UGANDA – Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has entreated Ugandan companies to implement Management Systems Certification to give their products and services a fair chance of competing locally, regionally and internationally.

Management Systems Certification (MSC) is a confirmation from an independent, competent, and accredited agency that the business adheres to the requirements of an internationally recognized quality management system standard.

The call was made by the UNBS Deputy Executive Director-Standards, Patricia Ejalu, during an online awareness workshop held to enlighten service providers, manufacturers, industry and all relevant stakeholders about the UNBS MSC services.

“Management Systems Certification gives you a step-by-step process from the raw materials to the end product to make sure the entire system is under control and your end product is not affected,” said Ejalu.

The certificate is valid for 3 years, but UNBS conducts an annual surveillance audit to ensure the set procedures, polices and processes are followed.

The voluntary certification has been incorporated in the day to day operations of only 50 companies in the country.

Vincent Kassozi, a Senior Certification Officer (SCO) at UNBS took participants through what it takes to get the MSC.

He noted that there are various Management Systems Certifications including but not limited to Quality Management System (QMS), Food Safety Management System (FSMS), Environment Management System (EMS), Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), Energy Management System (EnMS), Information Security Management System (ISMS) and management systems for private security company operations.

The SCO informed that implementing a Management System is different from Systems Certification. So, subsequent to implementation, companies ought to inquire about UNBS Systems Certification from the agency’s offices.

He highlighted that the MSC is not only for the giant companies but also for the Small and Medium Enterprises as it is affordable.

For a company to implement the certification, it must first obtain a copy of the relevant standard from the UNBS webstore, determine training needs, define and map the company’s processes.

“You also need to define your policy, define your objectives, define defects for every process. The companies must also develop documents and records as well as define processes to check system performance among others,” Kassozi stated.

MSC aids companies in achieving organizational goals, cutting on costly errors, improving customer satisfaction and markets the business more efficiently. Further, it assists in managing growth more effectively, improving documentation availability, product consistency and services and growing market share in new territories. 

The UNBS has in the past launched campaigns, policies and laws aimed at eliminating substandard products in the market.