Graphics and Print, the Telford-based sheet-fed printer realised that certification to FSC and ISO 14001 were going to be a core part of ensuring the future of the company.
“We had excellent relationships with our customers, some of whom are blue chip,” said Managing Director, Martin Kells, “but they were stating that they would be needing ISO 14001 certification and the ability to print the FSC logo would be essential for future business.”
Martin decided to use Phil Chambersof Strategic Safety Systems to provide support.
“During initial discussions with Phil, we decided that we would initially put in place the systems for FSC and PEFC because we could quickly gain certification and print the FSC and PEFC logos, “said Martin. “ Then we would tackle 14001. During the discussions, we also decided to cover ISO 9001 as the extra work to gain this once FSC and 14001 requirements were covered would be fairly low.”
Phil set up a programme to examine the practices at Graphics and Print towards having an integrated management system to cover FSC, PEFC, 9001 and 14001. “It’s important that systems must be simple, well structured and meet the wishes of the client company,” he said. “Rather than have systems which address the individual clauses in the standards, you should have systems structured around how you actually operate, ensuring that requirements of the standards are met within them. This ‘process approach’ in now promoted in 9001 and 14001 standards but it’s alarming how many unreadable manuals I have seen. Because there are many common requirements in all these standards, an integrated approach avoids duplication. In addition, you should minimise any additional requirements if they don’t add value.”
The approach taken by Phil was to have systems which are based on flowcharts. This makes the systems easy to follow by both the users and external auditors from the certification bodies, a fact that was commented upon during an external audit.
The initial system set was structured so that all the standards could be satisfied, but was limited to the systems required for FSC and PEFC. Therefore, FSC/PEFC certification was gained early in the process. Then the system set was expanded to cover the other standards. Certification to 9001 and 14001 was gained.
Martin commented “Our commitment to our customers was realised on the last working day of the year with notification of approval of ISO9001 AND 14001 which were two cornerstones in enabling Graphics and Print to secure three new lucrative accounts, all of whom set the benchmark that we have achieved. This was best showcased by clients flying in from Paris for two days of press passes.”
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