With Ecert on the road to success

ICS – International Certification Services – located in North Dakota (USA) is one of the pioneers of the North American organic inspection scene.

ICS certifies to numerous national and international standards, requiring extensive documentation work. This leads to a flood of data - detailed production plans, inspection checklists, protocols, transaction documents and correspondence with clients and authorities, etc.

Within the next few years ICS plans to continue their growth by extending the range of services offered to clients. At the same time ICS wants to offer non-bureaucratic services to the client. To do this the use of the Internet needs to be intensified and it will need to play an important role in the relationship between the client and ICS.

Realisation

Even after just a few days after the start of the Ecert implementation period ICS could use most of the functions of the software. In addition to the uniform capturing of livestock, crop and product data with the aid of “trees”, all other data relevant for the inspection and certification process is now archived in Ecert. ICS can even document any kind of input used in the production. Certificates issued for the certified clients are created almost automatically and are stored in a central place.

One major benefits of Ecert for ICS is the ability to manage document templates. As the software communicates directly with Microsoft Word, all letters, information material, sanction letters, reports and many other documents can be equipped with data from Ecert, created and then sent out. All this takes place directly within the software, without having to dispense with practical functions of Microsoft Office.
After a document is sent out it is automatically saved in the client’s individual correspondence section and is then accessible to any authorised person. Complicated copying and pasting from and to various systems is no longer necessary as data is directly taken from the database.

Even the ICS sales department uses Ecert. With the invoicing tool and a list of pre-defined billing rates, cost estimates are created within minutes and sent out to potential clients directly from the Ecert correspondence section.

Within the next few months ICS will expand its services available on the Internet.

Robert Simmons, Managing Director:
"ICS intends to aggressively increase its positive impact on organic and sustainable agriculture.  Our mission is to provide the most complete, highest quality certification services to growers, processors, manufacturers and traders worldwide and we are convinced that Ecert is integral to our success."