raising standards worldwide™

Customer needs

• Effective internal systems through which to improve and grow its business

• A market differentiator to help with customer acquisition and retention

Customer benefits

• Mead Engineering is now differentiated from its competitors by a well-recognised and respected ISO 9001 certificate from BSI

• Process improvements are yielding cost savings already

• Continuous improvement is embedded

• Both planning and risk management have been improved

Embedding a platform for business growth using ISO 9001

ISO 9001 Quality Management

Case Study Mead Engineering Services Limited

“We wanted a simple and effective management system that would add value to our business without being too demanding to maintain. With ISO 9001 certification from BSI we have definitely achieved our aim and are already seeing market and process improvement benefits.“

Richard Wigmore Owner and MD Mead Engineering Services Limited

The BSI certification mark can be used on your stationery, literature and vehicles when you have successfully achieved certification.

Customer backgroundMead Engineering Services Limited is based

in West Sussex in the south of England.

The company – which was set up in 2004 –

designs, manufactures and supplies

pneumatic products, including valves,

cylinders and ancillary equipment. Its clients

are in the process, transport, medical and

machine control industries. A true SME,

Mead Engineering aims to steadily grow its

product range and customer base through

providing exceptional customer service and

product quality.

Why certificationMead Engineering Services identified that

the ISO 9001 quality management standard

would give it a structure of effective internal

systems. This would create a platform for

excellent products and improved customer

satisfaction. Certification to the standard

would also differentiate Mead Engineering

Services from its competitors and reassure

its customers that they were buying a

quality product, especially as the standard

is well-known and highly regarded in the

engineering sector. Certification would give

Mead Engineering Services a further boost

towards achieving its growth objectives.

Why work with BSIMead Engineering Services chose to seek

certification from BSI on the recommendation

of the management consultancy that was

brought in to help implement ISO 9001.

“My long experience,” says Michael Dove of

Dove Management Solutions, “is that BSI

people are practical and helpful.” Richard

Wigmore, the owner and MD of Mead

Engineering Services notes, “We were happy

to work with BSI its reputation is well

respected in the engineering sector.”

Implementation The company began by hiring Dove

Management Solutions to manage the

implementation. Its principal, Michael Dove,

is an experienced and qualified lead auditor.

Dove helped Mead Engineering Services

with auditor training and identified the work

to be done to create a straightforward but

efficient management system in compliance

with ISO 9001. “Mead Engineering Services

was clear from the start that it wanted a

system that it could manage, not something

that would manage the organisation,”

says Michael Dove. The consultancy also

helped write a quality manual and operating

procedures that were minimal but effective.

The biggest challenge Mead Engineering

Services had to overcome was devising a

means to document updates to engineering

drawings using ‘solid modelling’ software.

This difficulty was solved by looking at other

approaches, such as using pdfs instead.

“The standard never asks you to do things

that don’t make sense for your business,”

notes Michael Dove. This solution also

brought the environmental benefit of

reducing paper. Mead Engineering Services

then requested a gap analysis from BSI,

prior to the certification audit. BSI’s assessor

made some useful suggestions and the

management system was subsequently

audited successfully. From start to finish,

Mead Engineering Services’ implementation

of the ISO 9001 standard took just over

three months.

Benefits of working with BSIIn the short term, Mead Engineering Services

has already noticed that it is saving time

and cost from having a more efficient sales

order processing procedure. The company’s

documentation is also more streamlined

and accessible so information is more easily

found; processing is more efficient; and

planning is better than it was before. The

accessibility of information also leads to risk

reduction because more information is at

hand to make better informed decisions.

Mead Engineering Services’ stakeholders

also feel that the business has become more

solid and secure as a result of implementing

ISO 9001.

In the longer term Mead Engineering

Services expects that the certification will

lead to future savings and increased market

access. Its documented procedures will

continue to show areas where improvements

can be made, so product quality and

customer satisfaction will be improved

continuously. The implementation and

certification to ISO 9001 is already achieving

the company’s initial objectives. Moreover

the certification was achieved in a short

period of time without too much cost

or difficulty.

Most importantly, the company’s BSI

certified ISO 9001 management system

provides Mead Engineering Services with an

important market differentiator and greater

credibility with customers. This is expected to

lead to more orders and new customers in

the future.

BSIBeech House, Breckland, Linford Wood,Milton Keynes, MK14 6ES, United Kingdom

T: +44 (0)845 080 9000F: +44 (0)1908 228 180E: certification.sales@bsigroup.comwww.bsigroup.co.uk/improve

ISO 9001 Quality Management

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If you would like to contact us for further information

or to request a quote about our Testing, Kitemark and

Certification Services, please contact us on +44 (0)845 080 9000

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