“We don’t want our customers to be just satisfied, we want them to be impressed” says Alfred Thun (see photo). This is the ambitious philosophy of Alfred Thun GmbH & Co. KG of Ennepetal, Germany. Based on a passion for technology, quality, and service, combined with stringent internal and external quality control procedures, the company has established an innovative facility for producing “Made in Germany” inner bearings for the global bicycle market.
In order to meet the quality demands of its customers around the world, Thun is continually investing in the latest plant and process technology, which ensures high levels of accuracy and precision can be maintained in manufacturing Thun inner bearings.
The company has an in-house Sigma testing laboratory, where it uses state-of-the-art testing and measuring equipment in the form of contour measuring machines, along with three-dimensional measuring machines. This equipment enables Thun to demonstrate its precision and, thus, the safety of its manufactured products in a measurable way, and to monitor these properties continuously.
These different measuring techniques facilitate monitoring not only of the intermediate and end products being manufactured, but also of the tools used during the production process. In order to achieve external certification, the quality management system is regularly inspected in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001; the company also undergoes a voluntary production facility inspection in accordance with the TÜV NORD CERT Standard A75-S005, which requires a process capability index of Cpk ≥ 1.33.
In order to control and monitor the entire production process without any limits, regular supplier audits are carried out for all suppliers and service providers who have a bearing on quality. This audit programme runs alongside the continuous internal quality inspection procedures. The requirements for precision, innovation and performance are also regularly monitored during these audits and play their part in ensuring the company philosophy of "impressing the customer" can be achieved.
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