ISS Palumbo, the offshore project logistics and freight forwarding division of Inchcape Shipping Services, has strengthened its compliance credentials by achieving ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001 and Achilles FPAL accreditation, covering operations in Italy, the UK and Houston.
Awarded by BVQI, the accreditation body responsible for setting standards and regulations in quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility, its ISO certification was achieved in December 2013, with Achilles FPAL certification being awarded a few weeks earlier.
Achilles First Point Assessment Limited (Achilles FPAL) is a supply chain management community used by major buying organisations in the oil and gas sector. It uses Achilles’ supplier qualification system to identify, pre-qualify and assess suppliers for tender opportunities and minimise risk. Accreditation by Achilles FPAL is fast becoming a prerequisite for many companies, a trend that is expected to increase in future.
Assessments ranged across 11 criteria and scored highly. These included product quality, service quality, project management, documentation, planning and delivery, supplier management, installation and commissioning, health and safety, environment, competence and training and innovation and improvement.
As ISS continues to develop its capability as a strategic partner in the energy sector, these awards validate that the company has in place a genuine quality, health and safety, and environmental framework supported by robust business continuity systems.
As this project develops in stages, ISS will seek Achilles FPAL accreditation across all of its activities in all sectors, demonstrating the company’s culture of continuous improvement.
Said Ian Tombs, SVP Corporate Compliance. “ISS is focused on growing our business in the oil and gas energy industry. Accreditation enables us to now register with leading companies within this sector for whom this is increasingly essential for doing business. In Stage 2, we are extending the project to other group activities including freight forwarding within our Cargo Services stream, and our core Port Agency services.”
ISS Palumbo is a fully integrated division of Inchcape Shipping Services, the world’s leading maritime services provider. With 300 proprietary offices in 65 countries, and a workforce of over 3,800, the company’s diverse global customer base now includes owners and charterers in the oil, cruise, container and bulk commodity sectors as well as naval, government and inter-governmental organisations.
ISS provides landside commercial and humanitarian logistics, transit, offshore support, informational and other associated marine services. The company also provides a growing range of outsourcing services including global crew and marine spares logistics; port hub agency management; and sophisticated Enterprise Resource Planning solutions through its subsidiary ShipNet.
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