Press: Rittal now has IRIS certification

Rittal has been active for 15 years in rail technology, supplying all major vehicle manufacturers such as Siemens Mobility, Alstom Transport and Bombardier. The internationally recognized IRIS certification is a major prerequisite for participation in the growing rail technology market: Market researchers envisage sustainable growth for years to come, and at an annual rate of 4.5 percent until 2013. By then the worldwide market volume will be € 157 billion (source: SCI Transport, 2008 World Market Study).

IRIS - uniform international quality standard

The IRIS (International Railway industry Standard) quality standard was drawn up by European Rail Industry Association UNIFE and combines the widely used general quality requirements of the ISO 9001 with additional railway industry demands. The aim of IRIS certification is to create an international, uniform quality standard for all suppliers of the rail industry, making time-consuming mutual evaluations and audits superfluous. The standard is recognised by all major rail manufacturers and represents the most stringent current quality demand placed on supplier companies.

After a preparatory period of one and a half years, Rittal's plant in Rittershausen was granted the demanding IRIS certification on 15 April. This makes Rittal one of the few systems suppliers of enclosure and climate control technology that can boast this certification. During the preparatory period, 50 Rittal employees from different departments were given special training on rail-related topics. In addition, many work processes and a great deal of documentation was revised. Following a two-day audit by the independent Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems (SQS), it was clear that the effort had been worth it: All the sectors audited had passed the test with very good results.

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Rittal GmbH & Co. KG

Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, which has its headquarters in Herborn, Germany, is one of the world's leading system suppliers for housing and enclosure technologies, power distribution systems, system climate control and IT infrastructure. Customers from all sectors of industry, from mechanical and plant engineering, as well as from the IT and telecoms market, are making use of system solutions from Rittal.

Its broad product range also includes complete solutions for modular and energy-efficient data centres: from innovative security concepts for data systems (formerly known as Litcos) through to physical data and system security for IT infrastructures (formerly known as Lampertz). The leading software providers Eplan and Mind8 - Rittal subsidiaries - are supplementing the Rittal product portfolio with interdisciplinary engineering solutions.

Founded in 1961, Rittal is now active worldwide with 12 production sites, 63 subsidiaries and 40 agencies. With 9,000 employees worldwide, Rittal is the largest company of the proprietor-run Friedhelm Loh Group of Haiger, Germany. The entire group employs more than 10,500 people and generated revenues of more than € 2.2 billion in 2008. Further information at www.rittal.com and www.friedhelm-loh-group.com.