Case Studies - Quality

J S Chinn Integrated Management Systems

The J S Chinn Group consists of a number of operating companies, each holding a reputation for precision, quality and reliability. The J S Chinn Group provide products and services within a number of industries, including; aerospace, defence, nuclear, power generation and automotive.

The Group is an approved contractor to the UK Ministry of Defence and Group turnover is in excess of £25m per year.

Management System Development

The J S Chinn Group was required to have the relevant quality, health & safety and environmental accreditations to compete successfully in the marketplace. The Group engaged Pro Enviro to ensure that development was implemented to a world-class standard.

Initially, Pro Enviro assisted with the site-specific implementation of ISO 9001:2000. However, as ISO 14001 became an essential requirement, Pro Enviro looked for a new approach to ease the burden of running multiple management systems to save the Group time and money.

To efficiently implement ISO 14001, Pro Enviro designed integrated systems that were compatible with the existing site quality systems. This was achieved through the use and adaptation of common "core" management procedures relevant to both types of management system. Additional procedures were then written with increased focus on environmental procedures.

Using Pro Enviro’s Business Essentials™ product the entire content of the management systems (comprising the manual, procedures, checklists and forms) was made available on-line to employees via a custom designed web-based portal. This removed the need for arduous document control procedures as administration and use of the system became much less dependent on paper.

Use of Business Essentials™ ensures that staff are always working to the current document version; approved amendments to the management systems are uploaded onto the portal by Pro Enviro. Additionally, the portal has the advantage of being able to be accessed remotely, making it perfect for provision of relevant information or documents to customers and contractors.

The Outcomes – Efficient Integrated Management Systems

The Group has found that using the integrated management systems designed by Pro Enviro has formalised procedures, made sure slips in customer deliverables don’t occur and result in more efficient day-to-day running of the business. Having externally verified management systems has enhanced the Groups’ reputation both within industry and with its customers; all stakeholders are reassured of high operating standards within the Group.

Future Integration

Pro Enviro are in the process of carrying out further integration of management systems for the Group. This will involve incorporating the OHSAS 18001 Health and Safety Standard into the current systems at two sites and the development of a fully integrated management system to fulfil the requirements of AS 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 at a third site.

The development of highly integrated management systems offers an opportunity for our clients to achieve significant cost savings in the certification, surveillance and renewal fees charged by the certification body. Pro Enviro negotiated a discounted package for certification of integrated management systems for all 3 sites with a major certification body. Although each management system had to be certified in its own right – discounts were available for the integrated systems because they reduced the amount of procedural review needed and cut down on time spent by the assessor on-site. In the case of the J S Chinn Group, this enabled the cost of initial certification to be more than halved when compared to the cost of separately certifying the management systems.