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Frequently Asked Questions:

 

We guess that you probably still have some questions, so we have tried to anticipate some of those, and offer you the answers.  Feel free to contact us though, if you still have questions, or want to make an obligation free appointment.

I only have a small business, do I need to bother with Health and Safety?

The short answer is 'yes'. 

Although a formal Health and Safety system is a mandatory requirement, and this involves set up cost, businesses should see this as an investment, rather than a liability.

 

A system once developed, can help you to monitor your success and reduce the costs of accidents and illness to your staff, but also to those people whom are your customers, and to the public.  If you supply plant, equipment or service, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, you are liable for any illness or injury as a result of that provision.  There is recent case law where suppliers of service, plant and equipment have been prosecuted by WorkSafe.

 

A system also increases the Health and Safety awareness and focus of your employees, and that has to be a good thing.

 

We believe for the small set up cost, and small amount of resource for maintenance, it is worth the effort.

 What is ISO and why should I consider it for my business?

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards. International Standards give state of the art specifications for products, services and good practice, helping to make industry more efficient and effective. Developed through global consensus, they help to break down barriers to international trade.

 

ISO develops International Standards. They were founded in 1947, and since then have published more than 19,500 International Standards covering almost all aspects of technology, manufacturing and business. From food safety to computers, and agriculture to healthcare, ISO International Standards impact all our lives.

 

ISO are a network of national standards bodies. These national standards bodies make up the ISO membership and they represent ISO in their country.

 

Today they have members from 163 countries and 3 368 technical bodies to take care of standard development. More than 150 people work full time for ISO’s Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

Many international customers expect their suppliers to be ISO certified, and to them it is a guarantee that a given standard of documentation, reliability, defect prevention and service has been attained, and that this has been verified to be the case, by an independanty qualified certification agency.

 

ISO isn't so much about quality as it is about management, and in it's basic state, ISO is a core business management tool.

 

  

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I want to improve my business but I dont know how?

Congratulations, you have come to the right place.

 

We know that sometimes it is hard to know exacty what we need to do to make our business better, stronger faster...(yes, we did poach those words from the introduction to the old TV series 'The 6 million dollar man'), but the truth is that sometimes we get so wrapped up in the day to day tribulations of our business that we cannot see the way forward. 

 

This is where our tool box can help.  Each business will have it's own unique needs, and we can help you to identify those, and then suggest a plan to move you forward.

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How does a business relationship with Crocker Systems Ltd work?

When you contact us, we will make an appointment to meet.  At that meeting we will discuss what your business need is, what resources you have, and will work out a plan for the next steps, and determine a Business Relationship Goal (BRG).

 

Should you wish to proceed with our services, we will both sign a contract which among other things will commit to a relationship of trust, confidentiality and integrity.

 

The next step would normally be a gap analysis, where we conduct a Primary Site Survey (PSS) of your site to determine the difference between current state and BRG.  From the PSS you will receive a full report, which will include a summary of opportunities identified, a suggested plan of action, and a summary of priorties.

 

After you have received the PSS report and had a little time to review it, we will then agree the plan for action, and determine how to make those steps forward, so you can achieve your BRG.  How you wish us to be involved in that plan for action, is up to you.  For example, you may have your own administration staff to create documents, or you might wish us to do that for you, using our exisitng templates and databases.

 

One of our points of difference is that we work with you to achieve your BRG, and we can be with you every step of the way in a hands-on basis, or we can step back into a mentoring role....the choice is yours.

 

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How much does it cost?

Our charges are based on the following:

 

• The size of your business and the number of employees (for example, you may have multiple sites that require inclusion)

• The magnitude of the job, including the amount of research involved

• The complexity of the Business Relationship Goal (BRG)

• The ongoing potential of the Business Relationship

 

Additional but reasonable charges will be made for travel and accomodation, as required.  A lot of our work can be managed remotely, with regular scheduled site visits.

 

We can also offer discounts for regular customers.

Have a Question that we haven't answered?

 

Feel free to contact us.

What is 'Lean'?

Lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, or lean production, often simply, "Lean", is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources, for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer, to be wasteful and thus a target for elimination.

 

Working from the perspective of the customer who consumes a product or service, "value" is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for.

 

Essentially, lean is centered on preserving value with less work. Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS) (hence the term Toyotism is also prevalent) and identified as "Lean" only in the 1990s. TPS is renowned for its focus on reduction of the original Toyota Seven Wastes to improve overall customer value, but there are varying perspectives on how this is best achieved. The steady growth of Toyota, from a small company to the world's largest automaker, has focused attention on how it has achieved this success.