At the beginning of last year, most certifying units operating in Poland recorded one of the highest ever increases in the number of issued certificates. Representatives of the certifying bodies said at that time that the boom would continue. They were right.

The optimistic mood continues in the Polish certification sector.
Even economic stagnation has failed to shake this optimism. The figures speak for themselves. The growth rate in the number of quality certificates issued in Poland continues to be high. The trend is especially strong in the case of units which, apart from a great number of issued certificates, also noted high sales values. These include RW TUV (zl.6.3 million), TUV Rheinland/Zetom Polska (zl.5.9 million) and the Polish Center for Testing and Certification (PCBC-zl.5.3 million). Certifying bodies such as Det Norske Veritas show that in times of recession it is necessary to keep up with the competition. Generally speaking, it seems that most certifying units recorded sales increases last year. The activity of individual units gives grounds to believe that this year will also be quite favorable.

Integration

Interest in the certification of management systems complying with the ISO 9000 quality assurance standards continues to be high. This was not undermined by the rise in the number of implemented systems consistent with the environmental standards EN-ISO 14001, HACCP (work safety) and QS 9000 and TS 16949 (motor industry). As data provided by the units show, Polish enterprises are increasingly interested in integrated certificates. This form of certificate means more effective design and implementation of methods and organizational procedures aimed at adjusting a company to EU requirements. The Polish certification business seems to be moving in this direction. In our statistics, such certificates as HACCP or PN 18001 are included in the category "others." They usually make up part of systems integrated with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. However, quality management systems combined with environmental management systems are the most popular integrated systems in Poland.

Major activity

In 2001, small and medium-sized enterprises dominated among those applying for certification. The share of large organizations was on the decrease. The same trend has continued this year. This is not surprising, as practically all large companies already obtained their certificates quite a long time ago. This, in turn, does not mean that certifying units will no longer be competing for the large and financially most attractive customers. The latter are increasingly fussy these days and after three years, when their certificate expires and has to be reissued, tend to choose services offered by the competition. Suffice to say that around 300 companies in Poland have for some reason discontinued cooperation with their partners. This is quite a lot and, however you look at it, the figure reflects major activity in the group of enterprises which are well aware of what a quality certificate is.

What the certifying units have to take into consideration is that they will increasingly have to cooperate with mature customers. What could this mean for them? First, they should be aware that they face the threat of losing customers, to the competition. Second, they have to realize that a customer who receives an outmoded and unprofessional service may leave. In this situation, the market begins to shrink. The United Kingdom, where there is a strong trend now on the part of companies to give up certificates, is a good example. The reason is simple-the certifying units are unable to meet the companies' expectations.

Stay cool

For the time being Polish certifying units do not need to worry about "the British wave" in the market. The number of immature customers is still large, which means that the boom in the Polish certification market will continue for some time. It is widely known that the market is still far from saturated. In line with last year's forecasts made by certifying unit representatives, 2001 was dominated by service companies. This trend has continued in 2002. It is already evident that, apart from commercial services, the public sector-city administration, county administration, labor offices, state-run university-level schools and even police headquarters-has displayed growing interest in quality management.

Wojciech Surmacz
The author is a journalist with Puls Biznesu