ISO and GRC standards for logistics and supply chain: where to start: video

What logistics providers are asked to show

Shippers, tender panels and customs programmes want proof that warehouses, fleets and forwarding desks run under control. The standards that provide it include ISO 9001 for service quality, ISO 14001 for environmental management including fleet emissions, ISO 45001 for warehouse and transport safety, ISO 28000 for cargo security, ISO 39001 for road traffic safety, ISO/IEC 27001 for shipment data, GDP for medicines distribution and BRCGS Storage and Distribution or Agents and Brokers for food storage.

It is a quick guide for warehouse, transport and forwarding managers. The system it points to runs across depots, lanes and subcontracted hauliers, with the records an auditor tests kept as the work happens.

Where the request comes from, and where to start

The request rarely arrives as a strategy. It arrives as a questionnaire, a contract clause or a lost bid. Manufacturers and retailers that outsource storage and transport expect their logistics partners to show a working quality system, and increasingly an environmental and safety one, before volumes move. Contract logistics and freight tenders often score or screen on ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001, so a missing certificate can end a bid before price is read. Customs and security programmes such as AEO authorisation and C-TPAT look at how cargo is secured, and ISO 28000 gives that work a managed structure.

For most providers the starting point is ISO 9001, often integrated with ISO 14001 and ISO 45001, so that the same procedures apply at every depot and the supplier questionnaire can be answered with certificates and records. Cargo security, road safety, medicines distribution or food storage standards follow when customers or programmes require them. Select the Standard™ shows the standards logistics businesses are most often asked for.

Sterling builds one system across depots and lanes under a fixed scope and fee, with Effivity, Sterling Academy access and internal auditor training as applicable; an accredited certification body makes the decision.