Introduction

“If we had not gone for ISO 14001, our public sector customers would have found other suppliers, the business would have stagnated and gone into decline.”

Michael Hodge, MD, EuroOffice Equipment

EuroOffice Equipment manufactures, distributes and installs a range of office furniture, including seating, desking, filing and storage systems to customers throughout the UK.

Established in 1983, the company employs 25 people at its base in Christchurch, Dorset, and 90% of its customers are in the public sector – including National Health Service (NHS) Trusts, local authorities and universities.

In this highly competitive market, many customers are demanding that their suppliers have certified quality and environmental management systems in place. EuroOffice achieved ISO 9001 from LRQA in 2004 and ISO 14001 – also from LRQA – in 2005.

The company’s principal objective in gaining certification was to ensure future business by satisfying its customers’ requirements. However, its management also wanted to take the opportunity to cut costs, create a framework for change enabling continuous improvement and reduce the impact of their operations on the environment.

With the help of a University student on the Shell Technology Enterprise (STEP) scheme, EMS consultant Rod Darch and LRQA, the company achieved ISO 14001 in just 12 months. In so doing, they became the first organisation to benefit from LRQA’s EMS Small business Scheme that incorporates a number of features specifically designed to help smaller organisations achieve and maintain its approval to ISO 14001.

As a result, the company has secured its status as a preferred supplier to the NHS and – despite soaring fuel costs – has turned from a loss-making business into a profitable one. At the same time, it has embraced change, bringing out ‘a lot of latent talent’ in its employees and become a more dynamic, efficient business.

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Benefits

“The company had made a loss, but we are now back to profitability. We would not have been able to do that without having these systems.”

Michael Hodge, MD, EuroOffice Equipment

Certification to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 with LRQA has transformed EuroOffice Equipment from a loss-making business facing stagnation to a profitable, forward-thinking company with efficient and effective management systems.

Winning Business

With 90% of its turnover with the public sector, EuroOffice had to achieve ISO 14001 in order to retain its main customers – particularly the NHS where it remains a preferred supplier.

Managing Director, Michael Hodge, said: “We have to tender for our work, and part of that process is being able to demonstrate that you have systems in place which will be robust and sustainable enough to handle a public sector contract. Our ISO certifications from LRQA enable us to do just that.”

Cost Savings

EuroOffice achieved significant and quantifiable cost savings – and reduced a loss of £70,000 to return to profit – as a direct result of implementing its ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) and achieving certification with LRQA. Savings include:

• 59% saving on electricity, by installing energy-efficient lighting and combining two buildings into one.
• 52% reduction on general waste collection costs by recycling more waste, such as foam, cans, surplus plastic, paper, inkjet cartridges and timber.
• 12% drop in the vehicle cost per delivery, achieved by improving the routing of vehicles and reducing customer returns.
• Annual £5,000 saving on supplier delivery charges.
• Reduction in product returns from 5% to 1%, through improved communications with customers regarding delivery times and improved product loading procedures.

Embracing Change

EuroOffice also believes ISO certification from LRQA has helped employees to develop. “The majority of the staff were eager to embrace change, take ownership of the systems and in doing so more actively contribute to the running of the business,” said Michael Hodge.

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Implementing the System

“The majority of the staff wanted to embrace change. There was a lot of latent talent here, and by implementing the system we were able to bring out that talent.”

Michael Hodge, MD, EuroOffice Equipment

Before seeking certification of its management systems, EuroOffice had been successful, but was not prepared for the changes facing the industry. Run on traditional lines, with informal systems, it needed a structure that included quality and environmental systems ‘that everyone could work with’.

Having decided to seek certification to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, Michael Hodge involved all employees from the outset. “We needed the staff to buy-in, which they did quickly, because they realised the benefits and saw that the company would be able to grow as a result,” he said.

“We were looking for a clear environmental management policy that delivered a cost benefit and that ensured our suppliers either had environmental policies or that the products they were supplying us were from sustainable sources.”

The company employed a STEP student from Bournemouth University and EMS Consultant, Rod Darch, and set about identifying areas for improvement, including key performance indicators (KPI’s). It also appointed LRQA to assess and certify its systems.

A range of improvements were quickly identified, including electricity usage, waste collection costs and supplier delivery charges, and changes to vehicle routing and usage were introduced.

“We needed to sell the benefits of what we were trying to do to all our staff including our logistics team. We have a close knit team and generally the drivers are all back for Friday afternoon, so having meetings with them was quite convenient. In the end, they were coming up with ideas of further ways of saving money, which was great! In fact, it was one of our drivers who suggested we call into our suppliers to pick up components rather than incurring carriage costs, and that now saves us £5,000 a year.”

The combined measures had a significant positive impact on profitability and contributed to the company containing its costs and achieving its KPIs, despite recent fuel price rises.

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Continuous Improvement

“The whole idea of having certified management systems in place is that the company wants to move forward, not stand still. Continuous improvement is a huge part of that.”

Michael Hodge, MD, EuroOffice Equipment

As a direct result of introducing new processes to achieve ISO 14001, EuroOffice is now more dynamic, efficient and profitable. And, with its new systems providing a framework for continuous improvement, the company looks to the future with confidence.

As part of the EMS process, the company has identified specific areas for continuous improvement, including improved route planning using a computerised fleet management system; increased sales through the introduction of a seat refurbishment service; and commitment to achieving an environmental cost saving of £5,500 a year through reduced waste.

“Traditionally, the company made money, but we could not quantify how we made money,” said Michael Hodge. “Having these formal systems and key performance indicators in place has made us focus on the business and the important parts of the business. We have also introduced more KPI’s to focus on the environmental side. The cost per delivery is one of them. We have taken steps within the warehouse and factory to reduce heating costs and we are now managing our waste a lot better – our waste disposal costs are greatly reduced.

“We would not have been able to do all this without having these formal systems. We have traded for 22 years and it has been a successful company, but the year before last the company made a loss. We were able to correct that loss last year and we are now back to profitability.

A formal system for monitoring customer satisfaction has also been introduced as part of the continuous improvement process. “Our customer satisfaction rate was always good, but certification has made us quantify it, because previously we did not do customer satisfaction surveys. We do now: and we get some very positive feedback from that – together with suggestions on how we could improve further, and we take that on board.”

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Relationship with LRQA

“LRQA helped us to achieve benefits for the business, not just change our ways in order to get a certificate. They are here not just to mark us, but are interested in helping our business as well.”

Michael Hodge, MD, EuroOffice Equipment

Michael Hodge believes the relationship between EuroOffice and LRQA has been positive and that the two companies worked well together ‘as partners’.

“It is difficult to quantify the relationship, but there was always a two-way conversation during the surveillance visits,” he said. “Our assessors see examples of best practice at the other organisations they work with and we are able to benefit from that.

“In particular, our LRQA ISO 14001 assessor was able to give us guidance on how to improve our tracking of changes to environmental legislation. He recommended modifying our KPI’s to enable us to demonstrate that environmental improvements could be related to the changes in the distribution process and he suggested ways to improve the identification of products that have been produced from sustainable timber.

“This gave us the impetus to ensure that we produced a very comprehensive EMS system. At the end of each visit we had, I felt it was a very positive experience. Nothing could have been done better.

“In addition to the assessment team, we have always been able to rely on good service from the planning and administration teams at the office. Communications are good, we know exactly what is going on and when. The LRQA planning team are very accommodating when arranging surveillance visits and will fit their visits around our business needs.”

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LRQA Small Business Scheme

“EuroOffice is a good example of a smaller company finding very real benefits from implementing an EMS and seeking certification. It clearly demonstrates that the process need not be onerous or complicated. For this organisation, the positives have clearly outweighed the negatives.”

Graham Colebeck, LRQA Assessor for ISO 14001.

EuroOffice was the first company to achieve certification to ISO 14001 through the LRQA EMS Small Business Scheme. The Scheme has a number of features that are particularly helpful to smaller sized businesses:

• Easy payment options – pay by direct debit, spreading the cost over 36 monthly instalments, helping forward planning
• Inclusive pricing – no hidden extras, annual management fees or expenses – the price quoted is the price paid
• Experienced assessors – LRQA selects and trains assessors to understand the particular needs of small to medium sized companies who are experienced in a client’s sector and understand their business
• Access to business advisors – a dedicated telephone number to guide clients through the process of certification
• Technical helpdesk – LRQA’s trained assessors will help answer technical queries
• Training – LRQA’s public and in-company environmental training courses help clients to make the most from their EMS
• Support and advice – dedicated support material on the LRQA website ‘customer-only’ area includes checklists, customer notes and useful information to help clients implement their system
• Integrated systems – clients who already have an ISO 9001 QMS can integrate this with their EMS. LRQA will provide assessment and certification for both systems.

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Certification and Beyond

“With LRQA, there is always a two-way conversation during the surveillance visits, and if the assessors see some best practice, they were always willing to suggest it for consideration.”

Michael Hodge, MD, EuroOffice Equipment

Following certification to ISO 14001, LRQA continues to work with EuroOffice Equipment to help the company develop and improve its systems.

Future surveillance visits are planned to embrace both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 with one assessor. “We are planning to combine the visits. The size of our company, and overlapping areas within our integrated quality and environmental management system makes this possible,” said Michael Hodge. “It will mean a lot of preparation but there will be benefits from the process.”

EuroOffice also intends to build on the success of its new systems, not least its Key Performance Indicators. “At the moment, fuel is a big issue,” said Michael Hodge. “One of our KPIs was to calculate our costs per delivery, including maintenance and fuel as well as wages.

“We had never done that before, but it was important that we knew what that cost was. We set ourselves targets and because of the savings we made, we have managed to contain our costs. In the last few weeks, despite the huge hike in fuel prices, we have been quite successful in achieving those KPI’s, and this is something we will focus on in the future.”

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