Certification of company management systems

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Please note: the instrument is currently not operational, pending specific refinancing.

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Umbria was, in chronological order, the second Region in Italy, after Lombardy, to adopt a Regional Law to implement and diffuse the “culture of Quality” in SMEs, by awarding grants in favour of organisations that implement a Company Management System in compliance with the standards in the UNI EN ISO 9000/94 series.

Appointed by the Umbria Regional Authority, Sviluppumbria S.p.A. was the first to implement the Regional Law n°19/91, “Interventions for the certification of quality management systems in Umbrian enterprises”.

Between 1991 and 1999 5 public announcements were made which each saw a large number of participants, proof of the importance of quality for Umbrian companies. Sviluppumbria received 1,413 applications for contributions and funded 1,203 requests for a contribution for quality implementation and certification.

650 Umbrian SMEs were awarded certification in that period, in compliance with the standards in the UNI EN ISO 9000/94 series.

For details on the achievement of certification in Umbria and in particular of the results of the regional invitations DOCUP  (2000 – 2007) and POR FESR 2007 - 2013, you can download the appropriate document regarding the evolution, prospectives and opportunities offered by the invitations to tender for regional funding.

In all this, the Umbria Regional Authority, has had, among other things, the role of diffusing culture, concepts and methods of work almost unknown to Umbrian enterprises beforehand. Given the number of companies that have signed up to the aforementioned projects (also thanks to the numerous, qualified initiatives promoted by Employment Associations and Institutions, e.g. “Month of Quality”), we can now say that the culture of quality has become part of the specific description of the regional economic system.

In the meantime, the need of the enterprises to also adopt certified Company Management Systems (environment, safety, ethics), has grown, due mainly to the fact that the market demands not only top quality products, but also eco-friendly products and corporate social responsibility, which can be sustainably developed. Furthermore, as shown by an investigation by Sviluppumbria in October 1998 and by the national investigation led by l SINCERT (today ACCREDIA), the main problem for SMEs when they adopt a system of certifiable voluntary company management, is the cost of the investment.

Bearing this in mind, the Regional Law No. 19/91 was abrogated by the Regional Law 21/2002, “Interventions for the certification of systems of quality, respect for the environment, safety and ethics in Umbrian enterprises” with the desire to:

- promote information to diffuse the culture of quality, respect for the environment, safety and ethics;

- support small and medium enterprises that voluntarily sign up to international, community and/or national standards regarding the introduction and development of systems of certified company management, integrated with each other, as well as the certification of products and services;

- support policies and actions to support real services for SMEs, projects of qualification, the award and/or improvement in order to achieve certification

In 2003, the Regional Council set up the Technical Scientific Committee, as provided for by Art. 5 of the aforementioned Regional Law No. 21/2002, with the task of expressing an opinion on the Operational Annual Programme.

This annual programme:

- defines the course of action for the interventions aiming to promote maximum diffusion of the certifications of systems of company management of quality, respect for the environment, safety, ethics in sustainable development;

- identifies the types, criteria and priorities of the interventions on the base of an assessment of the effects produced by the preceding programmes. It was founded on 6 May 2003 and began work by taking part in the process of drafting same programme on the basis of the already prepared work proof, with the technical assistance of Sviluppumbria.

The Decision of the Regional Council No. 778 approved the Annual Operative Programme 2003 for the interventions mentioned in Art. 4 of the Regional Law No. 21/2002. On 9 July 2003, the Public Announcement was made to define the activities that could be financed, the beneficiaries, the localisation of the interventions, the amount of the contributions, the procedures of application, the investigation and evaluation of the applications, the criteria of evaluation, the procedures for payment of the contribution, the admissible expenses, the term to implement the projects and the financial resources made available.

From 2003 to 2013, in order to implement the Regional Law 21/2002 the Umbria Regional Authority issued 7 Announcements to be managed by Sviluppumbria which conducted both the formal and the assessment examination for the list of successful candidates, by means of a Technical Assessment Committee it had nominated, and drew up the financial report on the projects funded and completed by the beneficiaries.

Sviluppumbria received a total of 3,110 requests for contributions, of which 1,754 were funded for a total commitment of EUR 9,228,000.00 by the Umbria Regional Authority.

The number of companies taking part has always been high, as can be seen, as was the average level of the projects presented. The number of companies that effectively completed the project was also comforting and was, on average , over 60% for all the announcements, with peaks of 82%.

The final Announcement was published on 2 January 2003. The term to present an application for the subsidies was set for 23 April 2013. The finance made available by the Regional Authority amounted to EUR 800,000.00. 256 applications were received of which: 83 were admitted and could be funded and 173 were admitted but could not be funded due to lack of funds.

In the light of the current trends and the characteristics of the regional productive system, the following comments can be made:

 -  the consolidated standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, SA 8000) appear to be considerably attractive and offer potential growth, particularly in specific productive sectors. As regards the environment,  EMAS II Registration has recently become popular, as an alternative or even in addition to the ISO 14001 certification.

- the BS OHSAS 18001:2007 certification of the workers’ health and safety management system appears extremely interesting, as a result of the benefits introduced for companies by the Italian Legislative Decree 81/2008 (Consolidated Act on safety in the workplace). Furthermore, the importance of this certification on a social level in our region should not be underestimated.

- among the “emerging” schemes of certification, adequate consideration should be given to those concerning the agro-food sector, particular as it plays such an important role in the regional economy.

As regards information security, the standard UNI CEI ISO/IEC 27001:2005 in our region has not met with particular success. The topic, however, is extremely relevant and therefore we cannot exclude it will develop in the near future, especially for companies in the tertiary sector.

Special schemes for quality management, dedicated to specific productive sectors can without doubt be a competitive advantage provided it refers to standards or specifications issued by authoritative Standardisation Organisations and the certification system envisages recognised procedures for the accreditation of the Certification Organisations.

Implementation often presupposes or is favoured by the pre-existence of an ISO 9001 system. The most interesting standards, considering the productive fabric of our region, are the following:

- Automobile sector (ISO/TS 16949:2002)

- Medical device sector (UNI EN ISO 13485:2004)

The integration of more certification schemes appears to becoming increasingly popular and worthwhile, as the introduction of a new management system into a pre-existing system appears simpler compared to an initial implementation (as it also guarantees a greater percentage of success for the support actions) and the adoption of an integrated system gives greater value added, often acknowledged by public and private customers.