BPIF Praises Benson Group re ISO12647-2 Efforts

October 2010

The British Printing Industries Federation praises Benson Group as the world's first company to gain independent certification for the BPIF ISO12647-2 Certification Scheme

The British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) has offered its congratulations to Benson Group on becoming the world's first company to gain certification under the BPIF ISO12647-2 Scheme.

The BPIF is leading the development of a UK Certification scheme for ISO12647-2, knowing that as in earlier Quality and Environmental Standards, buyers will expect auditing and certification from UKAS accredited certification bodies. In response to such customer demands, a growing number of UK printing companies are working to this standard, but at present they cannot gain a certificate from a certification body accredited by UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) to evidence this. For this reason the BPIF engaged UKAS in discussions last year and at the same time set up a Working Group to develop scheme requirements. This was welcomed by UKAS and the Scheme requirements document was published in February (available from the BPIF philip.thompson@bpif.org.uk).

Working to meet the exacting standards of the BPIF Scheme and anticipating the requirements of UKAS, Benson Group has been certified by Print and Media Certification Ltd (PMC), the first certification body to audit against the BPIF Scheme using an approach set by international certification body standards.

Andrew Brown, Corporate Affairs Director at the BPIF added "We wish to congratulate Benson Group as the first company to meet the requirements of the BPIF ISO12647-2 Scheme in what will be a fast growing community of printers that know that this is the only clear and effective way to demonstrate not only that they can print to ISO12647-2 but crucially, that they have the systems in place to sustain that standard, and that it has been rigorously assessed by an accredited and independent third party. We also want to welcome the efforts of PMC to introduce certification of the BPIF Scheme rapidly in anticipation of the UKAS accreditation that will follow."

PMC Director Jon Stack said: "We are delighted to issue the first certificate for the BPIF ISO12647-2 scheme and to congratulate Benson Group on their achievement, and welcome the support we have received from BPIF for our audit scheme. We have developed an audit system for this scheme which is designed to meet the international standards for certification bodies, and this is the first time this has been attempted for ISO12647-2, as far as we know, in the world. The difference to other certifications for ISO12647-2 is that our approach is one of a third party, completely independent and impartial, with no conflicts of interest, and the accreditation we will be seeking from UKAS will demonstrate that this is the case. It is only through UKAS accredited certification that customers of the industry can have full confidence in the validity of a claim of ISO12647-2 compliance, when it is made to them by a printer or print manager."

Commenting on his company's award, Benson Group Managing Director, Mark Kerridge said: "We are of course delighted to be the first print-based business in the world to be awarded an independently assessed ISO12647-2 certification. Whilst the journey has taken us over two years, our team has learned a great deal about the whole process along the way. We have enjoyed working with the people from BPIF, and whilst it has been a long and challenging process, it has been one that has further raised the standards across our press room. It has provided a positive impact in many different areas of production, including job make-ready times, reduced wastage, consistency of colour, reduced press pass time, and an increased confidence when talking to customers about colour quality issues."

Adding further thoughts from Benson Group, Mike Owens, General Manager, said: "We have been particularly impressed with the overall consistency that ISO12647-2 has helped us to achieve. We have also been pleasantly surprised by the impact that it has had on certain areas of production: for example, we have seen a significant reduction in waste, which has an obvious environment benefit, as well as helping us to keep an ever tighter control over production costs. It has also had a positive impact on the time taken for a customer to approve a job whilst on press. As an excellent example of this, a recent customer visit resulted in 13 press passes in one single day; something that would simply not have been possible without the print quality focus provided by ISO12647-2. It helps to make sign-off a faster and more straightforward process when the customer is comparing the approved GMG produced proof to the actual on-press print."

The Path to BPIF Certification

Colour specialists Mellow Colour has worked with the Benson Group over the last two years implementing colour quality management systems and guiding the Benson Group Colour Team through the ISO12647 certification process. The Benson Group have consistently demonstrated their technical expertise to achieve Mellow Colour Proficient Printer status which acted as a perfect stepping stone to the independent BPIF Certification.

Alan Dresch of Mellow Colour has worked closely with the Benson Group production team and has been impressed with their focus and determination. Commenting on his experience on site with the company Alan Dresch said: "The Benson Group culture is testament to what they have achieved. Their commitment to colour quality has driven them to be the first certified printer in the UK, which will lead to improved print efficiency & customer satisfaction."

About Benson Group

Benson Group is one of the UK's leading privately owned printed carton suppliers, producing packaging product for both the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Headquarters are in Bardon, Leicestershire, where the company owns 130,000 sq ft of production and warehouse space. Benson Group achieves annual sales in excess of £93 million. Food manufacturers are the main customers at Bardon and for the company's two North East facilities in Newcastle and Gateshead. These two sites have a combined total of 200,000 sq ft of manufacturing and warehouse space. The fourth site in Crewe, Medica Packaging, serves pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. It has 73,000 sq ft of manufacturing, warehouse and office space. Since 2000, investment in new plant and equipment across the four sites totals in excess of £25 million.

Benson Group creates packaging for many well-known companies, brands and retailers. Key account clients across the Group include Northern Foods, Reckitt Benkiser, Greencore, Bakkavör, Samworth Brothers, and leading supermarket chains.

For further information on the Benson Group visit the www.bensongroup.co.uk web site.

Notes to Editors:

PMC is a UKAS accredited Certification Body No 257 and is accredited to perform certifications for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 for EA codes 7, Pulp, Paper and Paper products, Code 8, Publishing companies and Code 9, Printing Companies, and for website design and web hosting for ISO 9001. See www.ukas.com.
PMC is the only accredited UK certification body specialising in the paper, print, media and publishing industries
PMC has been accredited to ISO 17021:2006 "Conformity assessment- Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems". PMC's accreditation is internationally recognised through the multilateral arrangements of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).
Anyone who would like further information about PMC should contact Jon Stack on 0044(0)1827 64471, email on jon.stack@printcertification.co.uk, write to PMC at 86 Main Road, Wigginton, Tamworth, Staffordshire. B79 9DZ United Kingdom, or visit our website at www.printcertification.co.uk.

Press Information

For further information on Benson Group, its operations, or on packaging products or packaging issues please contact:

Russell J Hicks

Genesis Marketing Services (Milton Keynes)

29 Foxholes Close, Deanshanger, Northamptonshire MK19 6HA

Tel/Fax: 01908 260 662 Mobile: 07885 852 428

e-mail: Russ.Hicks@Genesis-Marketing.com