Quality defence
Page 46
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• Ivan Chubbock (CM 6-12 Feb) questions the practicality of working within BS 5750 while continuing to offer a 24-hour recovery service.
Our company has full BS 5750 accreditation encompassing a sizeable breakdown, recovery and relay operation. We operate 24 hours every day, face all the problems your correspondent raises, yet our operating procedures successfully meet the standard in full.
BS 5750 is not an inflexible bureaucratic nightmare, it's a creditable means of measuring the quality of the service offered. It does impose disciplines, it does need hard work to reach it, and the early stages do create extra paperwork. The end result for our company has been independent verification of our quality standards for all our customers, greater job satisfaction and job security for our staff, and a far more efficient business than ever before — we've been in the motor trade for 64 years and always reckoned we were reasonably well organised! It's good news for us and for our customers.
Richard Soans Managing director, Soans & Son, Leamington Spa. Warks.
• I read with interest the letter from Ivan Chubbock of Thetford (CM 6-12 Feb) concerning BS 5750 and its relevance to his operational environment.
Every aspect of industry has its own demands according to the nature of the business and BS 5750 cannot begin to address each and every situation. Like any other British Standard it is a reference standard but is directed towards improving the management of the business through applying a set of principles that individual companies should adopt, according to the degree to which they are relevant.
BS 5750 is nothing more than common sense business management. Indeed most companies already apply to some degree these principles within their business activities. However, the standard brings together a basic organisation, structure and operational system discipline.
It does not matter within which industry a particular company operates — service or manufacturing — the principles remain the same. In the case of your reader the operational problems and demands he encounters are relevant to a given situation, but the systems and procedures for efficiency remain the same.
Mr Chubbock makes a most relevant point when he says there is no substitute for competition and the best man at his job wins. If managers understand the intent behind BS 5750 they will recognise that the standard is giving them the opportunity to minimise the potential for things to go wrong, thereby improving customer service levels, and to help increase the profitability of the business through reducing inefficiency and waste.
There is no reason for any company to seek certification to BS 5750 unless they wish to do so for marketing reasons or because of customer demands. However, for reasons of competitive advantage most choose to follow this course of action. JA Jubber
RHA quality assurance manager,
Weybridge, Surrey.
1/ You recently reported on the police investigation into the Mercedes-Benz dealer whose name is similar to ours (CM 30 Jan-5 Feb). It is, however, most unfortunate for us, as many people throughout the UK are assuming that it is us.
When I first learned of the demise of CG Whittaker I contacted Mercedes-Benz and, with their approval, put out a letter to all their dealers. Since then other commercial vehicle dealers have made the odd comment to me, so this is simply to make clear that we are not involved with CG Whittaker in any way. D Hardacre Managing Director, Whitarres, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs