Oh no not another one. 
Whereabouts? Don't worry I'm not a stalker - - well not unless you look like Pamela Anderson, or Vera Duckworth… 
I live in Headingley within 500m of the cricket ground (and about 10 pubs
)
BS8555:2003 is ISO14001:2004 split into easy to implement sections, the Acorn scheme has been developed by IEMA www.iema.net/acorn and is inspection of each implementation section. the scheme is about 2 years old and we are the only body approved in Italy the UAE and Palestine as well as only 1 of 3 in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Regarding the "added value" aspect there is a guide produced by the Auditing Practices Group related to ISO9000
http://isotc.iso.org...&nodeid=3553372 The key to adding value is to actually understand the customers processes and market position, I try to be fully prepared before visiting a client and therefore be able to carry out an effective audit.
The big issue with adding value is understanding the level of commitment within the organisation, some of our clients in the UK are dissapointed if we don't raise Non-conformances because they want to improve but others don't want small issues to cause a great deal of work, if you refer to the APG document it talks about the different customer expectations depending upon the company objectives and commitment.
Normally I will try to suggest process control improvements (you would be amazed how many companies don't see invoicing being a process step in a quality system)
We tend not to adopt the BRC approach of "you're failing in this area and here's a brochure of our training courses for this area and a booking form"
For me the issue can be very complicated as often "consultancy" is seen as providing a documented system and internal audits whereas I see consultancy more being a case of "I can consolidate your labelling requirments and provide you with a solution to this specific problem", afterall anyone can write a few generic procedures
but being able to improve efficiency and streamline management processes is a far more effective level of consultancy.
Often the best way to help a company is how to word an NCN, if you word it: "the purchasing system is not fuctioning as the procedures specifiy" and give examples it doesn't help the client whereas if you say: " the purchase orders are not being signed by the approved person" you are guiding the client in how to correct this. an alternative may be: " validation of control measures has not been carried out" and the better version "it is not possible to confirm that the 12 degree temperature CCL for the food processing area has been validated as this does not satisfy the guidance set in CAC/RCP13"
Normally that is the best way to help the client without carrying out consultancy. It is a very difficult thing to do and requires the auditor to have a very in depth understanding of the industry and the requirements of the customers, as long as you have that then you will add value throughout the audit.
