As Group Quality Manager, Maximilian Kaiser is responsible for quality management at Militzer & Münch locations around the world. In the interview he reports on current projects, the process of a quality audit and what fascinates him about working in logistics.
Hello Mr. Kaiser, can you briefly describe how your work for Militzer & Münch looks like? What are your tasks?
The purpose of Quality Management is to ensure the consistent delivery of products and services that meet customer requirements and applicable laws and regulations. As Group Quality Manager, I manage a wide variety of projects and processes. Our team consists of more than 20 quality managers, one for each national company, who are coordinated from the holding company here in St. Gallen.
Our goals can be summarized under three key points: effectiveness, conformity and compliance. This means that we implement, maintain and continually improve a quality management system with a clear customer focus, or introduce it where it does not already exist. We solve our customers’ logistics problems effectively, are compliant with international standards and meet regulatory and legal requirements. The values that guide us are loyalty, integrity and respect.
What current projects or developments are you working on in quality management?
We passed our 2022 surveillance audit in May this year. The external inspections carried out by the auditing company LRQA did not reveal a single deviation from the norm. At the beginning of 2023, the recertification of ISO 9001:2015 will continue, which will be checked with the most extensive audits ever. To achieve this, our entire process landscape must be compliant with the standards.
In addition, we transfer our quality management to other national companies. We are currently pursuing ISO 9001:2015 certification in Sri Lanka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Malaysia. A quality manager is responsible on site for adapting the standards to the individual requirements of the companies and ensuring compliance with them.
Risk management is also closely linked to quality management, for which we are currently optimizing various processes within the national companies. In addition, together with our Head of Group Controlling, I create an environmental management system in accordance with the international environmental management standard ISO 14001:2015. In this way, we strengthen our ecological awareness and make it easier for our customers to take environmental factors into account in their transports. Our quality, risk and environmental management will together form a so-called Integrated Management System. We will start this in March 2023.
How does a quality audit work?
The internal audits are selected on the basis of the so-called “risk-based approach”. With this risk-based approach, we decide on specific locations taking into account time, success and risk factors. When were the locations last audited? How important is the location for the company’s success? Choosing which locations minimizes the risk of loss of quality? The on-site quality manager supports the local management in the implementation, administration and improvement of the quality management system (QMS). At the same time, the team carries out audits at locations in other countries in the region. For example, a colleague from France goes to Morocco or vice versa – after all, nobody should check themselves.
Here at headquarters we coordinate what is checked, where and by whom. Depending on what exactly we want to check, the auditor looks at different processes. Do they meet customer requirements? Are they ISO 9001:2015 compliant? The results then reach me and I analyze them in collaboration with the quality manager on site.
Please briefly describe your professional career. What roles do you have at Militzer & Go through Münch?
I initially studied economics and business administration. My first point of contact with Militzer & Münch was my traineeship from June 2017. In Frankfurt I was deployed at the airport, in Stockstadt I got to know our truck transports in the road department and finally our holding company in St. Gallen. From August 2018 to January 2022, I was Executive Assistant to the CEO and Executive Assistant to the Group Management. I then became Executive Assistant to the Board of Directors of TransInvest Holding AG. I have also been Group Quality Manager since October 1, 2021. I am certified in the areas of project and environmental management and am currently qualifying as a Chartered Financial Analyst.
What fascinates you about the logistics industry?
Our team consists of many generalists with specializations. Every freight forwarder must have a wide range of knowledge: they must understand the market, know import and export flows, and keep an eye on the infrastructure and the political mood of many countries. At the same time, he is a specialist in his field – road transport, air freight, sea freight or project logistics. Every day brings new challenges in an international context. The topics and tasks we deal with are always exciting.