Normec Certification in conversation with Hoogeboom Raalte
Normec Certification sat down with Gert Hoogeboom, director of Hoogeboom Raalte. Since 1935, Hoogeboom Raalte has been active in contracting ground, road and hydraulic engineering, recycling and rental of machines and containers. The company also performs demolition work, asbestos and soil remediation, sheet piling, well drainage, sewerage and paving. The company owes that respectable age to putting the customer first. Always.
Learning from each other
'Thinking along with the customer; that is important to us, that is what they think is important at Normec Certification. If I have a question I can always contact one of their specialists. That is valuable, even though I am not always happy with the answer. Haha! The knowledge of the auditors is good. Of course there is sometimes a difference of interpretation; they bring their knowledge, I bring mine. But if you have an open discussion with the intention of learning from each other, things always work out. That is also the reason why I attend about 70% of all audits myself: I like to know how things work and am triggered time and again to think about why we do things the way we do.
Importance of continuity
By meeting the standards, we ensure continuity of the company. For example, should we not work in accordance with the guidelines with an asbestos remediation job, the worst case scenario could be a shutdown of this business activity. Of course, we don't want that. And entrepreneurs are not always aware of the legal regulations guaranteed by the BRLs. So with these certificates we protect our business.
Customer focus
'In terms of certificates, you can make it as crazy as you want. Of course we want to invest and be ahead of the rest, but what is leading for us is what the customer wants. If he asks for a certain certification mark, then it is of added value to us. If not, then not. Listening to the customer, meeting his needs, is also characteristic of Normec Certification. Nice if you can find each other in that.'
"With certificates we protect our company."
Gert Hoogeboom, director of Hoogeboom Raalte