Are your products tied up in expensive delays at the Canada–US border? Are you paying costly employee accident benefits? Are you facing an employee morale problem? Is current production quality affecting your sales?
For businesses with exceptionally stringent requirements in terms of export, safety or quality, there are standards and programs that target these specific areas.
Quality Management Systems (QMS)
QMS are broad standards that cover everything an organization does to manage its processes and activities. Implementing a QMS offers recognized benefits for any industry and to any business, large or small, whether it manufactures products or offers services. The best known among the QMS are the international ISO standards:
Advantages and costs of specialized standards
The marketplace is increasingly competitive, and customers and clients have more choice than ever. Specialized standards can be national or worldwide, apply to specific industries, or to certain processes across all industries. They can make your business more competitive by helping you:
- Reduce expenses
- Increase productivity
- Detect problems faster
- Open up new markets
- Meet or exceed customer needs
- Address marketplace demands
- Improve relationships with suppliers
- Ensure consumer confidence
- Increase employee participation
- Use industry best practices
The expenses involved with developing and registering a specialized standards depend on the size and complexity of your business and on your internal structure. In general, you can budget for the following costs:
- Development: document and implement the system
- Training: plan, document and audit
- Registration
Health and safety: OHSAS 18000
This international standard can be used by organisations of all sizes, regardless of the nature of their activities or location, to identify safety hazards and to control work-related risks. Carrying out OHSAS 18000 also often triggers more general, positive changes within your business. Its impacts include:
- Fewer accidents and medical claims
- Fewer employees absent from work
- Increased production
- Recognition by insurers and partners
- Improved worker retention and satisfaction
- Better internal and external communications
If you are interested in reviewing the health and safety of your workplace, you may wish to employ training or consulting professionals who can help develop your OHSAS plan and see you through to the audit process. OHSAS also sells a sample occupational health and safety manual that includes procedures, forms and policies. If you're interesting in implementing OHSAS, this manual is a good first step.
Canada–US border compliance
When you export to the US, not delivering your product on time can result in lost sales and opportunities. This is especially true if you work in a time-pressed industry. As of September 11, 2001, Canada and the US put in place stricter border security, and this has created slow-downs for exporters.
What is a border compliance program? These Canadian and U.S. government programs aim to speed up the flow of goods at the border, while also protecting from possible terrorist activity. Participating in programs like Customs Self-Assessment (CSA), Free and Secure Trade (FAST), Partners in Protection (PIP), Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT) can help make exporting more efficient for your business.
These programs require that you create your export declarations ahead of time, using Web-based computer programs. These systems can determine and produce the correct export documentation for your business. Some compliance programs, like FAST, also require that you use barcode technology to package your merchandise, which is then simply scanned at the border.
Costs and benefits of being certified
There are 3 main advantages to border compliance. The most important is improved delivery speed because your goods go through special dedicated lanes at border crossings and have fewer border inspections. These programs also reduce your customs-related costs, and improve your company's credibility. While the specific costs vary greatly, depending on the programs, they can include some or all of the following costs:
- Planning
- Application process
- Security and audit process
- Purchasing hardware
- Purchasing software
- Staff training
How to participate
For all programs, companies must supply information on business activities and on the security of their operations or suppliers, and sign an agreement with government authorities. For some programs, companies must also invest in computer systems and barcode or transponder technology.
Industry Canada's Border Compliance Tool Kit is a good starting point to get information on the individual programs, and how to apply. It will also help you estimate your return on investment and decide which programs are most suitable for your company.
Food and beverage
In the food and beverage industry, each country has its own regulations to protect consumer health and the environment. By using internationally recognized standards, you can avoid having to develop and maintain multiple standards for different markets.
HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point): a system that helps you guarantee the safety of your products by controlling your raw materials, your processes, your plant environment, and your employees. Because it is recognized world-wide by industry and by governments, adopting HACCP makes good business sense. It can:
- Meet customers' food safety expectations
- Lower your risk of a product recall
- Make your company export ready
- Give you essential information to help in decision-making
- Give your company a competitive edge
- Lower your current operating expenses
There are 7 basic principles used in developing HACCP plans:
1. Analyzing hazards
2. Identifying critical points where these hazards can be controlled
3. Establishing the critical safety limits for these controls
4. Developing procedures for monitoring
5. Planning corrective actions
6. Establishing verification procedures
7. Setting up record keeping and documentation
If you are interested in developing a HACCP system, your company may wish to bring in a professional advisor or hire a coordinator to develop, implement and maintain the system. It can take several months or years to get a HACCP plan up and running. You may need to train employees, take on additional duties, or reinforce proper food-handling procedures. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency offers generic HACCP plans that offer a starting point to help you develop a plan for your company. BDC also offers consulting services and training programs, as well as financing to help you implement your HACCP system.
FESP (Food Safety Enhancement Program): the Canadian government's approach to ensuring food safety. Because it is based on the world-recognized HACCP system, it allows businesses to break into or develop international markets.
Under FSEP, you must, before developing your HACCP, carry out 6 prerequisite programs, similar to Good Manufacturing Practices which many processors are already familiar with. The prerequisites will form the basis of your HACCP plan because they address the procedures and conditions you need to control in a food establishment:
1. Premises
2. Transportation and storage
3. Equipment
4. Personnel
5. Sanitation and pest control
6. Recall
After the prerequisites and the HACCP program are in place, if you wish to become recognized, your business must contact CFIA. Certification generally includes meetings and reviews of the company's documentation, and audits.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency offers various tools to guide you through the Prerequisite Programs and the HACCP process. These include FSEP implementation manuals, a hazard database reference, electronic templates and forms, and generic examples of Prerequisite Programs and HACCP plans.
ISO 22000: this standard could eventually enable all food-related organizations to comply to a single standard that does not vary by country or by food product. It incorporates HACCP 's food-risk prevention requirements with more general administrative requirements. It can easily be combined with other management system standards, such as ISO 9000 or ISO 14000, because their structures are similar.
ISO 22000 is designed to be flexible and can be tailored to any segment of the food chain. If your business wants to convert to this standard from other systems, you will need to address various areas such as communication and management processes. If your business has already implemented a HACCP system or another ISO management system, the process is simpler.
