Concrete Canvas Ltd

"Having ISO 9001 certification has opened up new global markets for our products so it makes commercial sense. It also fitted into the management systems we already had in place and all employees in the company network can access it.

"Implementing it was easier than I expected. My experience of implementing ISO 9001 at a previous company was a much more difficult process, so when Concrete Canvas made the decision to go for certification, I had a lot of worries.

"From the first meeting with our Equas consultant, Mark Pendleton, I could see he had the experience to get us to where we needed to be. He was superb, probably one of the best people I have ever collaborated with on a project."

Marcin Kujawski, Quality and Technical Manager

The company

Established in 2005, Concrete Canvas developed and manufactures a flexible concrete impregnated fabric that hardens on hydration to form a thin, durable, waterproof and fire-resistant concrete layer. Essentially it is concrete on a roll, widely used in construction as a liner protecting surfaces from deterioration and weathering erosion. It is quick to install, environmentally friendly, highly durable and reduces overall project costs.

The company also manufactures Concrete Canvas Shelters: rapidly deployable hardened shelters requiring only air and water to construct, ready for use in 24 hours.

The technology has won a string of awards, including the Queen's Award for Innovation in 2014.

The challenge

Named by The Times in its Best of British Manufacturing league, Concrete Canvas had grown into a business turning over more than £5 million, with around 85% of sales from exports.

The company had considered ISO 9001 for some time, but customers had not been demanding it as a prerequisite. The trigger came when Concrete Canvas targeted a potential key customer in Brazil, for whom ISO 9001 certification was non-negotiable and mandatory for any supplier.

The approach

Having operated for ten years, the company already had systems and procedures that had served it well, based around a Microsoft Office and Windows environment. Mark Pendleton judged that the existing systems could be upgraded rather than replaced.

The company opted for a full system build, but Marcin wanted to be fully involved in implementation and proved highly competent, with Mark offering support, advice and guidance.

Once the files were cleaned, updated and documented, they were migrated across along with a number of new processes. All management-related documents were now in one place and easy to access, saving a great deal of time.

The benefits

With new schedules and logs, Concrete Canvas can track how the business is performing in real time. It also has longer-term visibility of production requirements to meet customer orders, and flags tasks that need doing.

As the company continues to open new markets, ISO 9001 certification remains an important factor in winning new business.