Minister Perry urges SMEs to use international management standards to enhance skills and increase business

22^nd November 2011

Given the importance of SMEs to the future growth of the Irish economy, John Perry, T.D, Minister of State with responsibility for Small Business, is urging SME owners and managers to enhance their management skills and improve their ability to make smarter business decisions by using international management standards such as ISO 9001 to win new business and allow their organisation to prosper and grow.  SMEs continue to be the backbone of the Irish economy with in excess of 200,000 SMEs accounting for 99% of firms and employing 68% of workers¹, while contributing over €10 billion to the Exchequer annually.

Speaking at NSAI’s SME Standards and Certification event this morning, Minister Perry said, “There are clear tangible benefits to implementing standards, especially for SMEs. Standards can be used in the development of new products in order to reduce the resources spent on research and development, to effectively allocate resources in the toughest of times and to improve their ability to innovate. The life blood of any business is winning new customers and by proving they adhere to standards, companies can boost their bottom line by demonstrating the quality of products and services they offer.”

Over 1 million organisations in 170 countries have adopted the Quality Management System standards² and last year NSAI certified a diverse range of Irish companies in various ISO management systems. A Harvard study² of 1,000 Californian companies has shown that ISO 9000 adopters have a greater chance for survival, suffering less “firm deaths” than non-ISO adopters. Organisations that pursued standards had higher growth rates for sales, employment, payroll and average annual earnings. Sales were close to 10% higher and there was higher employment growth at ISO certified workplaces. In the first three years after certification, there was a 6% growth in employment and by year nine this figure rose to 32.5%.

Mr Maurice Buckley, CEO, NSAI, said, “The most critical business priorities for SMEs are still cost reduction and improved efficiencies. Standards have a proven direct positive impact on a company’s business performance and there is also a proven link between management skills and business success⁴. That is why we are calling on SME owners and managers to look to credible and internationally recognised standards to enhance their management skills to help grow their business and aid economic recovery. Over 25 companies were presented with their certificates at the event this morning, the majority of which were SMEs³, across manufacturing, technology, engineering, transport and construction.”

Among the firms certified this morning were:

Bostik Industries Limited: a Swords, Co. Dublin based manufacturer of cementitious systems for the build industry. The company employs 65 people and has a turnover of €18 million. Ciaran O’Driscoll, MD, said, “Pursuing the achievement of standards is a strategic objective for the company. Standards have helped us to deliver a much needed incremental turnover of €250K per annum, as well as enabling us to enter new markets and to achieve higher margin for our products.”

Horizon West: an engineering technical service provider for the multinational manufacturing sector. Based in Westport, Mayo, the company was founded in 2010 and currently employs 20. Aiden Corcoran MD, said, “Obtaining ISO 9001:2008 within our first year has enabled us to structure our business. This defined model enables us to deliver formulated quality based solutions to our customers. The certification of our Cloud based framework keeps our competitive advantage to the fore, enabling us to control our information and processes while also acting as foundation for strategic growth and development.”

Matthews Coach Hire Ltd: a Co. Monaghan based road passenger transport firm. Founded in 1995, the company employs 63 staff and has a turnover of €6 million. Paddy Matthews, MD, said, “Since being ISO 9001:2008 certified our sales have increased along with our reputation resulting in recognition both at home and abroad. One example of this is a lucrative contract we secured in London in 2012. Being ISO certified definitely made a difference.”

Smithstown Light Engineering: a design and manufacturer of medical devices and instrumentation and precision tooling. Based in Shannon, Co. Clare, the firm was founded in 1974, employs 61 staff and has a turnover of €6m. Gerard King, MD, said, “This is our third ISO certification. We are now certified to ISO14001, the Environmental management systems standard, ensuring that we manufacture in an environmentally responsible manner, as well as ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 13485: Medical Devices Quality management systems. Standards have enabled us to access new customers whilst giving continuous in-house quality improvements.”

Concluded Mr Buckley, “The testimonials from the companies being certified this morning serves to bolster the argument that is Ireland’s small and medium size organisations that will benefit most from certification and standards. Companies can realise many benefits by ensuring that standards are an integral part of their business strategy, providing Irish businesses with a series of roadmaps to give them the best chance of commercial success.”

Ends

For further information, please contact: Peter O’Reilly, NSAI, 01 8073804, peter.oreilly@nsai.ie

Note to Editors:

¹European Commission (2010b), Small Business Act: Factsheet on Ireland, Brussels.

²Harvard Business School, Quality management and job quality: How the ISO 9001 standard for Quality Management Systems Affects Employees and Employers, David I. Levine & Michael W. Toffel, January 2010.

³A small enterprise is defined as an enterprise that has fewer than 50 employees and has either an annual turnover and/or an annual Balance Sheet total not exceeding €10m. A Medium sized enterprise is defined as an enterprise that has between 50 employees and 249 employees and has either an annual turnover not exceeding €50m or an annual Balance Sheet total not exceeding €43m. (Official Journal of the European Commission, L 124/36)

⁴SME Management Development in Ireland, Enterprise Strategy Group, Forfás, February 2010.

About NSAI: NSAI (National Standards Authority of Ireland) is Ireland’s official standards and measurement body and the state agency vested with the responsibility to manage the policy instruments of Standards, Metrology and Conformity Assessment, (in the form of Certification and Agrément) on behalf of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. These instruments form the basis of Ireland’s basic trade infrastructure which enables people confidently to go about many aspects of their daily businesses and lives. Our work entails serving industry and protecting consumer interests through the setting of standards and issuing of certification in the quality and safety of goods and services. For over 50 years, the National Standards Authority of Ireland has been supporting enterprise, trade, consumers and government through the effective provision of services of the highest quality.

ENDS.