External Consultants Fees/Timing - 9K:2K Transition

[mjohnson]

Would anyone be willing to share "ballpark" figures on the following?

„« External Consultant hourly rates
„« Estimated Consultant time requirements, through certification
„« Estimated time too site certification (I understand this is specific to the individual organization¡Kjust looking for any personal experience).

Company

180 person specialty chemical manufacturing company in the northeast (USA). Company is currently certified to the 94 standard.

This is for a quick and dirty budget proposal.

As always¡Kany feedback is greatly appreciated.

marc

 

[Tim Douty]

9K:2K Transition

I can give you information on my experience. We did not get serious about certification until January 2002. We were just certified ISO 9001:2000 in late November 2002. We had not been previously certified. We used no consultant. Two individuals had taken an Implementation course, and four took the Lead Auditor Course. We did opt for the Preassessment Audit which I seriuosly recommend. Overall costs for training & certification 20K. Since your company is already certified 94, you should be in that ball park. I hope this helps!

 

[mike101338]

In the midwest, external consultant costs are approximately 1000 per day on your site. This could be for a gap analysis or for internal auditor training for a group of ten. They will adjust the fees to make certain they attain about this level.

As far as consultant time required, check with your current registrar and check their practice for company transition. Our registrar is performing a preassessment audit along with our next survelience audit. It will take a half day, instead of the normal full day. They will let us know what areas we need to address prior to our audit for the 2000 standard. If your auditor has a good grasp of your system he/she might be able to tell you now what areas they feel will need the most attention.

The length of time for certification is dependant on how your current system is running. The major change is the process approach. If you are currently operating under a system somewhat close to this, then the change is rather easy. If this will be a new managment style to your company, then I would think it will take you 3-6 months to decide which areas you need to implement this process and generate the needed records to prove you have a system in place and it is effective.

 

[mjohnson]

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[tomvehoski]

For basic upgrade assistance I would estimate:

1/2 to 1 day document review
2 day baseline/gap assessment
1 or 2 day internal auditor training (depends on your current auditor qualifications and your preferences for training)
2 to 4 days of workshops to upgrade systems
1 day readiness review
2 or 3 days on-site registration audit assistance, if desired.

If you system is in good shape and well implemented, time will be less. If it is not in good shape, it will probaby take longer. We are about $1000 per day / $125 per hour, so $8K to $12K would be a good ballpark (excluding travel, expenses, etc.), depending on how much help you want.

Tom