The ENplus® interviews: Mábile Gatelli from ENAMA expects ENplus® expansion in Brazil

Today, as part of our initiative The ENplus^® Interviews, we introduce you to the ENplus^® auditor Mábile Gatelli. She’s not only ready to share with you her experience with the certification scheme but will also reveal what advises she gives to certified and applying companies.

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Hello Mábile, you are part of ENAMA’s team of ENplus^® auditors. Please introduce us to the company.

ENAMA Servizi is an accredited Italian Certification Body that has been operating in the field of agricultural machinery, components, and solid biofuel certification for about 30 years. Accredia (Italian Accreditation Body) accreditation guarantees the quality and independence of the certification process for the benefit of the whole supply chain.

The possibility of being able to propose ENplus^® certification for wood pellets has favored the dissemination of the certifications issued by ENAMA Servizi in the world: currently there are about 200 active certificates and the countries in which ENAMA Servizi is most present beyond Italy, of course, are Brazil and Ukraine.

What about your experience as an auditor? For how long have you been doing this job? We know that most auditors travel a lot. Do you enjoy that aspect of your profession or it could be rather tiring at times?

I became an ENplus^® auditor in 2019, but at the time I had already been following ENAMA auditors for almost 10 years and helped the first plants in Brazil to get certified. In the beginning I only contributed as an interpreter, but with time I learnt more and more about pellets and the ENplus^® certification scheme. I have always been interested in anything that relates to the production of energy in a sustainable way that is not only harmless, but also actually useful to the planet in general. I was able to follow the development of the pellet production market in Brazil, as well as the consumer market, which has been growing significantly in the last few years. The expectation is that we will reach 30 certified plants by the beginning of 2022.

Travelling has always been a passion of mine and I quite enjoy having to travel for work. I feel like it is very enriching in terms of both personal and professional growth.

What do you always pay attention to during initial ENplus^® inspection for an applying company?

My focus is always on the quality management structure of the company. Building an appropriate quality management system is a process that takes knowledge, and it should be a result of the company’s values and approach to business. It’s more of a mindset issue rather than anything else, for me. I always aim to understand whether people truly believe in the benefits of a quality management system and understand the purposes of the certification requirements, because this will ensure that the company continues to take care of these processes even after the inspection. I believe that when this happens, we have a product of better quality on the market that complies with the criteria established by the standard.

How often do you encounter non-conformities and what are the most popular ones?

In my experience, it is quite common to encounter non-conformities, especially in the first audits of new applicants. What changed a lot during the years are the types of non-conformities that are found.

During the first audits ENAMA performed in Brazil for the companies that applied a few years ago, it was quite common to find major non-conformities such as companies that used to not have proper quality management system in place, or plants that were lacking good organisation.

Nowadays, ENAMA’s modus operandi is well known in Brazil and the companies are already implementing proper quality management, control processes and procedures, sometimes even before they apply for certification, making it less and less common for major non-conformities to be found during the audits.

Most of the times the non-conformities that I find are minor and are usually resolved within the first year of the certification for a given company.

If you are ever asked by a pellet producer or trader why they should get ENplus^® certified, what will be your response?

I frequently get asked these kinds of questions. Most of the times, at first, companies are interested in the certification for the financial perspective. I usually highlight the higher value of the certified product on the market, which can reach a 30% higher gain for the certified companies.

However, much more than that, I try to draw attention to the importance of certification related to the quality of the products put on the market, because certifying a company ensures that it observes patterns that reflect on a product that complies to the criteria established by the standard, which provides reliability, solidity for the brand, and is of immeasurable importance.

Finally, I point out the importance of certification related to energy efficiency and overall impact on our planet.