They selected Clark Quality to structure and document their Quality Management System and to manage their certification with the leading certification company, SGS.

The system was documented and ISO9001 certification achieved in November 2009 with a further requirement to prepare their Environmental Management System for ISO14001 certification in 2010.

Purvers General Manager commented:

“Just wanted to pen a few words to Lawrence and Heather of Clark Quality who have been our consultants through our ISO9001 accreditation, today we achieved our goal and have now been certified by SGS UKAS to ISO9001, a big thanks to the team who have made this achievement possible, kept things plain and easy to follow and have in many cases gone above the call of duty to ensure we were working towards and ultimately achieved compliance but ensured this was done in a manner that enabled us to continue with our day to day busy working schedules. I have and will continue to recommend Clark Quality in the future and very much look forward to working with you again on our ISO14001 in the new year.”

The just-published new edition of ISO 9004 provides organizations with a model for “sustained success” in today’s complex, demanding, and ever-changing environment.

ISO 9004:2009, Managing for the sustained success of an organization – A quality management approach, is the third edition of the standard first published in 1987. It is intended to support the achievement of sustained success by any organization, regardless of size, type or activity, by a quality management approach.

Bob Alisic, leader of the task group responsible for the ISO 9004:2009 comments: “While the goal is initially to ensure the production of ‘good’ products and services, leading to the achievement of customer satisfaction, the longer-term purpose is to ensure the economic survival of the organization. The new edition gives guidance on how an organization should adopt a systematic approach to achieve this.”

ISO 9004:2009 provides guidance for the continual improvement of an organization’s overall performance, efficiency and effectiveness based on a process-based approach. It focuses on meeting the needs and expectations of customers and other relevant parties, over the long term, and in a balanced way.

Compared to ISO 9001:2008 which ensures quality management of products and services, while enhancing customer satisfaction, ISO 9004:2009 provides a broader perspective of quality management, particularly for performance improvement. It will prove useful to organizations whose top management wishes to move beyond ISO 9001, in pursuit of ongoing improvement, measured through the satisfaction of customers and other stakeholders.

ISO 9004:2009 allows organizations to enhance the quality of product and service delivery to their customers by promoting self-assessment as an important tool to enable organizations to:

* Benchmark their level of maturity, covering leadership, strategy, management system, resources and processes
* Identify their strengths and weaknesses
* Identify opportunities for either improvements or innovation, or both.

The self-assessment tool may become a key element during the strategic planning processes in any organization.

Jose Dominguez, a leader of the ISO 9001 task group comments: “The objectives of customer satisfaction and product quality are extended in ISO 9004:2009 to include the satisfaction of interested parties and the performance of the organization. The combination of ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 will allow you to get the most of your quality system.”

ISO 9004:2009 replaces ISO 9004:2000. It makes substantial changes to its structure and contents of the earlier edition based on eight years’ experience of implementing the standard worldwide and introduces changes intended to improve consistency with ISO 9001 and other management system standards. An example of an important (maybe the most important one) change in the structure of ISO 9004 is that the “body” of the standard starts with the chapter giving guidance on how to manage an organization aiming for sustained success and not how to build a quality management system.

Although ISO 9004:2009 complements ISO 9001:2008 (and vice versa), it can also be used independently. It is not intended for third-party certification, regulatory, or contractual use, nor as a guide to the implementation of ISO 9001:2008. To help users get the best out of the standard, an annex gives a clause-by-clause correspondence between ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9004:2009.

Small businesses with certification against management systems standards are better placed to survive the recession, according to research from certification body NQA.

60% of small and medium sized enterprises surveyed, all certified against standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, were optimistic that their firm would emerge from the economic downturn in a stronger position than their rivals, compared to just 36% of those with no certifications.

The research, Managing with Certainty, surveyed the directors of 250 UK SMEs. Results revealed that those with certifications were better able to plan for the short term (72%) than those without (31%), were more able to respond to a changing marketplace (79% against 53%) and were rated more highly as places to work (86% against 74%).

The directors also confirmed that certified businesses felt more able to access new markets, had higher levels of customer satisfaction and were more likely to be legally compliant.

NQA carried out the research to explore whether the recession would diminish the need for certification. Catherine Golds, head of NQA, said: “The results show that firms with business certifications such as ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 are in a better position to survive difficult economic times.”

“This seems to be largely because directors of such firms look at the business as a whole and don’t pinpoint one or two areas to focus attention on in tough times. This balanced viewpoint enables firms to adapt to the changing demands of the market.”

Paul Simpson, Chartered Quality Institute technical manager, said: “There is no doubt that effective use of management systems enables organisations to focus on their important processes. This research indicates that SMEs are seeing the benefit both of using management systems standards and of the external overview that certification provides. This confidence could be an indicator of organisations having achieved real advantages.”

ISO 9004:2009 provides guidance to organisations who are users if ISO9001 to support the achievement of sustained success by a quality management approach. It is applicable to any organisation, regardless of size, type and activity.
ISO 9004:2009 is not intended for certification, regulatory or contractual use.
The objectives are:

• To facilitate improvement in users’ quality management systems.
• To provide guidance to an organisation for the creation of a quality management system that:
  - creates value for its customers via the products or services it provides,
  - creates value for other interested parties,
  - balances all interested party viewpoints.
• To provide guidance for managers on leading their organisation towards sustainable success.
• To provide forward compatibility to allow organisations to build on existing quality management systems.

The guiding principal for ISO9004:2009 is to continue to use the “eight Quality
Management Principles”, but also take into account:

• Ethics /social aspects.
• Mission and Vision of the organisation.
• Adaptability / agility (ability to respond to changing opportunities / threats).
• Management of knowledge.
• Alignment with other management systems.
• Linking objectives and actions to results.

There is no fixed release date as yet.

With offices throughout the Uk and overseas, Gifford projects include prestigious civil engineering designs and land mark conservation work.

The Requirement.
The project management systems were paper based, complex and variable in approach. Clark Quality was initially asked to carry out a streamlining exercise capturing best-practice and defining a consistent, company-wide system using process maps. This requirement was then expanded to include implementation of a paperless, intranet based project management system derived from the process maps.

The Solution.
Company-wide process mapping was carried out to define the agreed approach for project management. Clark Quality produced a layered system of hyper-linked process maps allowing drill-down to required levels of detail. Working with the Gifford IT engineers, the required paperless system was developed together with a comprehensive training programme to support implementation.

Status.
The Gifford Management System (GMS) was implemented in two phases during June and December 2006. Following a ten day ISO9001 certificate renewal assessment during March 2007, the LRQA assessor summarised his findings as:
“The Gifford Management System (GMS) is a very effective project management tool. System effectiveness is also confirmed by the very satisfactory responses from clients.
Improvement is an integral part of the company “culture”. The development and implementation of the electronic GMS is an obvious example.”

The Requirement.
EML approached Clark Quality in September 2005 with a requirement to achieve ISO9001 certification early in 2006.

The Solution.
Clark Quality were able to respond rapidly, submitting a proposal within a few days. EML accepted the proposal and work commenced early in November. A lean system was developed, based on process maps with supporting documents and certification was achieved with LRQA in February 2006.

Finance Director, Lorraine Lodge commented:
“ISO9001:2000 registration is now an essential business tool and vital to our business development.
Clark Quality provided sound advice and support during the preparation and inspection for registration. They worked effectively and professionally to a very tight deadline. We would recommend them to other companies looking for similar support.”

Status.
EML have retained the services of Clark Quality to carry our internal audits and to support management reviews and future LRQA assessment visits.

The Requirement.
Perpetuum approached Clark Quality in September 2006 with a requirement to design their Quality Management System and to achieve ISO9001 certification early in 2007.

The Solution.
Clark Quality responded rapidly, submitting a proposal and commencing work early in October. A lean system was developed, based on process maps with supporting documents. The system was assessed by LRQA and ISO9001 certification achieved early in March 2007.

Managing Director, Roy Freeland commented:
“We were delighted with the way in which Clark Quality guided us efficiently through the necessary processes and introduction of new procedures to enable us to get our certification first time”

Status.
Perpetuum have retained the services of Clark Quality to continue system development, carry our internal audits and to support management reviews and future LRQA assessment visits.

MVS approached Clark Quality in May 2008 with a requirement to develop and document their Quality Management System and to achieve ISO9001 certification.

Clark Quality submitted a proposal and commencing work early in June. A lean system was developed, based on process maps with supporting documents. The system was assessed by SGS and ISO9001 certification achieved in January 2009.

MVS commented:

“Clark Quality provided MVS Audio Visual with clear and succinct advice at each stage of the accreditation process, guiding MVS effortlessly from the initial assessments to the final SGS external audit.

Working seamlessly with all members of staff, Clark Quality identified inefficiencies, duplication and lack of clarity within the previous MVS business processes. Following this a new set of business processes were devised and successfully implemented in order to comply with the ISO9001 standard.

Many employees reported that they had gained a better understanding of their role in the company and how different departments interacted all as a result of the ISO9001 process.
The final Quality Management System not only succeeded in obtaining the ISO9001:2008 accreditation with relative ease but is tailored to the requirements of MVS Audio Visual helping the company operate more efficiently.

We look forward to dealing with Clark Quality in future with the aim of developing a Quality Management System that will enable the company to reach its full potential in an ever-changing market”

i2O approached Clark Quality for support in developing their management systems to obtain ISO9001 certification. The project was completed on time and certification with SGS obtained in July 2009.

Their Operations Manager commented:
” This is the second time that I have worked with Clark Quality and enjoyed their no-nonsense, down to earth approach. This attitude enables the successful development of practical processes, working with us to develop sensible time scales and programs to achieve ISO 9001 – 2008. As an Engineer, their consultant understood the ways of working within Technical departments and companies, making him a realist when discussing working solutions and happy to answer questions or provide advice at any time. Consequently, we at i2o Water gained certification without any non-conformity.”

The Requirement
Clark Quality started work with Spinlock in 2000. The initial requirement was for ISO9000 certification. System maintenance has been ongoing since then including streamlining with process maps and the addition of Spinlock’s new range of “Deckware” safety harnesses – worn by Ellen Macarthur during her record breaking round-the-world voyage.

The Solution
ISO9001 certification with LRQA was achieved in November 2000 with just one observation raised. Subsequent upgrade to ISO9001:2000 followed in 2003. Further enhancement incorporates the legislative and product certification requirements for safety harnesses.

Status
Clark Quality continues to provide Quality Management System maintenance carrying out internal audits, quality improvement planning, participating in management reviews and representing Spinlock during LRQA ongoing surveillance visits.

Manufacturing Director, Peter Kirby commented:
“We were introduced to Clark Quality after identifying a need within the business to be ISO registered. Clark Quality took all of the hard work out of it for us by managing the process from start to finish. Since that time we have never failed any of the audit visits – therefore demonstrating a robust and workable set of procedures.”