STAR Servicios Lingüísticos one of the first companies in Europe to achieve double quality certification

STAR Servicios Lingüísticos, the Spanish branch of the STAR Group, has achieved certification to ISO 9001:2000 for its quality management system and has been certified against UNE-EN 15038, the new European Standard for translation services that was created by the National Committee AEN/CTN 174 of the Spanish Normalization and Certification Body AENOR and approved by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) in April 2006. The Spanish firm is thus one of the first companies in Europe to achieve both quality certificates.

“For us, the certification against the two standards is a natural, albeit important step on our journey to entrepreneurial excellence”, explains Sergio Martínez, Head of Sales and member of the Quality Committee of the company. “Now we have to strive to consolidate the system and exploit opportunities for improvement. Therefore, the fundamental concepts of quality management have to take root in our company and everybody has to comprehend and apply them. It is important to understand that a quality system is not an end in itself but a management tool that allows a company to be more competitive.” The management of STAR Servicios Lingüísticos is based on the principles of the Model of Excellence of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM): results orientated, customer focused, demonstrating leadership and constancy of purpose, management by processes and facts, people development and involvement, continuous learning, innovation and improvement, partnership development and corporate social responsibility.

According to Michael Scholand, CEO of the company, the decision to go for certification stemmed from its adherence to the Spanish Association of Translation Companies ACT. “It was a happy coincidence. When I went to my first General Assembly of ACT in September 2006, I had just finished a Master in Quality Management at the UPC in Barcelona. Some of the leaders of the ACT had been very active in the creation of the UNE-EN 15038, the new European Standard for translation providers”, he remembers. “They were equally inspired by the idea of Excellence. Their argument was that joint certification of as many ACT member companies as possible would be the right way to professionalize and standardize our sector of industry. It simply seemed an excellent idea, I had to support it,” recalls the STAR CEO. “So I didn’t think twice. We jumped on the bandwagon together with 18 other ACT members and we are very happy and proud to have achieved our aim together.”