Constant Group case study

Matt Garlick, Managing Director and David Gilligan, Operations Manager

North West manufacturing firm now a global player thanks to ISO accreditation

A manufacturing firm based in Manchester is competing on the global stage, thanks to achieving certification for the international quality management systems standard, ISO 9001.

Constant Group, one of the North West’s largest subcontract suppliers of precision sheet metal parts, components and fully assembled pieces, approached HPA in April 2016 with the desire to achieve certification for ISO 9001. At the time, uncertainties in the UK and European markets as a result of Brexit were encouraging the company to pursue business outside of Europe. They rightly believed certification for the international quality management standard would be key to opening doors on the world stage.

Since achieving the standard in April 2017, Operations Manager, David Gilligan, has seen significant benefits for the company as Brexit continues to cause uncertainty at home. Whilst the costs involved in manufacturing have risen, sales prices have not, causing a significant decrease in margin for the company. However, financial savings brought about by ISO 9001 accreditation have lessened the impact this has had.

David commented: “Achieving certification for ISO 9001 demonstrated to potential clients that we were serious about competing on the world stage, by making this solid commitment to continually improve our processes and systems. As we thought, it has also allowed us access to and made us more attractive to a better pot of customers on a global platform, including in the food and pharmaceutical industry. This simply would not have been possible without achieving certification for ISO 9001. In addition, it has improved relations with our current customer base, by allowing us to produce better quality control reports for the benefit of our customers.

“We knew when we first looked into ISO 9001 we would not be able to achieve the standard on our own. We needed the expertise offered by HPA, whose thirty plus years’ experience won us over. They made the whole process really simple, gave us highly attainable monthly goals and were incredibly approachable and responsive to any questions or queries we had. The guidance given by their very experienced consultants, who weren’t shy in giving honest feedback, meant we achieved certification with very little hassle.”

For further information on the assistance HPA can give in helping you achieve certification for ISO 9001 or any other ISO management systems standards, please call 01477 549 116.