Neil Peattie, our Principal Consultant, attended a two-day ISO 9001:2015 auditor transition course this week. This IRCA-certified course was designed to bring qualified ISO 9001 consultants up to speed with the latest revision of the global standard, and it culminated in a written examination, which we're pleased to announce that Neil passed with flying colours!

All of which is just another example of our commitment to training and advancement here at NPT Management Systems. We know that our industry is always changing, and we make it a priority to ensure that our knowledge and skills are totally up-to-date at all times. As you may be aware, ISO 9001 is just one of our many specialist areas; we also help businesses to implement ISO 14001-compliant environmental management systems, ISO 27001-compliant information security management systems, continual improvement programmes, and so on. In order to provide each of these services, our consultants are required to be aware of the latest developments and in possession of any relevant qualifications.

This is a big part of makes NPT Management Systems stand out from the competition. When you look for a consultant, it's important to check their professional qualifications - many consultants in our industry have few or no qualifications with any relevance to ISO 9001:2008 or ISO 9001:2015 auditing at all. We at NPT, on the other hand, are fully qualified to design and implement a wide variety of high-quality management systems.

Furthermore, we are exceptionally quick to familiarise ourselves with new areas of expertise as soon as they arise; for example, Neil is actually one of the very first people to have passed the aforementioned ISO 9001:2015 course, a fact of which we’re rightly proud!

Click here to learn more about our qualifications and credentials, or contact us to let us know what we can do for you.

We helped Fish Guidance Systems to develop a QMS and achieve ISO 9001 certification.

From time to time, we at NPT Management Systems enjoy sharing our success stories, and that's exactly what we'd like to do today. Fish Guidance Systems are based in Lower Swanwick, Southampton, and they specialise in behavioural systems that deflect or guide fish away from water intakes, usually through the use of acoustic equipment or lighting. The company boasts a global network of local agents and representatives, and achieving ISO 9001 certification was a key part of their overall business strategy.

In order to demonstrate the company's continuing commitment to quality and reliability, Dr David Lambert - the Managing Director of Fish Guidance Systems - approached NPT Management Systems to request our assistance with pursuing ISO 9001 certification. Fish Guidance Systems already had a number of quality assurance procedures in place, but the ISO 9001 standard sets out some very specific guidelines, and so our Principal Consultant Neil Peattie worked with Dr Lambert and his team of engineers and scientists to ensure that these standards were met in a single, all-encompassing quality management system.

Once this had been accomplished, we helped the company to apply to a UKAS-accredited body for certification. Happily,the UKAS assessment went swimmingly, and Fish Guidance Systems achieved ISO 9001 certification.

Here's what Dr Lambert had to say about the services we provided:

"Achieving ISO 9001 certification was made considerably easier with the invaluable help of NPT Management Systems.The assessor from our UKAS-accredited certification body summarised the audit by saying, 'This is a very well-written quality management system, with excellent documentation and good traceability throughout.' We wouldn't have achieved this without Neil's constant enthusiasm, commitment, and support."

Would you like to achieve ISO 9001 certification for your business? Click here to get in touch with NPT Management Systems.

We do more than just implement ISO management systems!

When you're looking to improve and grow your business, it's easy to focus on one process at a time while ignoring the bigger picture of your company as a whole. Improving processes in isolation may not yield the results you want; instead, we recommend that you implement a continuous improvement programme that is linked to the strategic direction of your business.

ISO 9001 certification isn't the only service that we offer here at NPT Management Systems. We can also help you to design and implement a comprehensive business improvement programme that will simplify and perfect all of your processes while synchronising your efforts with the overall direction of the company.

And that's not all: we also deliver exercise-focused training sessions to help you and your employees to get more from your continuous improvement programme. We can provide a wide range of training topics - here are a few examples of what we can provide:

• Identifying process problems and waste
• Root cause analysis
• Process mapping
• Cause and effect diagrams
• Change management tools and techniques

Click here to learn more about our continual improvement services, or contact us now to find out more about how we can help your business.

There's been a lot of talk about online security of late. You've probably heard about the 'cyber attack' that wreaked havoc on TalkTalk's database last week, leaving customer's personal details potentially vulnerable; today, it's being reported that private customer details were, for a short while, visible to people using the Marks & Spencer website.

At the present time, it's not clear whether or not the M&S website was breached by external forces, but the TalkTalk incident alone is proof enough that information security must be a crucial concern for all modern businesses. Customer details, if held, must be held securely; failure to do this may result in a loss of trust, a loss of business, and a loss of revenue in the event of a data breach (for instance, a lot of TalkTalk customers have been frantically trying to change their phone and broadband suppliers in the wake of the attack).

In this respect, recent events all serve to highlight the importance of a robust information security management system. The global ISMS standard is ISO 27001, and working towards ISO 27001 certification is a very good way to ensure that your company's information is safe, secure, and protected at all stages by an airtight management process.

If you want to avoid a data breach of your own, we recommend that you contact NPT Management Systems today - we will help you design and implement an ISO-compliant information security management system that keeps your information (and, more importantly, that of your clients) safe from security breaches and leaks.

For less experienced individuals, implementing an ISO-compliant quality management system and applying for ISO 9001 certification can be a complex and involved process. It can often be time-consuming, requiring numerous changes to behaviours and processes with an organisation, and the best approach is usually to collaborate with an experienced ISO consultant. A chartered quality professional will be able to make sure that your QMS is set up efficiently, supporting the strategic direction of your company; they will also ensure that your application for ISO certification is properly submitted and provide additional support during your ISO 9001 certification audit.

However, if all you need for now is a general idea of the ISO 9001 requirements, here's a rough list of what's needed:

• A Quality Policy. A well-written Quality Policy, in alignment with strategic direction of the company, helps to set the scene for interested stakeholders and communicates a strong message of intent.
  
  
• Although it is not a requirement of ISO 9001:2015, we still recommend the use of a Quality Manual. The Quality Manual (or equivalent document) should set out the aims and scope of your quality management system and provide general guidance on the structure of the QMS.
  
  
• Documented quality management procedures. To quality for ISO 9001 certification, you must be able to demonstrate that you not only have a quality management system in place, but that it also supports the business. This is quite often done via careful documentation, which must meet the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard. Documented procedures also make great training documents, which brings us to the next requirement...
  
  
• Staff training. Part of implementing a successful quality management system is identifying and delivering any training that may be required by the people involved. This can mean anything from an informal training session that brings all staff up to date with the company's quality management processes to accredited ISO training that helps employees to take active involvement in the procedures of the QMS.

If you would like to achieve ISO 9001 certification for your business, please contact NPT Management Systems now - our experienced ISO 9001 consultants will help you to meet all the necessary requirements and get certified first time.