In an increasingly competitive business environment companies small and large, public and private have one main goal in common; to control internal costs whilst simultaneously increasing sales. Simple to state, but considerably more difficult to achieve, particularly in testing economic conditions. However, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is one tool that can help a businesses grow through winning better quality contracts with customers.
Businesses need to have confidence in the goods and services that they procure. In essence, UKAS accreditation is a tool for ensuring the technical competence of an organisation to carry out one or more specified tasks, such as testing, calibration, inspection or certification. Many businesses are finding that more and more of their customers want to see evidence that their suppliers are using UKAS accredited services.
This trend was confirmed by independent research carried out by Databuild in 2007. Of the organisations surveyed, 43% of large private sector organisations required that their suppliers use certification from an organisation accredited by UKAS, an increase of 29% since 2004. There is a similar pattern in the public sector, with 36% of organisations seeking greater confidence from their suppliers by specifying UKAS-accredited certification.
This trend will continue following the Government's publication of a ‘Code for Regulators', which recommends the use of existing accreditation schemes. A greater emphasis will also be placed on accreditation following the adoption of a new European Regulation. Therefore businesses seeking to win better quality and longer-term contracts in both the public and private sector will need to demonstrate the use of accredited services.
What services can be accredited?
In the UK the task of overseeing the necessary infrastructure falls to UKAS, the sole body recognised by the UK Government for the assessment and verification - against internationally-recognised standards - of certification, inspection, testing and calibration activities. In other words, UKAS ‘checks the checkers.'
- Certification applies to standards that relate to business operation, the most commonly used being ISO 9001 for Quality Management and the Environmental Management standard ISO14001. There are many other aspects of business life that can be certified, including Products, Personnel, Information Security, IT and Occupational Health & Safety.
- Inspection regimes cover product design, products, materials and equipment, installations, plant, processes and services. Some of these areas are subject to legislation that demands regular inspection, such as the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
- Product Testing and Calibration are used to demonstrate that a product meets a specification. This might be a customer requirement, a part of a product development regime, or even a legal obligation. More than 1500 facilities in the UK have been accredited by UKAS to the laboratory standard.
How does accreditation work?
Accreditation is an on-going business process rather than a one-off achievement. An assessment is carried out to establish that:
- the evaluator is impartial;
- the evaluator is technically competent to do the work in question;
- the resources and facilities are appropriate and sufficient for the work;
- the evaluator's actual performance is to the required standard;
- the evaluator is capable of sustaining the required level of performance.
Once an organisation is accredited, an assessment is carried out annually at the customer's premises by a team of experienced assessment managers supported, where required, by independent assessors with specialist technical expertise. Assessors act on behalf of the customer's industry sector but are also conscious of the customer's business objectives. The assessors check that the
customer is achieving what they claim, provide constructive criticism and advise on best practice.
Why Accreditation?
Companies big and small buy independent evaluations either through choice (to reduce the risk of product failure) or as a consequence of legal requirements (such as health and safety regulations). It is the ability to distinguish between a proven, competent evaluator that ensures that the selection is an informed choice and not a gamble.
Too many of Britain's companies run the risk of undermining their long-term success by purchasing independent evaluations that are not properly accredited. Examples of such risks are product failure caused by invalid test results, increased costs caused by inaccurate measurement, legal action arising from inadequately inspected equipment resulting in accidents, and rejected tenders and orders.
An increasing number of organisations, in both the public and private sectors are specifying UKAS accreditation as a precondition to tendering for contracts. A company that either holds or utilises accredited certification services is therefore able to overcome this hurdle and widen the potential market for its goods or services.
For more information visit www.ukas.com [1]