Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Navigation Systems Division subsidiary, Northrop Grumman Italia (NGI), has successfully achieved recertification of its Quality Management System under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 and EN/AS 9100 standards.

NGI, based near Rome, received the recertification in July following a rigorous independent audit of its systems by Det Norske Veritas, a global provider of accredited management system certification.

"This reflects our continuing commitment to quality, customers and a willingness to work towards improving efficiency—all strategic objectives that NGI has pursued for more than a decade," said Helen Pickup, general manager of Northrop Grumman Italia. "Striving to achieve high performance and efficiency while offering superior value is at the forefront of our daily business."

To be certified, companies must implement a quality management system that encompasses the enterprise's activities, including management responsibility; resource management; product realization; and measurement, analysis and improvement.

NGI has a history of standardizing its manufacturing and engineering processes, fulfilling ISO requirements for quality assurance. The facility received its first ISO 9001 certification in July 1997, followed by a recertification in September 2003. In 2008, NGI received its first EN 9100 certification, which is based on ISO 9001, but defines an additional set of specialized standards for aerospace companies. EN 9100 is published by the European Association of Aerospace Industries and is known as AS9100 in the U.S.

ISO is the world's largest developer and publisher of international standards for business, government and society. ISO 9001 is a quality management standard that offers a systematic approach to managing an organization's processes to meet customer expectations.