In 2004, PDP Australia Pty Ltd and StanCert Pty Ltd. formed a strategic association for the AusAID-funded Strengthening ASEAN Standards and Conformity Assessment Systems Project and Extension Phase - the goal of which was to increase the capacity of ASEAN member economies to engage in better inter-ASEAN and international trade. Over the last 4 years, through this and other activities, our association has established itself as a highly successful and internationally respected cohesive solutions provider for the development assistance community, where we have been involved in the successful planning and implementation of capacity building activities in ASEAN economies.
Based on the mutual principles of expedient responsiveness' to client needs and focused delivery of excellent tailor-made solutions, a dynamic partnership exists between our respective organisations and PDP looks forward to our continued collaboration with Stancert in the future.
The technical assistance programmes offered by StanCert have been extremely beneficial to all the participants. The programmes were very well structured to meet the defined goals and objectives. The selection of presenters should also be highly lauded as they were not only experts in their respective fields who expressed themselves with great clarity but were also good organizers who were able to manage the running of the project smoothly.
StanCert has been critical to the foundation and development of the Society for Knowledge Economics, providing leadership skills in network building, governance and, more generally, managing a start-up organisation. StanCert has also managed projects on behalf of the Society for Knowledge Economics and excelled at identifying opportunities to business resulting from emerging trends in the Australia Knowledge Economy. StanCert brings to bear rigour in process and method, has a great capacity for flexible and innovative thinking, and for managing projects with business impacts.
Westpac engaged StanCert to research a series of value pools and business opportunities arising over the next 5 to 10 years. The Team at StanCert provided us with a professional and insightful outcome that added considerable value to the project outcome.
With the growth of our company, representation of the world's largest brands and our constant interaction with children and entertainment services, we needed to ensure that our systems and products were compliant with Australian laws and applicable Australian Standards. StanCert assisted us with our compliance programs from start to finish and we are very comfortable with our systems following StanCert's thorough approach to system compliance.
I have worked with Mark Bezzina since 2006 to help develop the Products Safety Framework (PSF), a new horizontal system for developing standards. It was initially proposed by the Infants and Nursery Association of Australia, but required considerable development and validation before it could be readily applied. When this project first commenced Mark held a senior position at Standards Australia with the responsibility to oversee the PSF development and transform it into a useable guideline that they could published. Shortly after this project commenced Mark left Standards Australia to establish StanCert Pty Ltd, a consultancy company, to pursue this and other other business opportunities utilizing his skills in corporate governance, risk management and a number of other related areas. Mark was chair of the Infants and Nursery Product Safety Reference Group which was set up to oversee the final development and pilot testing phases of the PSF. This will culminate in May 2008 when the results of the pilot trialing and development of the PSF will be discussed at a forum hosted by Standards Australia. Mark's contributions ensured this project came to fruition and within the very tight time frame. This was a challenging achievement, considering the many diverse groups involved and the complex nature of the user trials that had to be organized and analysed. Those involved in the development hope that the PSF will prove to be a valuable tool to help ensure safer children's products are designed and manufactured for the Australian market. This in part will be a result of Marks enthusiasm and commitment, plus the excellent managerial and technical skills he brought to this project..
MicroHeat Standards Compliance Requirement
MicroHeat™® platform technology relates to an innovative and highly efficient method of accurately, dynamically and cost effectively controlling the heating of flowing fluid. The immediate application is the heating of water for domestic and industrial use. The range of products currently being developed, which uses this technology, will be sold into international markets. The novel method of control used has never been previously applied in this instance, and as such the method of control had to be tested against existing electrical safety standards and regulations.
In our quest for an experienced, locally available consultancy to deliver an internationally acceptable, robust and credible analysis of our technology application in specific relation to electrical safety standards, MicroHeat contracted the services of StanCert. StanCert were able to effectively analyse the control system from both an electrical and mechanical aspect, and were able to quickly and efficiently report on the application's electrical safety standard appropriateness. The expedient way StanCert delivered accurate and reliable information facilitated the sign off of important production development milestones. This in turn allowed MicroHeat to meet the stringent development deadlines imposed. The importance of meeting these deadlines must be strongly emphasised, without which the development could not have progressed. The professional and competent service StanCert provided is acknowledged as being key to MicroHeat's ability to deliver on its product development obligations.
StanCert provides high level strategic consulting services that provide a solid basis for companies establishing infrastructure that allows long term sustainable growth. Project management skills are highly refined and problem solving is one of StanCert's greatest attributes. With a business environment that is increasingly requiring greater attention to compliance and risk management principles, the need to access companies such as StanCert has never been more important. The company is well versed in applying a leading edge standards culture that is based around world's best practice which give companies significant competitive advantage.
At The Wiggles, we place a high degree of importance on achieving high standards and maintaining consumer confidence. StanCert has helped us manage work related to product safety and compliance with respect to licensed product. Their unique knowledge and expertise in this area has made them a valuable partner to work with, and has minimized our exposure to risk. The delivery of their work is professional, on time, and on budget.
Through the development of our first Wiggles indoor playground, The Wiggly Play Centre, StanCert assisted in the development of our policies and procedures manual. The manual was not only of the highest quality with attention to detail, but it was also extremely easy for our staff to follow and adopt. Working with StanCert has been an absolute pleasure. For these reasons, we continue to work closely with StanCert.
Standards Australia has a long and successful history of engagement with StanCert and its Managing Director, Mark Bezzina. We continue to rely on Mark to represent Australia in critical areas and on his company to deliver the most important, high profile and cutting edge advice, projects, forums and events. StanCert not only delivers consistently but regularly exceeds expectations.
I have worked with StanCert several times over the years, both as a customer and a collaborator. I have the highest regard for their services. StanCert is focussed on getting the job done, well and on time. If there are obstacles in the way, they find ways to fix them - StanCert has never failed to deliver a result I was pleased with. I will continue to use StanCert's services because they deliver.
We at the Insurance Australia Group (IAG) have been involved in the residential electronic security market for over a decade, providing installation and monitoring services through our branded security businesses - NRMA Home Security operates in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland, SGIC in South Australia and SGIO in Western Australia. Recently, we have undertaken a major project aimed at offering our customers not only more competitively-priced alarm products, but also differentiated and enhanced monitoring services - which we now provide from our new in-house monitoring facility. As a result, we engaged the services of StanCert, which was instrumental in helping us achieve official certification and appropriate industry grading for our monitoring station. In fact, StanCert is continuing to assist IAG gain broad industry and community support for our new monitoring services and concepts. To this end, StanCert's knowledge and expertise in the provision of strategic standards advice, is proving invaluable.
StanCert helped our organisation identify and crystallise its thoughts and approaches to some tough stakeholder relationship issues. StanCert also convened a workshop focused on stakeholder relations. The workshop was efficiently run, highly productive, and helped to not only unify our approach, but to afford staff a view of company strategy beyond their particular fields of expertise.
Last week I attended a risk workshop facilitated by Mark and it was fantastic - well planned and well run. Working with a complex subject matter and a room full of opinionated "experts," Mark navigated the group through the international context of risk management in a way that enabled us to achieve the workshop's aims (and have a bit of fun at the same time). Thanks Mark!
The StanCert Product Safety training was very informative and provided practical information on how to develop and implement a best practice product safety management system.··The hands on activities allowed me to put the requirements into practice and clearly understand the relevance to our industry.
Mark Bezzina is the most knowledgeable product safety and compliance advisor I have ever spoken with. He has a wealth of information in the product safety and risk assessment/management areas.
The whole course was very interesting and made the new Australian Consumer Law section on product safety much clearer for me. I’ve already used some of the knowledge I learnt in the following days after returning to work and was able to confidently put information forward to the business knowing that it was correct. I enjoyed the group exercises and meeting other people in the same industry that going forward we can help each other out, ripping apart the toys and clothing was a great way to end the 2nd day as well! Highly recommended and well worth it!
Attending the Introduction to Product Safety and Compliance and Intermediate Product Risk Assessment courses with Mark Bezzina was extremely beneficial.··There was a good balance of information (theory) coupled with practical activities which helped enforce what was covered.··Mark’s knowledge on a vast range of subjects was also very helpful.··I really enjoyed the experience and the ability to meet other people in similar roles, the sharing of knowledge was also a great highlight of the two days.··I would definitely recommend that people attend these courses especially with the changes that came into effect on the 1st of January 2011. I look forward to sharing this information within my organisation.
