TMS CEE, as a company which this year marks 20 years of work, very well understands the needs of modern companies regarding standards.
The forerunner of today’s TMS CEE – TÜV Bayern Sava Representative Office Belgrade started working exactly two decades ago. From a small office with one employee, in 20 years they have become a company with 25 employees and over 2,000 satisfied clients. And the crown of this success is the appointment of the director of TMS CEE d.o.o. Belgrade of Boško Gavović as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Accreditation Body of Serbia.
You have been in this business for more than 20 years, in your opinion, how important is the application of standards in business, as well as the choice of a company that provides certification services?
Today, standards are the best way for a company to ensure its place in the market. It can be equally applied both to production or service-oriented organizations. What differs the companies in the way of applying the standards. Most successful companies are accepting the standards in a systematic and planned way. With standards, quick solutions lead to quick problems. Therefore, the choice of the supplier of the certification services can be considered as the strategic decision. TMS CEE, as a company which this year marks 20 years of work, very well understands the needs of modern companies regarding standards.
How developed is the awareness among companies in Serbia about the importance of applying standards in business?
In Serbia, companies are mostly aware of the standardization needs and there is a rather comprehensive process ongoing of adjusting the legislative with EU frame. It is a fact that Chapter 1 itself – Free movement of goods – in negotiations with the EU, deals with more than 80% of the total laws of a country! So, today, the companies in Serbia are exposed to the strictest requirements, not just of the New approach directives and regulations, but also to the other best practice or EU and international regulations and standards.
TMS CEE has a wide portfolio of services, tell us a bit more about it.
All said above maintains TMS CEE in a position to offer support to most of our clients using our “traditional” portfolio, comprising certification of management systems, certification of products and other services in industry and energy, CE mark, food safety, and others. When we are talking about CE mark, it is the legal requirement for all products which are covered by the homologous directive or regulation. But it is good to know that putting the CE mark on the product which is not relevant to the directive or regulation is an illegal act, susceptible to high fines. It is also the case for the products which is CE marked but do not fulfil the requirements of the legislation or standards. Therefore, we recommend to our clients that they take the process of CE marking very seriously and with enough resources, in order to get robust and sustainable technical solutions.
“Today, standards are the best way for a company to ensure its place in the market”
It is long known that the right application of standards not just increases the efficiency, quality and stability of the processes and products, but also elevates the value of a company.
You are dedicated to your own service development, what are the innovations that you have introduced, what is it that sets you apart from others?
The standardization follows the requests of the global trends of the modern economy: Circular Economy, Sustainability, Work-Life Balance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Bio-Diversity, Carbon-neutral production and others. The echo coming from the global market of New Millennium directed TMS CEE to the „new territory“ and we decided to make a step ahead from usual standards like ISO 9001 or other, to the advanced techniques and certifications – including the exclusive FFE (Family Friendly Enterprise) certification. FFE helps companies to achieve work-life balance and a positive experience for their employees, and thus to retain the best people.
Also, we became the Certification Institution (CI) for GSES system (www.gses-system.com ), as the first company from Eastern Europe and one of several in the world, to bring the objective assessment of the six pillars of Global Sustainability and to help companies to fulfil their Global Compact reporting faster and more economical. We developed also the range of Risk and Corporate Security services with the Faculty of Security, University of Belgrade. In a way, all those mentioned services diverse us from other certification bodies and gives us a USP, but also offer to companies in Serbia and Region new opportunities and ideas, enables wider competition, and finally – creates additional quality. The development of the Serbian economy in recent years and the number and quality of our clients for those services confirmed that this decision was in the right direction. There are also techniques and standards, like Lean Six Sigma, which enables organizations to achieve world-class efficiency, effectiveness and to raise economic effects.
How much is TMS CEE present in other markets, except Serbian?
Regarding internalization, TMS CEE is already present in other markets in the region including some of EU countries. TMS CEE is raising the client base out of the country with consideration, respecting all challenges and concentrated on a certain number of services. It can be said – slowly but surely. Nowadays the world of business, particularly in certification, simply encourages those who feel able to look over the national boundaries and borders and now the export of services represents more than a quarter in our revenue.
You recently spoke at the conference Why do SMEs need standards, what would you extract as a key message from that conference and from your presentation?
As said at the recent conference on standards for the SME sector, the biggest risk and challenge the managers to see today is that of the “red tape”. Especially for SMEs, it is practically not possible to possess all the functions that a modern company needs – for example, very few SME companies have the functions of Risk, Compliance, Corporate Security, CISO, Business Development or others.
“Our slogan is “TMS – Client Success” which obliges that we help with all resources that our clients became more successful”
The application of standards may be the optimal means to implement the vast majority of those complex functions, even with the limited human resources. Our slogan is “TMS – Client Success” which obliges that we help with all resources that our clients became more successful.
You have been in this business for many years, what are you most proud of so far and what are your plans for the future?
I would like to emphasize that by decision of the Government of Serbia I recently became a member of the Supervisory Board of the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS). This appointment coincides with the 20th anniversary of our company and represents bounden duty both to TMS CEE and myself. I see this honor as an extraordinary chance to be in a position to speak fairly about the advantages and usefulness of our mission as well as to promote a „world of quality“. Naturally, I would do that from the perspective of the profession and my personal experience lasting longer than two decades. But then again, I will be obliged to underline some other aspects of our business that need to face certain changes. We see the additional space for structural initiatives, even though corrections, that has to be for the benefit of our clients, our business and our community.