Eurobridge had originally achieved ISO 9001 certification back in 2013, a process that saw us thoroughly document all our business processes at the time. This was instrumental in structuring our business for success, and it prepared our team to enable and sustain further growth and scaling over the next five years.
In September 2018, we approached ISO specialists STEP Enterprises to initiate and audit the process that would lead us to re-certification; in other words, another chance to take stock of our practices and fine-tune our systems for good results in the years ahead, in accordance with international quality management principles.
As with the first certification process, the second time also involved several meetings with people throughout our company to obtain a holistic view of how our workflows connect and influence each other, as well as the net result of these processes on our daily work practices.
| Management | Sales & Operations | Administration |
|---|---|---|
| To discuss the risks and opportunities of the business, leadership, strategic direction and quality objectives of the company. | To review the working processes the company is following. | To review the support processes such as HR, equipment management, customer feedback and supplier evaluation processes in place. |
Following this, a few minor adjustments and improvements to the current systems were discussed with the team. A report documenting these changes was drawn up by STEP and presented to Eurobridge for review; subsequently, all these changes were incorporated into our processes.
We then underwent a detailed internal audit process, during which a sample of our shipments was reviewed. This included an analysis and comparison of the different modes of transport and shipment types, spanning the gamut from import/export to full load and groupage. The scope of the internal audit was also extended to the entire organisation’s management structure, ensuring a complete examination of every aspect of our company’s operations.
Finally, Eurobridge had to select among the different quality certifications available for companies in the shipping and logistics sector. We decided to apply for the Lloyds Register of Quality Assurance (LRQA) ISO 9001 certification, one of the best-known and most highly-respected awards in our industry. An externally-appointed auditor conducted another audit over two days and determined that the results achieved by Eurobridge in strengthening and improving its business processes were “outstanding”.
The whole re-certification process took around seven months and was concluded by April 2019, following which EuroBridge was awarded the Certificate of Approval from LRQA.
