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PODEMCRANE, the Leading Bulgarian Hoist Manufacturer, Certified to an Integrated Management System (ISO 9001:2008 + BS-OHSAS 18001)
For more than 45 years, PodemCrane has been a major supplier of hoists and various components for industrial cranes worldwide. In spite of the global crisis, the company has continued to invest heavily in upgrading both its manufacturing equipment and its management system.
With the support of consultants from Top Management Advisors, PodemCrane has made its transition to ISO 9001:2008 and developed a full-fledged health & safety programme in compliance with BS-OHSAS 18001. As a result, the company’s integrated management system provides further evidence of its reliability as a quality supplier of hoists made under safe conditions for its staff.
PodemCrane maintains a broad network of distributors and agents in various parts of the world to ensure adequate servicing and supply of spare parts. The company is an excellent example of a comprehensive modernization strategy which gives access of its products to the major international markets. Following the integration of Bulgaria to the European Union, PodemCrane has benefited from EU funds intended to increase the competitiveness of the local industries.
An October 2009 Update on Certification to Management Standards in Bulgaria
Juian Usunov
Top Management Advisors Ltd.
The most comprehensive source of information on the market for certification services in Bulgaria is Club 9000, an NGO that brings together certification bodies, consultants and their customers. The reliability of information on the Club 9000 site is relatively high but some interpretations are due. In any case, visiting the web site of the individual companies and comparing their own data with those of Club 9000 gives the best clues to the status of each market player.
According to Club 9000, the most popular management standard remains ISO 9001 with 5,395 registered companies in Bulgaria. The actual number could be a bit larger but perhaps not more than 5,500. The distribution of certified companies by sector is led by construction, followed by wholesale & retail trade and services. In our opinion, the growth of construction companies in this list is artificial and questionable as it is due mainly to the general boom in construction over 2003-2007 and the requirement for certification to ISO 9001 in public projects.
The regional distribution of certified companies is led by a large margin by the city of Sofia with more than 2,000 companies. The top 3 certification bodies are Bureau Veritas Certification, SGS and Moody International. The factors which seem to contribute significantly to preference for one certification body or another, apart from international image, are active marketing and flexible pricing. Adherence to high standards of auditing (e.g., by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance) often loses against new cheaper players on the market some of which abide by the best sector practices and some provide suspicious services.
The role of consultants is very controversial and data about their achievements at the Club 9000 site are misleading. Along with highly respected business consultants, the market is flooded by self-proclaimed gurus who sell sets of documents and cater for fast and cheap certification.
Certification to ISO 14001 has been granted to 449 companies according to Club 9000, mainly in the construction industries, followed by the public sector. In our view, any rumours about effective environmental management systems in the public administration are grossly exaggerated…
The same holds true about local authorities certified to ISO 27001. A number of public organizations have been supported by EU funding for consultancy and certification to management standards but, in our view, this is the type of projects which lead to devaluation of all management standards. Otherwise, more than half of the 47 companies registered to ISO 27001 are from the IT sector.
Certification to BSI-OHSAS 18001 has been granted to 494 companies, more than half of which in the construction sector. Unfortunately, this does not seem very realistic because construction companies are among the leaders in registered accidents.
The food sector has made significant progress in meeting the international standards under the pressure of the local legislation, the retailers and food chains, and the requirements to exporters of foodstuffs, especially to EU countries. Certification to ISO 22000 has been granted to 211 companies (mainly manufacturers). Certification to HACCP specifications has been granted to 142 companies. A growing number of food manufacturers comply with IFS requirements under the pressure of large retailers such as Metro and Billa.
Today, more than two dozen certification bodies operate in Bulgaria. Most of the big international names are represented with local offices and local auditors trained to the best international requirements. Some of the world leaders, such as BSI and UL, are still not present on the Bulgarian market thus giving a good chance to smaller certification organizations from countries such as Greece and the Netherlands to invest and promote their services.
The number of consulting organizations and individual consultants is continuously growing and more than 20 organizations have recorded more than 50 successfully certified customers. Unfortunately, the market has already witnessed grossly unethical practices (such as establishing certification bodies by a consulting firm) and suspicious alliances such as tandems of registrars and consultants. Obvious deficits of competencies are also very common.
In our opinion, the strong competition for customers has led to a decrease in the quality of consulting and certification services. Many companies seek cheap services which, in the best case, pave the road to compliance with the formal requirements of the standards but do not lead to real management improvement. At the same time, some companies continue to strive for sustainable organizational development and are ready to make the effort and pay the price for professional assistance “in the search for excellence”.
In summary, Bulgaria is making serious progress in achieving compliance with the major management standards. According to the 2007 ISO Survey of the proliferation of standards worldwide, Bulgaria ranks 17 among 50 EU and CIS countries. We believe this is beneficial to all parties concerned, including His Majesty, the Customer.
If you have any specific inquiries, we would be pleased to answer them at iso@tma-bulgaria.com.
ISO 26000: Social Responsibility Coming Closer
ISO has made another step towards developing a Social Responsibility standard (ISO 26000) whose launch is expected next year. Although the Social Accountability Standard SA 8000 has gained wide recognition, it seems to be perceived as a US-based initiative in spite of its global coverage. Thus, ISO is preparing a new standard (now available as CD version) which is likely to reach DIS stage by October 2009.
Some background
The modern world has responded in a civilized way to the practice of “capitalist exploitation of the poor” in its classical meaning. The use of cheap labour by some of the leading international corporations, mainly in Asia, has triggered both competitors and socially concerned groups to act against abuse of child labour, ridiculously low pay and other humiliating practices.
As a result, the Social Accountability Standard SA 8000 had been developed as an auditable standard and the first 8 companies were certified in 1998. Ten years later, 1,874 companies from 66 countries have been certified to SA 8000 (by 31.12.2008). In Bulgaria, 2 companies are certified to SA 8000 by Bureau Veritas Certification, a world leader with 527 certifications in 43 countries. At the same time, many more non-certified companies are subjects to audits to provide evidence of their compliance with the best practices in observing human rights and providing decent working conditions.
The near future
The development of the new ISO 26000 standard is actually not a competitive alternative although we have not seen any evidence that either the Social Accountability Institute or the ISO Working Group acknowledge each other. The advantage of SA 8000 is that it has been in existence for more than 10 years and it is an auditable standard. On the other hand, ISO 26000 will be added on to other ISO standards of huge popularity but it will be only a guidance document, not a standard for certification.
The benefits of registration to a social accountability standard are perhaps most tangible for companies manufacturing under contract with multinationals in business sectors where suspicions of worker mistreatment are highest (e.g., textiles). In countries such as Bulgaria many issues of the standard are not very relevant (e.g., child labour and working hours) but ensuring decent pay is a huge problem in companies owned by local or foreign shareholders.
Very often, the problem in getting ready for certification to a social accountability/responsibility standard would not be the practices of a company itself but the demand that its suppliers should also meet the key requirements.
Julian Usunov, June 2009
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