Success
HPi-CEproof Ltd, a European [tooltip text=”An organisation licensed by the EU Commission to issue ‘CE’ certificates of conformity for one or more EU product Directives.”]Approved Body[/tooltip] for several European [tooltip text=”the Pressure Equipment (Safety) Regulations (PER), the Simple Pressure Vessels (Safety) Regulations (SPV) & the Recreational Craft Regulations (RCR)”]product directives[/tooltip], has more than doubled its turnover over the last 2 years: a time when other certification bodies have been closing down. Across the whole of EU the number of certifiers has dropPER dramatically. HPi now finds itself the only Recreational Craft Regulations Approved Body in the United Kingdom (an island nation of seafarers!) yet HPi has raised its market share across all its sectors, all over the world.
Efficiency
How has HPi managed to double its turnover in such difficult times? By concentrating on what it does best. The company began trading in 1996 but in 2010 changed ownership and promptly cut the number of services by 30%. With the focus now on the company’s strengths, management set about improving procedure so that the time of response was shorter and the overheads lower. One way of doing this is through partnerships.
Where some certifers proudly claim to have offices wherever you might be located, HPi would point to the cost associated with running a large number of offices – rent, employer’s legislation & taxes, human resource issues etc. Every certificate must pay for these overheads. Instead, HPi has chosen to partner with organisations around the world who can provide knowledgeable inspection staff on a project basis. (See the news item of the partnership with ABS Group, for example). This leaves HPi’s experts at HQ where they use their experience to review reports and make the decisions.
Furthermore, HPi project files remain the responsibility of a single member of staff, ensuring clients have a single point of contact with whom they can build a relationship. There is no need for local inspectors to say “I’ll have to ask HQ” or for anyone to say “I don’t do electrics. That’s another department/office”. Clients deal with the top decision maker at HQ directly and can discuss any concerns or ideas for future development and come away with an immediate resolution.
This level of service is valued by all. In recent months HPi’s new clients have included blue-chip organisations such as GE and Fairline as well as individuals making model steam trains and small boats in their garden sheds. It has also brought clients with particularly innovative products that need close dialogue with their certifier’s decision makers. Gibbs Sports Amphibians Inc (photo above) is a leading example.
Combating Fraudulent Certificates
One of the frustrating aspects of being a respected certification body is that the greater the level of respect, the more people want to make fake certificates. Not only do the fakes threaten to undermine the status of the certifier and annoy manufacturers who compete with the forgers, but a great deal of time is wasted answering calls to confirm the authenticity of certificates. In response to this challenge, HPi has just launched its new-look certificates. As well as using a complex background graphic, HPi is the first certification body to print a unique QR code on each certificate. Anyone presented with a HPi certificate can use their smartphone to scan the code and within a couple of seconds, they will be connected to the HPi servers and see an image of the original certificate. Thus they can verify the authenticity of the certificate they hold in their hands. Alternatively the certificate number can be entered on the HPi website to view the same certificate image.
HPi has invested in cutting edge technology to generate the certificates and handle the uploading to servers so that HPi staff can spend their time making technical decisions on their customer’s projects rather than pushing around paperwork. With this level of efficiency, even the company owner is free to spend 85% of his time on project work. Thus the management overhead and chains of command are as small as possible. This results in exceptionally rapid turn-around times at a low price. Client feed-back in recent months is showing astonishment and delight with HPi’s services.
To be a part of the growth, contact HPi-CEproof.
