We recognise that although companies are keen to implement a Quality Management System (QMS) they are usually reluctant to make major changes to their existing working practices. Consequently, we sympathetically merge the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 with the procedures that a company already has in place. This method of minimising change (and cost!) to existing working practices is one of the cornerstones to our "keep it simple" philosophy.

We accept that a QMS should be tailored to the industry and not the industry to the QMS. In simple terms, you get what you wanted and not what the quality consultant thought you needed!

Herne and StingRay can take you through the entire process of attaining ISO certification, from the development of the QMS right up to and including pre-assessment checks.

Once your system is in place, we can then set up a complete audit scheme, which will enable us to visit you on an agreed basis to ensure that the system is working and being applied by your staff. This negates the need for a permanent on-site Quality Manager, whilst ensuring that you remain compliant to your QMS.

A QMS should ideally be presented in the form of a Quality Manual, which is made up of:

• Quality Policies - which outline how management intends to achieve quality
• Quality Processes - which describe the activities required to implement the Quality Policies
• Quality Procedures - which describe the method by which these activities are managed
• Work Instructions - which describe how a specific task is carried out

Herne and StingRay specialise in developing complete Quality Management Systems that are in compliance with:

• The ISO 9000 series of standards for quality management
• The ISO 14000 standards for environmental management
• European Directives such as 93/42/EEC for Medical Devices (MDD)
• Industry specific standards
• Customer specific standards