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Program for Increasing Competitiveness

Program definition

The program aims to achieve conformity with the standards and requirements of product quality, and the requirements of international market standards, through a package of services that lead to improving final product quality, and ensuring compatibility with international standards. It also contributes to increasing market share and achieving diversity in production by providing expertise necessary to develop existing and new products.

Program goals

  • Compliance with product standards, and requirements of international current and new markets.
  • Increasing the "domestic / international" market share by identifying and new sales channels.ا
  • Product diversification by providing technical expertise for existing and new product development.
  • Capacity and skill building in the areas of administration, human resources, quality, production and marketing.

Beneficiary companies eligibility criteria

  • The company should have a competitive product in one of the promising industrial sectors
  • The company should be in compliance with the basic quality principles
  • The company has an administrative structure that covers basic functions
  • The company has production capacity

 
 
 
 
 
 

Program Services

  • Management
  • Human resources
  • Marketing
  • Product conformity
  • Quality

Management Services

Business Strategic Planning

A “Strategy” is a group of procedures that define what the industrial enterprise does, where and how it can compete. Therefore, a service has been developed focusing on strategic planning for industrial enterprises by studying the industrial enterprise current internal situation; determining its general goals, and then developing a long-term strategic plan based on the current situation and the resources it possesses to achieve these goals.

Balance Scorecard service

The balance scorecard is a performance measure used in strategic management to identify and improve various internal functions of a business and its external results. It is also used to measure and provide observations for industrial enterprises. The service relies on collecting data in a correct manner to provide quantitative results that help make better decisions for the industrial enterprise, in order to achieve the the industrial facility strategic vision.

Operations re-engineering

Operation re-engineering service is a comprehensive review carried out by the industrial facility to analyze and design work flows within the facility, and to restructure the methods used to improve customer service, reduce operating costs and time and eliminate non-value activities. The service rests on establishing structural organizations and separate functional units, and reviewing all activities carried out by the facility, thus reformulating its performance in order to achieve increased competitiveness and improve quality.

Business Social Compliance Initiative Certification

Social compliance is an ongoing process in which organizations strive to protect health, safety and rights of their employees, society and environment, and the lives and communities of workers in their supply and distribution chains.

The service focuses on helping industrial enterprises apply modern systems in managing hazardous wastes to ensure workers and environment safety. It implies the application of auditing processes by independent, internationally recognized companies to follow the procedures of dealing with chemical products and means to properly dispose of them, in addition to managing emissions and liquid waste, in a way that achieves the concept of social compliance by industrial enterprises towards employees’ health and safety.

Sourcing Strategy

This service focuses on managing the relationship between an industrial enterprise and available sources and suppliers database. It helps the facility provide a segment of the lowest total cost sources and suppliers, and to develop successful cooperation strategies to improve procurement processes in general. This is achieved by defining the company's objectives, analyzing internal spending, and applying E-procurement systems and other powerful tools within general product sourcing methods.

Human Resources

HR development service

This service is designed to provide managers with advice realting to employees and means of achieving company’s goals. It focuses on turning employees into resources from which the company benefits, through securing necessary tools. Such tools help manage employees in a strategic manner, including job descriptions, building an administrative structure for the company, establishing a system for indemnification and benefits, improving employees’ performance measurement, and salary adjustment. This is in addition to assessing training needs and training plan, resulting in employees’ productivity improvement, utilization of untapped human resources, controlling recruitment and training costs, and putting and end to staff turnover.

Marketing services

Integrated marketing strategy

An integrated marketing strategy includes means to build or improve the overall image of the beneficiary company and the stages needed to place the product in the market. It also helps determine advertising and promotion strategies, marketing costs, competitor analysis, market share and existing markets performance, commercial pricing strategy, sales forecasts, and strategic objectives of marketing and regional sales, pricing policy, support, after-sales services and customer service development.

Branding

The branding service aims to develop highly effective marketing plans to create a good image in consumers’ perception of the brand and thus of the company itself. Marketing plans provided by the service are determined through a deep understanding of the consumer and the market that the brand is targeting. The service works through 4 main stages: (1) developing a branding strategy; (2) company identity; (3) graphic design; and (4) setting up a brand management system, that ensures preservation of the quality, value and trust that consumers find in the company.

The product and understanding the nature of consumer groups, which leads to stimulating the sales movement and increasing the revenues of the industrial establishment.

Advertising material development and Design service

This service focuses on advertising material design, being a key marketing tool. It includes any of the marketing communications in use to notify or convince consumers with the benefits of any product, service or brand. The service offers a company with a full design of printed materials, advertising publications, catalogues, and signs that a company needs for fairs and other events. This helps raise awareness of the brand, increase clients’ traffic, as well as availing company or product information.

Internet website design and development

The service aims to create and design a website for the customer on the Internet, in a way that is consistent with the product offered by the company. This would help achieve the company’s marketing objectives and provides more credibility. The website also displays the company’s contact details, most important achievements and information about its brand. Under this service, an integrated plan for the project is developed and the system is chosen, the home page of the site is identified, as well as browsing layout, choosing the page shape and content in line with the nature of the company, in addition to site testing, and method of publication and updates.

Product conformity and standards services

Product conformity certification service

It is a mechanism by which a certification body certifies that it has tested and inspected the products, and concludes that the products as a whole adhere to specific requirements, usually included in one of the standard specifications, in order to grant a certificate that is affixed to the product by the company. The process includes product evaluation, and may also include an evaluation of manufacturing processes on a preliminary or ongoing basis. This service helps the industrial facility build its reputation and expand its market share or penetrate new markets. In some countries, product certification marks are evidence of compliance with technical regulations or mandatory standards.

Marks certification examples

  • GS – Germany
  • VDE – Germany
  • UL – USA
  • ASME – USA
  • KEMA - Netherlands

Quality services

BRC Mark

It is the international food safety standard issued by the British Retail Consortium. It is based on the Global Food Safety Initiative standards. The standard has been developed by experts in the food industry from retailers and manufacturers to ensure a strict, detailed, and easy-to-understand specification at the same time. This standard provides a framework for managing product safety, integrity, legality and quality standards, as well as imposes operational controls for these standards in food processing, production inputs and packaging.

The beneficiary company would benefit as follows:

  • A food product of internationally recognized quality and safety
  • Reducing supply chain reviews
  • A system that supports compliance with laws and regulations

BRC – Printing, packaging and wrapping material standard

Wrapping is an essential part of any brand as it determines the safety and security of the product. It depends on innovation in presentation and offer manner. This standard is considered the first global standard, recognized by the World Food Initiative. For all types of products - from food to consumer products - at all levels, the service provides industrial facilities with an internationally recognized certificate confirming the application of health risk and food safety control system.

CE Mark

The CE Mark is a regulatory tool used by the European Union to determine which products meet all the requirements of a specific directive from the new European Union Directives; that is the technical regulation issued by the European Union. The procedure for marking conformity on a product is a declaration issued by the manufacturer that the product complies with the basic requirements of European legislations related to health, safety and environmental protection.

The service includes defining the applicable directives and standards, verifying product requirements and determining whether it is necessary to conduct an independent conformity assessment by a special certification body, according to which the customer obtains the right to trade products bearing CE marks in Europe. The consumer enjoys the same level of health, safety and protection of the environment across Europe.

FSC/PEFC

A standard that belongs to the World Forest Council or "World Forest Program", aiming to preserve forests and reduce deforestation. The service grants FSC certification. It is a process by which the wood source used in industry is verified against conformity to the standard specifications for sound environmental management, beneficial and economically feasible management for society. This standard is applied to wood products, paper and paper products. Under this service, wood is tracked through the supply chain to the final product so that consumers buy sustainably harvested wood rather than other means that may contribute to deforestation.

FSSC 22000

A system for managing food safety designed to provide food processing companies with food safety systems based on ISO 22000 and recognized by GFSI.

GFSI accreditation represents recognition and acceptance worldwide by producers of food products and retailers. The FSSC 22000 system also sets out the requirements of integrated operations to control the risks associated with food safety.

The FSSC 22000 system uses a management systems approach for food safety, through using the Food Safety Management System (ISO 22000) and industry-specific prerequisite software.

Basic requirements are those programs and practices put in place to improve the production environment in order to obtain safe food products and control any contaminants within the work environment.

Global GAP

It is a standard developed by key European retailers. It is designed mainly to reassure consumers that food is produced on farms that limit the harmful effects of their operations on the environment by minimizing the use of chemicals and ensuring the health and safety of workers, in addition to animal care. The service awards certification for agricultural products, including fresh products and flowers.

The service includes conducting gap analysis and assessing the current situation in accordance with the requirements of the standard, identifying the needs and expectations of the company, holding training courses to raise awareness of the standard, conducting internal auditing and following up on non-conformities, conducting external audit, and obtaining the certificate.

GOTS

The Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS) is an ongoing system for monitoring quality and granting xertificatation for materials from farm to product display.

These standards rely on full criteria of the supply chain, starting from raw material, to putting the cards on products, to socially and envonmentally responsible manufacturing. These standards apply to fibers, yarns, textiles and garments. They include production, preparation, manufacturing, packaging, wrapping, putting cards, exporting and importing all natural fiber products.

GOTS includes detailed social standards for employment and work environment, as well as requirements for wastewater treatment. GOTS certificates are granted for natural fibers and do not apply to synthetic fibers.

IATF 16949

It is the international standard for automobile manufacturing sector and was issued by the (IATF) organization. The standard specifies basic quality system requirements for automobile feeding industries and represents a strong approach to customers with the integration of customers ’requirements for cars. The service includes gap analysis, audit and corrective actions, external audit, then certification.

ISO 9001-2015

ISO 9001 is a standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system. It helps companies and institutions to be more efficient in improving customer satisfaction. It is a method for determining how to meet customers’ requirements. ISO 9001 system is based on the idea of continuous improvement. The service includes conducting a gap analysis and assessing the current situation in accordance with the requirements of the standard, determining company's needs and expectations, conducting training courses to raise awareness of the standard, establishing a management system including "policies, manuals, processes, etc.", conducting internal audits, following up on non-conformities, conducting external audits, and certification.

ISO 17025

General requirements of Calibration and Inspection Labs

ISO 17025 is the international reference for testing and calibration laboratories seeking to demonstrate their ability to provide reliable results. Any organization performing tests, sampling or calibration and wants to obtain reliable results, benefits from this standard.This service includes conducting gap analysis, applying audit and corrective actions, conducting an external audit, then certification.

ISO 17025 certification enables laboratories to prove efficiency of their work and validity of their test results, which enhances confidence in their work at the national and global levels. It allows acceptance of test reports and certificates from one country to another without the need for further tests, which in turn leads to improved international trade.

ISO 22000

It is a service that is implemented through a set of steps that end with the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System certification. It is a system that monitors food chains and ensures safety at all stages, where food safety is linked to the presence of risks at the time of consumption. These risks can occur at any stage of the food chain, so adequate control throughout the food chain is essential. Ensuring food safety is a joint effort of all parties in the food chain. The service includes conducting a gap analysis, assessing the current situation, determining the needs and expectations of the company, and then conducting the required audits until certification.

ISO 45001

Occupational Health and Safety

It is an international standard specifying the requirements of an occupational safety and health management system to enable an organization to proactively improve its occupational safety and health performance in preventing injury and disease. The standard can be applied to any organization, regardless of its size, type and nature. The standard aims to integrate all its requirements into the organization’s operations management system.

Under this service, a beneficiary industrial company obtains the Occupational Health and Safety Management System Certificate. ISO 45001 enables industrial companies to improve their performance of the occupational safety and health system through:

  • Developing and implementing occupational health and safety policy and objectives.
  • Establishing systematic processes that take into account risks, opportunities and legal requirements.
  • Determining and removing risks associated with the activities of the company, or put controls in place to reduce their potential effects.
  • Establishing operating controls to manage safety and health risks and their legal and other requirements.
  • Increasing awareness of the risks related to occupational safety and health.
  • Evaluating occupational safety and health performance and seeking to improve it by taking appropriate measures.
  • Ensuring that workers play an active role in issues of occupational safety and health.

ISO 13485

Quality Management System – Medical Devices

It is a service that grants a beneficiary industrial company the ISO 13485 certificate through a set of steps undertaken by specialized experts. It is an international standard that determines the requirements for a quality management system for medical device industry, designed to be used by a company throughout the life cycle of the medical device, from the initial concept to production and beyond production, including final disposal. The standard also covers aspects such as storage, distribution, installation, service, and associated services.

ISO 13485 helps companies participating in any part of the medical device's life cycle to:

  • Comply with regulatory and legal requirements.
  • Ensure the establishment of quality management practices that consistently produce safe and effective medical devices.
  • Manage risks effectively.
  • Improve processes and competencies as necessary.
  • Aquire a competitive advantage.

LEAF Mark

This Mark implies an environmental assurance system for sustainable farm products. This system is based on the principles of Integrated Farm Management (IFM), which is a business approach that ensures the application of sustainable agriculture, including organization and planning, soil management and fertility, crop health, protection and pollution control and management of by-products, as well as ensuring correct methods of animal husbandry to allow production of high quality food at reasonable prices through more sustainable farming methods, saving additional costs and income and availing new market opportunities.

WRAP

WRAP aims to encourage and adopt legal, humane and ethical manufacturing in the sectors producing clothes, shoes and other sewn products. It also includes other industries with high labor intensity, such as hotel and construction sectors, and those that produce jewelry, furniture, food, and tableware, glassware, carpets, rugs, lamps and other products all over the world.

It is implemented through 12 principles based on the job site generally accepted international standards, and on local laws and workplace regulations. It also includes human resources management, health and safety, environmental practices, and compliance with the law, including compliance with import, export and customs regulations, and security standards.

Program figures