Quality, environmental systems and safety
PRODUCT CIRCULARITY
Years of responsible corporate policies and constant hard work to minimise waste have enabled Ernestomeda to achieve impressive results over time, such as the important milestone of the development of a truly circular production system. Ernestomeda is one of Italy’s first fitted kitchen manufacturers to obtain this certification, issued by notified body Cosmob, which has published its own operating regulations “Cosmob Qualitas Praemium – Evaluation of product Circularity”, an invaluable auditing tool in accordance with the UNI EN ISO 14021 standard.
To be defined as truly efficient, a production process must be able to optimise the product’s functions, guarantee its circularity and reduce its environmental impact, by ensuring that the resources used in the process will subsequently be made available for reuse.
Product circularity is assessed through the measurement (balance of matter) of the resources used for the manufacture of an eco-sustainable product. In Ernestomeda’s case, this involved testing of all its furnishings, in the various structure and finish variants, and specifically of units with veneered, laminate, lacquered and glass doors, and the different components, on the basis of a series of indicators that provide an overview of the type of input materials and the destination of the output materials.
The circularity measurement performed and certified by Cosmob on Ernestomeda products yielded excellent results, with up to 99% reuse.CERTIFICATE UNI 11674:2017
Ernestomeda is the first Italian kitchen manufacturer to receive certification of the Italian origin of its furniture issued by CATAS and COSMOB, Italy's two top wood and furniture testing laboratories, independent certification bodies which support and assist Italian furniture producers in the control and verification of the products placed on the market.
The certification is based on the Italian UNI 11674 standard, introduced in 2017, which now sets the regulatory framework for the declaration of Italian origin of finished furniture.
The standard requires compliance with the following:
Process requirements: the significant phases (the manufacturing processes of the unfinished component materials and the finished product, final assembly and packaging) must take place in Italy.
Product requirements: finished products must comply with minimum safety, resistance and durability requirements in accordance with the relevant technical standards, to which UNI 11674 refers (the national UNI 11663 standard setting the resistance and durability requirements for domestic storage furniture and the European EN 14749 standard, which defines the safety requirements and testing methods for storage furniture and worktops for domestic use). www.qualityinitaly.it
UNI EN ISO 9001 CERTIFICATION
Ernestomeda has had a QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM in accordance with the UNI EN ISO 9001 standard since 1999. The System has the aim of ensuring the best possible management of the main corporate processes, from design to coordination with raw material suppliers, from tests and inspections on incoming and outgoing materials to monitoring of production processes, from order management to attention to the consumer’s requirements, with the end purpose of guaranteeing the full satisfaction of the company’s customers at all times.UNI EN ISO 14001 CERTIFICATION
Ernestomeda has always viewed a responsible, intelligent approach to the environment as extremely important. 2004 saw a major step forward in this direction, as we established our ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM under the UNI EN ISO 14001 standard. Through the Environmental Management System, particular attention is paid to energy consumption, noise pollution, atmospheric emissions and waste management. Our environmental awareness involves strict compliance with the legal requirements relevant to our corporate context, leading us to set ourselves continual improvement targets, in the aim of constantly reducing our impact on the environment.UNI ISO 45001 CERTIFICATION
It was as long ago as 2008 that Ernestomeda, which prioritises the health and safety of its workers, received the highly respected certification of its Occupational Health and Safety Management System under the OHSAS 18001 standard, later superseded by ISO 45001.
The UNI ISO 45001 standard, issued by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) in 2018, is implemented in Italy by the national standards authority, UNI. It is internationally recognised as the official benchmark with regard to health and safety at work. It defines the procedures for specifying the responsibilities, procedures, processes and resources, within the company's organisation, for implementation of its prevention policy, in accordance with current health and safety legislation, in order to increase its efficiency and its integration in the company’s operations overall.