Situation 6 – Need new certificates to export? Don’t be discouraged.

In the exporting country there are other certificates, marks or criteria in circulation. For this reason your product is not conforming and cannot be exported. You want to export and it is very important to obtain these required documents.

Four tips to quickly obtain these documents:

• Start directly – today – with obtaining them.
• Get in touch with all the concerned organisms, in such a way that everything starts off simultaneously.
• Use the new requirements to improve your company and your products.
• Assure yourself that you are involved directly in this strategic company development. Keep close contact with the sales department.

On average only 5-25 % of the requirements are really new for the company. For this reason, it’s important to be discouraged for the certification. It’s possible that the borders of other exporting countries open themselves for your products.

So you can rapidly adapt your company and your product to the new requirements. Communicate clearly, implement the procedures. These will be audited during the certification process.

All this work can be done in advance, already during the negotiation process. Why not wait until the sale of the product and until its first production order is launched? It seems logic given the time, energy and money spent in the process. The advice however is to start because:

• An external audit can be necessary to obtain the certificate. It’s needed to find an external company and the audit needs to be ordered and planned. The certification bodies are generally reserved. If you desire a last minute audit there may be no availability and you will be confronted with a problem.
• The costs for a certificate are relatively low compared to the total development costs.
• If you initiate the process at the moment of the production order, you will probably arrive too late.
• A quick start shows enthusiasm and engagement.
• If you use the requirements to improve your organisation, this will be an investment in your company. It can be used as a continuous improvement project.
• If you need the certificate anyhow, than you will have it already 3-6 months earlier. Having it, you can use the freed time for other important questions.

Right to work, to speed up the export process. The sooner the certificate is achieved, the sooner you can start to deliver your new client.