECAS, an audit firm, certified that INCOTEC's facilities met ISO 9001 standards.

"ISO 9000 puts in place a systematic quality assurance process. It makes sure that our products meet or exceed the most rigorous of standards," said Vertovec. "Bottom line, it means that you say what you do, do what you say, record what you do, check on the results and act on the difference. It's about continuous improvement."

"We feel very strongly about quality, it's a deep-rooted philosophy," added David Pickenpaugh, general manager of Incotec. "We are working with a product of nature that will be used under varying climatic conditions. We must do everything possible to protect the seed from the time we
receive raw product until it is delivered into the hands of our customers." Now that INCOTEC's quality system is registered to ISO, growers and plant raisers shouldn't see much difference in INCOTEC's products, according to Pickenpaugh. And that's the point.

In Europe most large operations insist that their suppliers be registered to IS0. In the U.S., quality assurance systems are mostly voluntary, although more and more common.

INCOTEC develops and markets seed coating technology that improves the plantability and emergence of vegetable, flower, tobacco and other agricultural seed. Its U.S. division is based in Salinas, California.

Established in 1947, the International Organization for Standardization is a non-governmental worldwide federation. The ISO 9000 standards have become an international reference for quality requirements in business to business dealings and form the basis for some 350,000 quality management systems within private and public sector organizations in 150 countries.

Company news release
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