Labour Fund initiates BD200,000 quality management system scheme for SMEs

Using the acknowledged expertise of 5 quality management consultants, 15 Bahraini SMEs will be inducted into a pilot programme called quality management system scheme which has been added as a complementary project under the LF's existing Enterprise Development Support (EDS).

The quality management scheme will be financed from the EDS budget since it contributes to its objectives of improving the private sector performance in the Kingdom.

The primary goal of the quality management scheme will be to raise the standard of corporate productivity and performance and enhance its competitiveness in the markets.

An agreement to conduct the pilot scheme and evaluate the progress and end-result was signed at the Elite Spa and Resort between the Labour Fund's Acting CE, Mr. Abdulellah Al Qassimi and the first batch of beneficiary companies which comprise of 8 SMEs.

"As we envisage it, the quality management scheme may include ISO Certification, Environment Management Systems (EMS), Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSAS), Food Safety (FSMS , HACCP , HALAL), and product specific certification (standard specific compliance)," explained Acting Chief Executive Mr. Abdulellah Al Qassimi.

"The BD200,000 pilot phase and initial research will aid in designing, validating and recalibrating a quality management business model, and provide a road map for the full implementation phase.

The research study will be followed up by the Labour Fund and and the EDS Agency Talal Abu Ghazaleh and Co. International.

The research study will help the LF to understand the potential impact of the quality management scheme on SMEs' business and efficiency improvements, quality and process improvements and ultimately customer satisfaction and retention which feeds growth and profitability of any business.

It will also evaluate the competence of the participating service providers in implementing quality management scheme to meet SME's needs and analyse the real needs and added value of international certification in the different management system programmes, study demand and supply, and the trends in local and regional market.

The Labour Fund will provide a grant up to 60% of the total fees which includes consultancy services, pre--assessment audit and certification fees for two years.

The co financing programme offers small businesses a maximum of BD10,000 and for medium-sized businesses, a maximum of BD15,000 in support.

"The pilot project consists of 15 companies - 5 small and 10 medium-sized enterprises, carefully selected to represent a wide spectrum of business sectors as well as different types of quality improvement certification.

Eight (8) Companies have currently been selected and there is still an opportunity for an additional seven (7) to be part of this quality management scheme pilot phase," said Mr. Al Qassimi,

"This means we have companies from the services, construction and manufacturing sectors in this pilot scheme which will run for between 4 to 9 months. The quality assessment phase will take a maximum of 2 to 4 man-days and the certification takes 6 to 9 weeks to be issued from the time that the awarding body recommends for the awards."

The overall assessment of the pilot phase will take into consideration the implementation of quality improvement activities in the participating companies and the final assessment report should be produced after the evaluation of at least 80% of the participating companies and 2 months after awarding the certification.

Once the pilot project is completed and evaluated, the LF plans to expand the main project to include 150 SMEs in the process, thereby helping to raise quality standards across the board for Bahraini SMEs.

"Quality is the main differentiator between good and poor practices and products, SMEs which are run by passionate entrepreneurs, are short of the required international certification that will give them the winning edge in the marketplace," observed the Labour Fund's Acting CE Abdulellah Al Qassimi, "Through the quality management scheme, we hope to empower the SMEs with yet another instrument to add value to their business and make them more competitive in the region and internationally."

The quality management scheme comes under the LF's ambitious Enterprise Development Scheme which seeks to assist and support SMEs in enhancing their productivity to enable them to develop and grow while providing high quality jobs to Bahrainis through providing access to world class consultation and training for upgrading business information systems, technology inputs and business growth and development.