VECO is now ISO 9001:2015 certified

The Visayan Electric Company Inc. (VECO) has been granted an ISO 9001:2015 Certification effective January 30, 2018.

VECO obtained the certification after the two-stage audit by leading testing service TUV Rheinland Philippines that was concluded last December.

An ISO certification is an accreditation based on international standards conducted by external certification bodies  to ensure that an organization performs its interrelated processes to achieve its business goals.

ISO 9001:2015, a Quality Management System (QMS) certification, specifies QMS requirements when an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, as well as continued enhancement of the system for effective application.

The latest version of ISO 9001:2015 also incorporates risk management so that organizations can identify and provide a systematic approach to risks for a more efficient quality management system.

“The journey to accreditation was a long and tedious one wherein we had to put attention and importance to detail as all processes had to be documented and we had to ensure that we are practicing what we preach,” said VECO Chief Operating Officer Anton Mari G. Perdices.

Perdices said the biggest challenge was time management since aside from preparing for the certification, VECO also had its daily operations to consider. “But knowing that we are one team with one goal, we were all confident that we would achieve the accreditation,” he added.

The Geneva, Switzerland-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO), through its website, says that it is an organization that, through its members, “brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.”

“We are continuously doing what we can to become a world class distribution utility. Achieving this accreditation shows that we are professionally run with many standards in place and are always finding ways to improve our processes to deliver the best service to our customers,” said Perdices.

Aside from continuously improving VECO’s processes to serve its customers better,  the VECO COO added that the company is also going for an Environmental Health and Safety certification.

VECO is the second largest electric utility in the Philippines. It serves the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay, Naga and four municipalities of the greater part of Metro Cebu -- Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla and San Fernando.

The company has a balanced power mix portfolio. A total of 50 percent of the power it distributes comes from renewable sources, 40 percent from coal and the remaining 10 from other sources.