March 23, 2026
Ashford is the #1 orthodontic laboratory in the UK with a reputation for exceptional customer service and high-quality products.
As part of Ashford’s merger with ALS, MD Compliance was contacted by ALS to develop and help implement an ISO 13485-compliant Quality Management System (QMS) specific to the custom-made medical devices produced by Ashford. A key challenge of the assignment was to ensure the QMS was flexible enough to be subsequently “rolled out” to other dental and orthodontic laboratories in the ALS network.
We got to work assessing Ashford’s needs and consulting with key members of staff on site in Sunderland. From there, we created all the documentation needed for the QMS, and “held their hand” during the integration, providing training and support. When it came time to schedule the third-party certification audits, we were fully involved in the selection and final preparation, and we attended the Stage 1 and Stage 2 certification audits in 2023. In fact, our most recent internal audit demonstrated that Ashford have now completely adopted the QMS and are managing it with almost no assistance at all. This is exactly what we aim for when developing and implementing a new quality system.
Upon receiving ISO 13485 certification, ALS’s Technical Director at the time commented: “When we decided to elevate our company through implementing a QMS and ISO 13485 it was a daunting task, until we reached out to MD Compliance. Their team quickly integrated into ours and delivered an appropriately scaled QMS, supporting us in our mission to shift the culture to one of closed loop control on all processes and of course delivering our ISO 13485 certification”.
Kaley Boreham, Ashford’s Operations Development Manager, commented: “MD Compliance were extremely supportive throughout the ISO 13485 certification process and continue to support us today. We couldn’t have achieved this important certification without the knowledge and experience of the MD Compliance team and in particular Rebecca who has been with us every step of the way.”
We are very proud to have supported Ashford through to their ISO 13485 certification, and we are equally delighted to continue working with Kaley, Craig and the Ashford team as they continue to develop and apply their QMS across the organisation.
