West Perth-based consultancy awarded QA certificate

9/2/95

One of Western Australia's small businesses was now considered a world leader in the application of electronic vision systems in the meat industry, Commerce and Trade Minister Hendy Cowan said today.

Mr Cowan presented a Quality Assurance Certificate to West Perth-based engineering and management consultant company Systems Intellect.

"Systems Intellect has been working with the Australian Meat Research Corporation in applying a system for measuring meat quality in abattoirs," he said.

"This system is being tested all over Australia and measures aspects like meat and fat colour, fat depth, marbling and muscle area."

Mr Cowan said visions systems provided objective rather than subjective measurements with accurate and consistent data.

"The commercial potential of such a development is exciting," he said.

"It shows that small businesses have the determination and know-how to develop high-tech products and services which can be marketed nationally and overseas."

Systems Intellect started 10 years ago with two directors - Stewart Key, who now runs the management consultancy side of the business and Ian Thompson, who is in charge of engineering.

There are now 20 full-time employees and the company has a significant interstate presence.

"Systems Intellect has diversified to provide expertise in many leading edge technology areas like engineering consulting, management consulting and applied research and development," Mr Cowan said.

"But what makes this company different from many of its competitors is that it offers engineering and management consultancy services together.

"The directors have had the vision to realise that a client's problem might not just be about engineering but about broader issues related to management."

Mr Cowan said Systems Intellect was one of the accredited consultants which delivered services under the State-Commonwealth National Industry Extension Service (NIES) program, which assists small and medium-sized enterprises to increase their international competitiveness.

"The importance that the company has ascribed to quality systems is reinforced by the fact that it has gone down the quality assurance path as endorsed by the presentation of this Quality Assurance Certificate," the Minister said.

"Systems Intellect now joins another 550 WA companies which have pursued Quality Assurance over the past 10 years."

Media contact:  Peter Jackson 222-9595