WHEN it was announced that Crown Motors had achieved ISO certification at the first attempt, the management was justifiably proud, but there was also a sense of relief.
All managers had been gathered together to hear the announcement from the external audit team and, because previous internal audits showed failure during preparation, there was doubt whether everything was thorough enough to satisfy the careful testing and probing of the audit team.
Pride at the achievement permeated throughout the company.
''Our 1,300 staff in our 27 branches were really excited,'' managing director William Tsui said.
''There was a great sense of accomplishment which really brought the company together.
''I was quite sceptical about our chances, but we really came through.'' Mr Tsui said the process of education took a while and that, initially, some of the workers did not care about ISO 9001.