FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q. Our company has to match several different standards. How do you create one system to meet all of these? A. Our standard manuals have been designed around section titles in the index addressing all the pertinent subject topics in respect of which companies operating in the food sector routinely are expected to demonstrated 'due diligence', by both legislative requirements and customer expectations. These are then easily cross-referenced against the standards being sought by your company, with any further topics incorporated in the design stage. Q. How quickly can my computer get accreditation? My customer is threatening to withdraw his business. I need accreditation in order to bid for new business. A. A pre-audit assessment is required to determine the level of compliance at the outset of an accreditation project. This sets the criteria to be addressed during the project and an implementation chart can be drawn up, with periodic reviews during the project to keep events on track. Broadly speaking, BRC accreditation would take a minimum of 3 months, but up to 9 months, depending on the underlying degree of compliance at the start. Most of this time is to enable your company to build up auditable records for the accreditation assessor to inspect. Q. My company operates from several sites with very different cultures. How can a system be integrated to take account of this? A. One again, using the standard index referred to above and cross-referencing this against evidence of each topic on each site, will result in an implementation programme which ensures that site-individual cultures can largely be preserved whilst enabling each site to fulfil a group-standardised, indexed, Quality Management System. Q. What geographical area does TEQSAS cover? A. There are no specific geographical limitations within mainland Britain. TEQSAS is based in Hereford, but has carried out work as far away as Scotland and the Isle of White. We have also conducted projects abroad, notably in Morocco, Turkey and Spain. Q. My business is too small at the moment to justify the time and expense necessary to achieve accreditation, but I need accreditation to attract new business. How can you help to resolve this situation? A. The project can be set up in 2 parts - in the first instance putting down a development plan to ensure that all the standard practices (training, procedures, recording and internal auditing) are adequately addressed by existing staff and then moving into the second phase at a slightly increased pace. This allows your company to progress at a rate commensurate with client interest and ensures that when the business incentive to achieve accreditation manifests itself, your company is in a position to be able to grasp the opportunity. Q. How can you help me to computerise my existing system? A. All the manuals we routinely generate are electronically based and the systems themselves incorporate document change control mechanisms to ensure corrective action traceability. Further that this, we have an ongoing relationship with computer software companies which, should you require it, can enable your Quality Management System to be fully IT-based, to the extent that all paperwork transactions become electronic, with authority level controls. This computer element can be exact in modular format, so that it may be incorporated section by section, rather than piecemeal. Q. Who can I talk to about what you can do? A. Go to our Contact Us page and submit your details by email. We will then get in touch by telephone to discuss your area of interest. This initial telephone conversation is naturally free of charge and carries no obligation.