Justifying Paper Certification
Spreading the Word
More awareness brings more demand. The old saying goes "lead, follow or get out of the way." When I hear that "there is no demand" for the FSC or SFI label from a printer, in-plant or not, my response is "...yet."
During my consulting and auditing travels I also experience discouraged certified organizations on a limited basis who tell me they've had little or no certified activity. My first question is "have you told anybody?" Almost invariably there was no marketing effort, no announcement (maybe a small initial one), no sales or marketing training (other than a "Hey! We're certified!"), no Web site promotion, no visibility. Somebody just decided they needed to get certified and the world would magically hear about it and beat a path to their door. Didn't happen.
Vic Nathan Barkin has more than 35 years of experience in the printing, paper and wood products industries and currently owns a consulting practice specializing in business development, workflow, and technology implementation, focusing on “Green Procurement and Production” practices. Vic is a QMS Lead Auditor certified to ISO 9001:2008 standards, is a consultant for the Rainforest Alliance as an FSC Chain of Custody and Controlled Wood senior auditor, is an FSC, SFI and PEFC lead auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers and SGS North America, and has engaged in more than 700 site assessments and audits.
