DQS do Brasil staff in 1996

Auditor training 1998

DQS do Brasil - 25 years of sustainable success DQS´ first international subsidiary celebrates its 25th anniversary

In August 1994, DQS took the first step towards its internationalization: after a visit of DQS´ Managing Director Joachim Pärsch to São Paulo and his recommendation to their shareholders for the founding of a company of their own in Brazil, Michael Drechsel was hired to open and manage the first DQS subsidiary outside of Germany.

São Paulo was a natural starting point for the international expansion of the DQS activities because, at that time, the city had the biggest concentration of German companies outside of Germany, many of them with headquarters already certified by DQS.

After registration of the company and renting of office space, the activities started immediately with a small team, composed of only three employees and two external auditors. The first employee was Ms. Dezée Mineiro, a Brazilian sales expert, who also celebrates 25 years at DQS this year. She has been the Managing Director of DQS do Brasil for many years now.

From the beginning, it was clear for the local management that the business in Brazil should be self-sufficient and all cost should be covered by the income generated in Brazil. Michael Drechsel still remembers the first months: “every last day of a month I had to check the bank account and sometimes I had to delay my own salary in order to assure the timely payment of the employees”.

Fortunately, the situation improved soon and at the end of the year 1994, the newly established company counted nearly 50 clients already. While the first clients were subsidiaries of German industry groups like BASF, Hoechst, Westfalia and Alfred Teves, a partnership with a local certification body and local accreditations of their own soon facilitated access to local companies, as well.

VW certificate handover

Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo

Auditor Training 2019

Auditor Training 2019

DQS do Brasil quickly became a strong player in the disputed Brazilian certification market and was pioneer in many areas: in 1995, DQS do Brasil granted the first ISO 9001 certificate to a Brazilian Bank and in 1996, DQS do Brazil was the first Brazilian certification body to receive the accreditation for QS-9000. Many reputable national and international companies have been certified by DQS do Brasil, which soon counted such famous names like Volkswagen, Ford, Bosch, Bayer, Yamaha and Gillette in its client portfolio.

Other important milestones in the history of DQS were the opening of the first representative office in the city of Recife-PE in the Brazilian Northeast, run by Julio Gehring, in 1999 and the acquisition of their own office space in the year 2001.

In January 2004, a new period for DQS do Brasil began: after Michael Drechsel moved to Germany and became Managing Director of DQS GmbH, Dezée Mineiro took over the responsibility for DQS do Brasil as the new Managing Director.

Since that time, Dezée has been running the company with a local team of approximately 20 employees in the office and 60 external auditors. With a lot of dedication, technical knowledge and a strong customer focus she managed to lead DQS do Brazil successfully even during the very difficult political and economic crisis that hit the country in the course of the last years. DQS do Brasil is also responsible for the activities of DQS in Peru, and established a subsidiary of their own in the neighboring country of Argentina in 2008.

Happy Birthday, DQS do Brasil!

Information and photos provided by Michael Drechsel and DQS Brazil