KISTERS AG
KISTERS specialises in the gathering, processing and reporting of environmental data from all over the world, creating innovative and data driven solutions that harness the power of data and technology. Originally founded in 1963 as an engineering firm in Aachen Germany, KISTERS today is an international medium-sized organisation that now specialises in the water, weather, energy and IT sectors. We employ over 750 experts, engineers, scientists, inventors and developers from more than 30 nations across 5 continents. Our mission: To empower customers with truly reliable data-driven insights and technology they can trust to help them make the decisions they need to keep life thriving.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Software vendor
- Industry Type:
- Environmental Monitoring
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
- Year Founded:
- 1963
- Employees:
- 101-1000
This company also provides solutions for other industrial applications.
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About Us:
- We embrace challenges
We’re not afraid of a challenge because we have faith in our expertise to always find a solution that works.
- We work together
We strive to work together as one global team to create game changing solutions that can make a positive difference.
- We are driven by passion
We believe that our solutions will be greater if we use our passion to solve problems – Our passion for data, passion for IT, passion for the environment.
- We care for our people
We put people above everything else. We always strive to be kind, helpful and look after one another because it is our people and our customers that allow us to do great in this world.
KISTERS is a family company, which not only refers to the Kisters family, but also symbolizes the philosophy and management style of the company. Direct dialog, fairness, a co-operative management style and mutual respect are central elements of our corporate culture.
The management style of “open doors” and short decision paths are a matter of course. The executive board and management staff are always available for questions and there are no barriers to initiating discussions. As a member of the Fair Company Initiative for fair working conditions.
KISTERS Quality Management
Purpose and Layout of the Quality Management System
The KISTERS quality management system provides comprehensive structuring of design and process organization for the entire company via the core process of software develop-ment. The main goal of quality management is to consequently orient all business activities towards customer satisfaction and usefulness.
The following quality principles form the basis for this:
- Precisely recognizing and competently meeting the current and future needs of our customers
- Management responsibility for the quality of our products and services; readiness of all employees to assume responsibility for every step in the development, production, and service processes
- Continuously improving of our valuation processes with the goal of creating qualitatively valuable products and services
- Building long-term, sustainable relationships with our customers, partners, and suppliers on a partnership basis
Certification in Accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001:2000
Since February 2002, the KISTERS environmental information technologies department has possessed a certified quality management system. Not only is the KISTERS headquarters in Aachen certified according to the international norm DIN EN ISO 9001:2000, but the branches in Duisburg, Oldenburg, and Munich are certified as well.
Product and process quality are nothing new for KISTERS, however: since 1995, software development of KISTERS products has been oriented towards the V-model, which is the de-velopment standard for national IT-systems. Computer systems that were developed according to the V-model guidelines are conform to the DIN EN ISO 9001 requirements for the entire software development process.
CMMI and the Core Process Software Development
Since the beginning of 2003, the software development core process has been systemati-cally expanded and adapted to the advanced specifications of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), the standard of the United States Software Engineering Institute (SEI).
CMMI describes the practices and processes necessary for professional and qualitative software development in detail. The model is even stricter than the DIN EN ISO 9001 and V-model requirements in some points, however it requires the company to continuously im-prove processes and results on a qualitative basis, just like DIN EN ISO 9001.
Some areas in which the current KISTERS quality management system requirements were expanded are as follows:
- Requirements Management:
Creation and analysis of objective requirements in agreement with all parties involved in a project (client, project employees, management, other parties involved) at the beginning of a project; database-supported recording and tracking of changes in requirements during the course of the project; traceability of project implementation. - Project Planning, Monitoring, and Control:
Establishment of systematic estimates for tasks and products; involving all stakeholders in planning; project planning for all phases of the project life cycle; intensified monitoring of some project parameters concerning project tracking and control (risks, data manage-ment, fulfilling the obligations of all parties involved). - Measurement and Analysis:
Increase in analysis of previously recorded key numbers and risk factors, including analy-sis, evaluation, and communication with all parties involved. - Product and Process Quality Assurance:
Intensification of audits on all levels of the company for the purpose of objectively monitor-ing and improving the processes and results (e.g. process audits concurrent with projects, configuration audits for monitoring the integrity of the configuration baselines).
Continuous Improvement and Development
The functioning and effectiveness of the quality management system is regularly checked with internal system audits, process audits, and product audits.
The audit results are incorporated into the management review. In addition to audit results, results from customer surveys, risk management key number analyses, and other business results are also compiled and summarized.
Management’s task is to evaluate the results at regular intervals, determine measures for improvement, and define new quality goals to improve the business processes continuously.
