Unikie is committed to high quality and continuous improvement in all its operations. Unikie’s recently renewed ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications provide a foundation for quality work that is complemented with shared ways of working. Quality is systematically measured by various metrics and, ultimately, customer satisfaction.
In Unikie’s business, quality matters. International customers expect Unikie to provide high-quality services in terms of professional expertise, security and project delivery, for example. Therefore the company puts major effort in continuously improving the processes that guide the everyday work of each Unikie expert.
Quality is a topical theme as Unikie’s ISO 9001 certification for quality management has recently been renewed and extended to cover Unikie’s operations globally. In addition to the quality certificate, Unikie holds an ISO 14001 certification for environmental management.
However, at Unikie, quality goes far beyond signed certificates hanging on the wall. Unikie is committed to continuously improving its ways of working, meeting goals and adding value to all customers.
Systematic Work for Continuous Improvement
At Unikie, quality work involves defining and documenting shared practices, following up on processes and decisions, and making the work traceable and transparent. A practical tool for this is the Unikie Handbook, intranet for all employees, that defines company-level working practices.
“When everyone knows our ways of working, you don’t have to rely on guesswork and you can focus on creating customer value,” says Kari Pulkkinen, Quality and Operations Lead at Unikie.
Continuous improvement involves both systematically monitoring how work is being done and setting goals and targets for various quality metrics to perform even better in the future.
Fine-tuned internal processes and customer value often have direct connections.
“Because we have well-defined expert profiles and roles, we can very quickly identify the right people for new projects from within Unikie, our recruitment pool and partners. For customers, this means that we can estimate service capability and costs faster and with more accuracy – and confidently commit to even major projects on a short notice,” says Linnea Eerola, Quality Certification Project Coordinator at Unikie.
Customer Satisfaction = Number One Metric
The ultimate quality metric for Unikie is how satisfied its customers are – and how relevant Unikie’s expert services are today and tomorrow.
“We have set very ambitious goals for customer satisfaction. Our annual customer survey gives us in-depth insights to how our customers perceive us, and how we rank among other companies in the industry,” Kari Pulkkinen says.
In addition to customer surveys, Unikie systematically collects insights through everyday project work – discussions in scrum meetings, customer comments, observations by Unikie team members, statistics on meeting project deadlines and so on. Together, these amount to hundreds of polls that keep Unikie’s team on the customer’s pulse.
At the end of the day, customer satisfaction comes down to existing and new customers’ willingness to pay for Unikie’s services.
“Our continuous improvement aims at staying relevant for our customers today and tomorrow. By being close to our customers at all times, we understand their needs better and know how to add value to their business,” Kari Pulkkinen adds.
Special Focus on Security
Top-notch security is a critical factor in the industries Unikie works in. Attention to security and secure working practices is a key focus area in Unikie’s shared guidelines, training and ways of working.
Security involves many dimensions, from everyday information security to cybersecurity in software development, risk management, environmental issues, work safety and planning for operational continuity, for instance.
“We are used to working with customers who have high security requirements specific to their business or industry. We analyse these requirements and make sure they are met,” Kari Pulkkinen concludes.
One of the industry-specific requirements that Unikie complies with is TISAX level 3 certification for the automotive industry. The certificate ensures that Unikie can handle highly sensitive external data and has undergone an on-site inspection by an approved audit provider.
