Industries and references
Management system standards are written deliberately so that they fit any organisation. Regardless of company size, industry, service and product. That is their greatest strength and at the same time their greatest challenge: what has to be done in your particular operation is written in none of the standards.
That is exactly where our work begins: working out what a requirement means for your operation. To do that we first look at how the work is actually done at your place, and derive the system from that rather than from a template.
From a three-person business to a corporate group
We have advised organisations with 3 to around 4,000 employees and audited ones with up to 9,000. That refers in each case to the size of the organisation. Our own team is deliberately small.
Company size and the nature of the business are decisive. A business with fifteen employees needs a different management system from a group with several plants: not an inferior one, a different one. A group has more complex hierarchies and approval structures, and therefore different requirements of a management system. A management system has to fit the company and the people in it, because only then does it deliver benefit rather than frustration.
Anyone who has built, improved, extended, maintained and audited management systems of varying size and complexity quickly recognises which kind of system is in front of them, and can shape the consulting accordingly.
Where we are at home
Mineral oil and lubricants
Manufacturers of coolants and speciality lubricants, trade in metalworking fluids and fuels, refineries. Our oldest and densest industry focus, including the customer requirements that go beyond the standards there.
Automotive supply
Lubricants, gear oils, hydraulic oils, antifreeze, gearboxes. With IATF 16949 and VDA 6.3, requirements come in that in practice often weigh more heavily than the ISO standards themselves.
Food
Beverage producers and food supply. Focus on ISO 22000 and GHP, frequently combined with ISO 21469 where lubricants can come into contact with the product.
Health and medical devices
Hospitals, medical practices, care services, manufacturers of medical devices and respiratory masks. Mostly ISO 13485, often together with software validation.
Laboratories
Chemical and physical laboratories. ISO/IEC 17025 with everything that belongs to it technically: measurement uncertainty, method validation, traceability.
Engineering, plant, logistics
Plant and automation engineering, assembly operations, freight forwarders. Plus international groups and consulates.
What we did there
Building and merging management systems
It usually starts with ISO 9001. Later, environment, occupational safety or energy are added – and at some point the question of whether that has to remain three systems. It does not. More on this
Databases for the evidence trail
Nonconformity and change management, complaint databases, maintenance administration, monitoring of measuring equipment. From Access solutions for single departments to MySQL applications across several sites. More on this
Evaluations that actually get used
Key figure systems, trend analyses, capability analyses, statistical quality control and interactive management reviews – prepared so that the management can decide with them instead of merely reporting.
Internal audits and audit programmes
Planning audit programmes, running audits, deriving actions and following them up. Also as preparation for the certification audit. More on this
Risk management
As a forward-looking instrument of business development, not as a compulsory exercise for the audit folder. More on this
External officers
The officer role cut to fit the organisation – from occasional cover to taking it on permanently. More on this
Training and workshops
A system only holds if the employees understand it. That is why training is part of the build-up for us, and not an extra item alongside it. More on this
Individual cases
Three examples: the old hand, the young pup, the wise owl. What connects them is not the industry but the approach: a management system is not built and then left to itself.
Lubricant manufacturer, two sites with its own testing laboratory, for more than twenty years. We look after an integrated system built on five standards. That includes the internal audits across every standard, test method audits in the laboratory covering more than 70 procedures, the annual system training for all employees and, where wanted, support during the certification audit. Two decades means, in practice: from one certified standard to five certified and two industry-specific ones, several revisions of the standards, three changes of certification body, additional customer requirements and further binding obligations, a growing product portfolio and a growing workforce. All of it without a break in day-to-day operations. How we train
Distributor of highly specialised laboratory products, around twenty employees, a current example. The trigger was a customer requirement: get certified, or you are no longer a supplier. What existed was a working business but not a single documented process. After two gap analyses there is a scheduled implementation plan, and the work is done with process descriptions rather than a manual. From the first meeting to the planned certification audit is around nine months. How we build systems
Suppliers to the energy sector, from family firms to corporate group sites, running since 2020. Two-day audits on behalf of an international qualification programme, very largely on site, at locations in Germany and at European suppliers, in German and English. The assignments keep coming. In this business that is the only assessment that really counts. How we audit suppliers
Client names are not given; industry and size are deliberately kept broad.
Your industry is not among them?
That does not mean much. The requirements of a standard are the same everywhere – what differs is the route there. Tell us what it is about, and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people.
Let us talk about it
The first conversation is free and without obligation.