This article appeared in the Mar/Apr 2024 issue of MiMfg Magazine. Read the full issue and find past issues online.

Are you looking to strengthen your security and regulatory protocols but don’t believe you can obtain the tools to do so? Sally Smoczynski and Lisa DuBrock, Managing Partners of Radian Compliance, want you to know one thing: You already have many of them, they may just need to be optimized and standardized across your company.

Based outside of Chicago, Radian Compliance serves as a consultant to manufacturers looking to obtain certifications to ISO standards and other frameworks, such as those specific to cybersecurity and physical security. The professionals at Radian review clients’ current risk posture to cybersecurity and provide direction for remediation, and they provide businesses with methodologies and processes to maintain these solutions for the long term.

“When we walk in to meet with a new client, I can tell they already have 80 percent of what they need in place,” DuBrock says. “Our job is to leverage what manufacturers have and make it better. You may not even know the power of the technology tools and processes that you have in place. We’re going to help you understand that power, wrap your arms around it, write it down, and say, ‘Yes, we’ve had this all along. We just didn’t know it.’”

The Value of ISO Standards Certifications

In some situations, not being certified to certain ISO standards can impede a business’s growth.

“Getting ISO certification is a supply chain need,” DuBrock says. “Either Tier 1 suppliers say you have to be certified or your clients are saying you need to be ISO certified.”

Best Part of Our Job

When the lightbulb goes off for the client in their ISO journey. From that moment forward, the level of success escalates.

DuBrock and Smoczynski say that strengthening internal collaboration can assist businesses in meeting their standardization goals.

“ISO breaks down silos. It enhances communication across departments and divisions,” Smoczynski says. “That’s a huge hurdle; we try to break that down and allow departments to cross-pollinate.”

For example, many organizations feel that cybersecurity is an IT- based requirement, and that’s really not true, Smoczynski says. DuBrock adds that access control — ensuring that the only people who need to have access to particular technologies and physical locations are those who have it — is another significant area in which they work with clients.

“Everyone has a role. Mitigating cybersecurity risks is an operational function, not only an IT function,” Smoczynski says.

Solutions on Several Levels

A Women Business Enterprise and a Women-Owned Small Business, Radian Compliance has a 100 percent success rate for clients who are trying to achieve their initial ISO certification. They themselves hold an ISO 9001:2015 certification.

One Skill Everyone Should Have

To be present. With so many distractions, you must be present for what you are working on. Multi-tasking, while a great skill, has its time and place.

“Businesses can meet their supplier diversity goals, and they always have access to us when they need our assistance,” Smoczynski says.

Businesses that are certified to ISO standards may be more poised to strengthen partnerships with suppliers and other manufacturers. By offering customized solutions that manufacturers need to meet ISO and other certification standards, Radian Compliance is helping to ensure that businesses in Michigan can work together to enhance the state of the industry.

Radian Compliance is an MMA Premium Associate Member and has been an MMA member company since December 2022. Visit online: radiancompliance.com.