CHICAGO -- Stewart Warner Instrument Corporation, the nearly century-old manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality instruments and sensing devices, has achieved ISO 9001 registration, the global model for quality in product development, design, production, delivery and customer service. The company, which supplied the speedometer for Henry Ford's first automobile, today provides turnkey operations for the development, manufacture and distribution of innovative gauges, sensors, instrument clusters and electronic information display systems.

All of Stewart Warner's product engineering and manufacturing operations received ISO 9001 certification as a result of an intensive two-year program to develop and implement world-class operating processes. The certification is the latest in a series of quality achievements for the management group that acquired the Stewart Warner name and product line in 1994. The company operates a headquarters and manufacturing facility in El Paso, Texas, and product development, engineering and sales and marketing operations in Des Plaines, Ill.

"ISO 9001 certification places us among the finest manufacturers in the world in terms of our ability to consistently provide superior products and services," said Stewart Warner President Mike Benner. "Stewart Warner is back where it belongs -- in the company of other technology, quality and customer service leaders."

Among the improvements implemented by the new Stewart Warner management team were wholly-owned manufacturing operation, the investment in state-of-the-art manufacturing and quality-control processes and the addition of more than $1 million in distribution center inventory. The inventory investment, along with related systems modifications, has led to 95 percent on-time delivery performance.

The Stewart Warner product line includes premium-quality instruments and sensing devices for original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket applications in the automotive, trucking, agriculture, performance, construction, marine and stationary equipment industries.