Fujairah Marine Services & Trading CO. LLC

Fujairah Marine Services & Trading CO. LLC

Name

Institution

Company Profile

Fujairah Marine Services & Trading CO. LLC. is a marine service provider strategically located in the Port of Fujairah. The company was establish in 1988 and has capitalized on the experience it has gained over years to become one on the best shipping services and husbandry services to a number of customers who trade in the Arabian Gulf with their ships and fleets (fujamar.com, 2006a). Mostly the company provides services to the ships that dock at the anchorages/ports in the United Arab Emirates especially at Fujairah Khorfakkan and Kalba. The companies’ services are provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. The company has a shipping agency division that also provides shipping services on a 24/7 basis throughout the year. The services are provided at all ports in the United Arab Emirate within the vicinity of Kalba, Fujairah and Kharfakkan. The agencies professional staff are in charge of providing a number of husbandry services, which include clearing and forwarding (storing services, provision of spare and other provisions), receiving consignments/mail and coordinating the forwarding, garbage and slop collection services, supply of fresh water, provision of bankers and lubricants, medical services, communication storage, and offshore supply services for ships (fujamar.com, 2006b). The supply of water is done by Fujairah Fresh Water Production Co. LLC another of its subsidiaries domiciled in the Port of Fujiarah. It can deliver any quantities of fresh water at any location around Fujairah Khorfakkan and Kalba upon demand. The company boasts ownership of a spacious warehouse and yard the enable it provide storage services for storage of shipment landing from vessels. It further boasts possession of efficient qualified and experience personnel. Most of the staff gained their experience through working for the firm and provision of onboard services. The companies’ quality statement and philosophy espouse its commitment to provide quality services to the customers (fujamar.com, 2006c).

Approaches used by the team

The team will employ various approaches to acquire information about the state of the company. The team will then proceed to use this information conduct a critical gap analysis of the company and provide recommendation for the implementation of quality management systems within the company to improve its services.

The first approach that will be employed by the company is the use of interviews to interview the employees at the company as well at the companies’ customers. Interviews will be conducted at the convenience of the respondents and the interviewing team will seek to gain more information about the services provided by the firms. The interviews will generate qualitative information about the company quality management system. Interviews will be conducted via telephone calls. The second approach that will be used to collect information is the use of questionnaires. Questionnaires will be structure to generate specific information about the company form both its employees and its customers. The questionnaires will by prepared and emailed to the respondents who will fill them and email them back. The questionnaires will generate quantitative information. Finally, the third approach the will be used to gain information about the company is secondary literature, which includes the companies records, media reports about the company, and press statement made by the company.

All these method will seek to interrogate current quality management approaches being practiced by the company, identify weakness, strengths and gaps the recommend improvements of the quality management systems at the organization to meet the standard stipulated by ISO 9000 standards. The company’s employees and rerecords will provide critical information about the service production practices, and measure in place to oversee production of quality services. On the other hand, customers will provide critical information regarding the quality of the services offered by the firm as well as their satisfaction level as far as these services are concerned. Finally, it will help determine whether there is a feedback system that allows customers to give feedback and suggestion and whether these have been used to improve the QMS.

Alongside these approaches, a checklist will be used to map the current activities at the organization. The team chose the use of checklist because checklists provide the best tool for identification of gaps within the quality management systems. The checklists and questionnaire are provided in the appendix.

Gap analysis

Gap analysis is a very useful in determining the gaps in the Quality Management Systems at the Organization. Gap analysis will compare the current quality management practices and what they should be (Khanna, 2007). This is necessary to determine shortcomings in the current quality management systems and help determine approaches that will be used to improve the current system to what they should be.

Overall existing system and Document Control

The company has a quality management system in place. The firms system is most geared at improving service provision processes at the organization and enhancing the quality of services issued to the customers. However, the quality standards are not definite and well documented. The main quality standards that the organization operates by are the quality promise given to customers through its quality statement and ambition stated in the organization’s mission statement (fujamar.com, 2006b). The organization does not have a comprehensive quality manual. A quality manual is an indispensable instrument in the management of the quality of services of delivered to clients. It stipulates quality objectives and provides a pathway for the achievement of these objectives. It stipulates the step followed in delivering service and what the conduct of the employees should be like, stipulates management responsibility, management of resources

The organization further exercises adequate document control. There are several documents necessary for a robust quality management system. The company has adequate documentation for quality creation processes that stipulate how services are supposed to be delivered, personnel documents, internal audits, management and records for release of consignment. However, there are gaps in the documentation. There is no documentation of improvements and appraisal of improvements, corrective actions, and preventive actions, documentation of customer requirements, documentation of customer feedback, and documentation of non-conformity.

Management Responsibility

Management responsibility is very critical for the realization of consistent improvement in quality (Vintara, 2009). The management team of the organization exercise appropriate control over quality. First the management has a commitment towards quality improvement and takes charge of overseeing the creation of QMS, reviewing QMS, communicating to responsible parties, and availing the adequate resources (Evans, Lindsay & Evans, 2008). The management has also taken several measures to ensure quality which include customer focus, quality policy, management review, and authority.

Customer focus

The management must ensure that the quality management systems must identify customer requirements in all areas of service provision (Vintara, 2009). It should ensure that the requirements are satisfied. Despite these, there are no deliberate efforts to collect customer suggestion and feedback which is useful for improving the quality of services.

Quality Policy

The company has a quality policy in place with the main goals that the organization seeks to achieve in the provision of quality services (Khanna, 2007). The quality statement espouses broad goals of the organization as well as the parties responsible for realization of the goals. The statement further communicates the company’s responsibility to its customers, commitment to customers’ satisfaction and quality management standards of the day. However, it is not communicated throughout the organization, and neither is it frequently reviewed for suitability.

Planning

Planning is paramount and ensures the organization meets specific quality objectives. Planning starts by developing specific and measurable objectives in regard to quality (Vintara, 2009). QMS planning also involves planning how the QMS objectives will be achieved. The company does not have specific quality goals and objectives and does not deliberately plan QMS.

Responsibility authority and communication

Responsibility and authority are well defined within the organization in the organization (Vintara, 2009). This meets quality management standards since effective communication relies on the ability of the management and everyone in the organization to communicate properly and understand their responsibilities and positions within the organization. Internal communication within the company is excellent. However, the organization does not have a management representative to oversee the quality management systems within the organization.

Management Review

The management conducts review of the organization performance (Vintara, 2009). The reviews identify problems in the provision of service and addresses customer complaints. The reviews generate outputs for improvement of the performance of the organization.

Resource management

Resource management is critical for implementation of quality management systems. Resources include people and materials as well as support to ensure the provision of service is successful (Vintara, 2009). All this must be provided in quantities and qualities that will ensure that the company meets its quality management systems.

Human resources

The organization has employees with skill and competencies that enable them meet their duties. They have the skill and ability to perfectly perform their responsibility under the current organization structure and quality policies, although they have education and training, most of their productivity comes from the experience they have gained from working at the organization. Improvement of the quality management systems to ISO 9000 will require additional training to encourage employees to practice best practices (Song & Panayides, 2012). The organization did not have retooling training opportunities for its employees. This is why the consistent depend on their initial education, training and experience. This is certainly an area that the organization should improve in order to enhance the productivities of its human resources. Although the organization indicates availability of training plans, there are no records of actual training having taken place.

Infrastructure

The organization has adequate infrastructure to support their service provision and provide quality services to its customers. Infrastructure comprises of work space, work equipments, and supportive services the employees use to provide services to the companies customers. The company has provided all the infrastructure need to facilitate the provision of quality services to customers.

Work environment

The work environment at the company provides employees with adequate opportunities and enhances their ability to work effectively to meet customers’ expectation and stipulated quality standards. The company’s environment empowers the employees to creatively become involved in the provision of services to clients, has proper employee and equipment safety rules, pollution control and environment protection/ integrity.

Product and service realization

This starts with planning for realization of services (Vintara, 2009). The organization clearly concerns itself with the step and procedure involved in the provision of its service and products to the customers. An effective QMS must have a clear path that is to be followed from the starting point to the final stage of service provision. This ought to be planed, and significant steps or stage mast be noted down. FMS has clear stapes that are incurred in the provision of services and product to the clients. The steps are followed by employees when providing services to customers. In addition, the presence of these steps clearly tells the clients what to expect at every stage of service delivery. Second, in product realization, customer-related processes are critical. They include determining needs related to the services, reviewing the needs related to the products, and communication with its customers.

Determination of the needs related to the services

As dictated by the ISO 9000, determination of the needs related to the services involves assessing the companies’ process requirements (Vintara, 2009). This consists of requirements originating from the customers, dictated by law or recommended standards within the industry (Hoyle, 2012). Although the organization consistently seeks to meet these requirements, most of those met are those stipulated by the law and recommended standards within the industry. Requirements from the customers’ perspective are not full met since there are no deliberate efforts to collect feedback from the customers.

Review of the need related to the services

It is necessary to consistently review the requirement to ensure that the service provided meet them. Although FM conducts these reviews, they are minimal and also have little impact. Such reviews seek to ensure to ascertain whether the requirements are clear defined, the firm has the ability to meet them, and changes in processes and documentation.

Communication with customers

Communication is a critical component in the realization of quality management system. Effective QMS ensure effective communication with a firm’s customers. At FM, there is good communication between the organization and its customers. The organization has kept its client informed of its services. When service provision is ongoing, the respective customers are constantly informed of the proceedings. Customers are also informed on how they can contact the company and negotiate for services.

Product design

Design and development planning

This involves redefining stages involved in production of services or products and identifying responsible parties and examining their responsibilities. However, FM rarely seeks to redesign its products although a few improvements have been made over time.

Design and development inputs

To design and develop unbeatable products all relevant factors must be take into consideration. These factors include regulatory and legal requirement among other demands of the industry or standardized services. The company consistently sticks to these requirements and this has ensured the marketability of its services.

Design and development outputs

This shows how the requirement dictate by the inputs are being met by the outputs. It should provide specifics on how the service in organized and must be accompanied by appropriate documentation. The company clearly meets this requirement through clear illustration of how the inputs are used to generate the final service and also maintains proper documentation of service provision.

Design development review, verification and validation

It is important to review the new design of a product verify the information generated by the review then validate the product. FM conducts review whenever improvements in the design of its service verify whether they service meet the required standards before validating them.

Purchasing

Purchasing is critical process uncured by every organization. For ISO 9000, organizations must have controlled measure for dealing with suppliers. Supplier must be evaluated, and their products to be purchase be thoroughly verified before the purchases are made. FM consistently evaluates its suppliers and performs diligent purchases after verification of the products.

Production and service provision

Service provision at FM is highly controlled. Numerous verification and validation processes accompany the service provision. The company uses a set of approved validation procedures and qualified personnel to ensure that services produced and given to customers meet the industry standard. There are also several control measures and monitoring measure to protect customers property and also ensure traceability of customers goods.

Measurement, Analysis and Improvement

It is important to find out whether the Quality management Systems within an organization are functioning properly and yielding the desired out comes (Vintara, 2009). Organization must, therefore, develop several techniques for monitoring mechanisms and devices to ensure that the QMS implemented are successful. These mechanisms include determination of customers’ satisfaction and modalities of improving the satisfaction, internal audits, monitoring and measuring of processes and products, controlling products that do not conform to products, collection and analysis of information regarding QMS. FM has instituted some of these mechanisms to ensure proper implementation of its quality management systems. There is an initiative to meet customers’ satisfaction, and internal audits are consistently conducted to determine how the organization is performing. The company has adequate measure for monitoring service provision process and the services themselves. This is meant to ensure that the services meet the promise and commitment made to the customers. The company makes evaluations and audits for non-conformance as well as collects and analyzes a range of information related to quality standards. Improvements are also beneficial. In fact, the QMS is meant for continuous quality improvement. Improvement can be realized through corrective actions and preventive actions. Corrective actions involved identification of problems, determining their main causes and prevent their recurrence. Preventive actions are measure taken relating to corrective action. They are taken to prevent the reoccurrence of the problems the necessitated corrective actions. It may also be done by identifying problems before they occur and preventing their occurrence

Conclusion and recommendations

Fujairah Marine Services & Trading CO. LLC certainly appreciates the importance of quality management systems in the continuous improvement of the shipping and husbandry service the companies give to its clients. There are several measures in palace to ensure that they service given to clients are of an excellent quality. A good number of these measures are excellent and meet the standards stipulated by ISO 9000. However several measures are not properly implemented, and my require the company to revisit and improve them or come up with new measures when appropriate measures are non-existent. Below is a set of recommendation that the company should adopt in order to ensure that all components of its quality management system meets the requirements stipulated by ISO 9000. Improvement of these areas will place the company in a good position for ISO 9001: 2008.

Recommendations

The company should seek to develop a comprehensive quality manual stipulate quality benchmarks that the organization must seek to achieve. The quality manual stipulates the event or actions the must be done and how they ought to be done. The manual must have the objectives for the implementation of quality management systems, stipulate quality polices and documentation. In regard to documentation the company must improve on the documentation areas that exhibited numerous gaps such as documentation of improvements and appraisal of improvements, corrective actions, and preventive actions, documentation of customer requirements, documentation of customer feedback, and documentation of non-conformity.

The responsibility of the management should be strengthen and made efficient. The management can increases its focus by purposefully collecting customers opinions and feedback and acting on them. Second, the management should ensure that the quality policy is properly communicated throughout the organizations. The company should also include its quality objectives in it plan to meet customers’ needs as well as ensure responsibilities and authority are well distributed and understood by every employee within the company. Finally, management reviews should be enhanced to take care of more aspects of the business and quality management systems. In addition, the management should employ a person who will be in charge of quality management systems. The individual will be in charge of implementing quality management systems throughout the organization including communicating quality policies to all the employees, and managing record concerned with the implementation and improvement of quality management systems.

In regard to management of resources, the company must improve the training of its employees and maintain proper records as evidence of the training. This should be accompanied by frequent retooling seminars to keep their knowledge and abilities refreshed.

In regard to product and service realization, the company must, in addition to observing legal and industry requirement, try to get customers need related to the products there encouraging customers to give feedback and suggestions. Effort should be put into redesigning and improving services to ensure there is continued improvement of its services. The organization should further improve its approaches to reviewing, validating and adopting improvement on product design.

With the development of specific objective in regard to continuous quality improvement, the organization must develop new approached for measuring and evaluating the progresses as well as develop approaches that can be exploited to enhance the outcomes. The organization must develop new corrective and preventive measure to ensure that the provision of services in rectified whenever irregularities are reported. Furthermore, the company must improve its record keeping including records for measurement analysis and improvements. For instance, correctional and prevention actions and their outcome should be properly document and used to enhance the continuous improvement process as well as evaluation of the quality management system.

The above recommendations can be effected within six months. Once they are in place, the company can request of an audit the will lead for certification if the audit find all the elements associated with quality management systems are in order. A lot of emphasis should be put development of a workable quality manual, developing realistic and measurable objectives and planning on the appropriate way implementing them as well as communicating them to the entire workforce. Incorporation of specific employee demands should be give the attention it deserves and the organization must find a way of validating standards bases upon specific customers demands.

References

Evans, J. R., Lindsay, W. M., & Evans, J. R. (2008). Managing for quality and performance excellence. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western.

fujamar.com. (2006a). About us. Retrieved from http://www.fujamar.com/

fujamar.com. (2006b). Quality policy. Retrieved from http://www.fujamar.com/qp.html

fujamar.com. (2006c). Company philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.fujamar.com/cp.html

Hoyle, D. (2012). ISO 9000 Quality Systems Handbook – updated for the ISO 9001:2008 standard. London: Routledge.

Khanna, R. B. (2007). Production and operations management. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India.

Praxiom Research Group Limited. (2012). ISO 9001 2008 GAP Analysis Tool. Retrieved from http://www.praxiom.com/iso-gap.htm.

Song, D.-W., & Panayides, P. M. (2012). Maritime logistics: A complete guide to effective shipping and port management. London: Kogan Page.

The ISO 9000 Store. (n.d.). ISO 9001:2008 Gap Analysis Checklist. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://the9000store.com/downloads/Samples/ISO-9001-Gap-Checklist.pdf” http://the9000store.com/downloads/Samples/ISO-9001-Gap-Checklist.pdf

Vintara. (2009). ISO 9000 Standards. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://iso9.vintara.com/information/over_standards.html” http://iso9.vintara.com/information/over_standards.html

Appendix

List of checklist and questionnaire used in the gap analysis

General Requirements checklist (adopted from HYPERLINK “http://the9000store.com/” http://the9000store.com)

Requirements CURRENTLY IN PLACE

(List documents or evidence) COMPLIANT Y/N? Estimated % Complete ITEMS NEEDED

General Requirements This clause asks you to identify how management applies the process approach to achieve the effective and efficient control of processes, resulting in performance improvement. Specifically this section is looking for an overall process evaluation of all quality related processes and their interrelationships.

Documentation of the processes included in the QMS Information on the relationship and sequence of the QMS processes. Ask Management if operation and control of processes is effective. How do they know if it is effective? Ask how they are able to know if resources and

Information needed to support processes have been provided. Is there any information on the effectiveness of processes? How are improvements made to processes? What processes does your organization outsource? How is the process controlled? Documentation Requirements checklist (adopted from HYPERLINK “http://the9000store.com/” http://the9000store.com)

Requirements CURRENTLY IN PLACE (List documents or evidence) COMPLIANT

Y/N? Estimated % Complete ITEMS NEEDED

Documentation Requirements This section addresses how you use documents and records to support effective and efficient operation of your organization. A review of your procedures, work instructions, and records will determine if the standard requirements are met.

Does your quality system documentation include the documentation required by the standard? Is there a list or other means of identifying other documentation required by your QMS? Are the required documents available? Does the QMS documentation include Quality Records? Quality manual Review the Quality Manual if available. What is the scope of your

QMS? What processes have been excluded? Is this appropriate? Control of documents A documented procedure is required. Do you have a formal procedure regarding the control of documents for your organization? Service realization gap analyses questionnaire (adopted from Praxiom Research LTD)

1 Did your company develop a service realization planning process? Yes/no/N/A

2 Do you employ your planning procedures to plan the actualization of your company’s services and services? Yes/no/N/A

3   Does your company employ you the service realization planning process to develop service quality objective? Yes/no/N/A

4   Do you use your service realization planning process to specify service quality requirements? Yes/no/N/A

5   Do you use your service realization planning process to identify service realization needs? Yes/no/N/A

6     Do you identify the processes that you will need to use in order to realize services? Yes/no/N/A

7       Are your service realization processes integrated with other QMS processes? Yes/no/N/A

8     Do you identify the documents that you will need to use in order to realize services? Yes/no/N/A

9     Do you identify the records that you will need to use in order to realize services? Yes/no/N/A

10       Do you identify the records that you will need in order to be able to prove that your services meet requirements? Yes/no/N/A

11       Do you identify the records that you will need in order to be able to prove that your service realization processes meet requirements? Yes/no/N/A

12     Do you identify the service acceptance criteria that you will need to use in order to decide whether or not services meet requirements? Yes/no/N/A

13     Do you identify the methods that you will need to use in order to control service quality during the service realization process? Yes/no/N/A

14       Do you identify the verification methods that you will need to use in order to control service quality? Yes/no/N/A

15       Do you identify the validation methods that you will need to use in order to control service quality? Yes/no/N/A

16       Do you identify the monitoring methods that you will need to use in order to control service quality? Yes/no/N/A

17       Do you identify the measurement methods that you will need to use in order to control service quality? Yes/no/N/A

18       Do you identify the inspection methods that you will need to use in order to control service quality? Yes/no/N/A

19       Do you identify the testing methods that you will need to use in order to control service quality? Yes/no/N/A

20     Do you identify the resources that you will need to use in order to realize your services? Yes/no/N/A

21 Do you prepare planning outputs that are suitable and consistent with your organization’s methods? Yes/no/N/A

22 Do you develop the processes that you will need to use in order to realize services? Yes/no/N/A

Control of customer related services gap analysis questionnaire (adopted from Praxiom Research Group Limited)

1 Do you identify the requirements that your customers want you to comply with? Yes/no/N/A

2   Do you identify your customers’ service requirements? Yes/no/N/A

3   Do you identify your customers’ delivery requirements? Yes/no/N/A

4   Do you identify your customers’ post-delivery requirements? Yes/no/N/A

4     Do you identify warranty requirements? Yes/no/N/A

5     Do you identify contractual requirements? Yes/no/N/A

6       Do you identify maintenance requirements? Yes/no/N/A

7     Do you identify supplementary service requirements? Yes/no/N/A

8       Do you identify recycling requirements? Yes/no/N/A

9       Do you identify final disposal requirements? Yes/no/N/A

10 Do you identify the requirements that are dictated by your services’ intended use or purpose? Yes/no/N/A

11 Do you identify the requirements that are imposed on your services by external agencies? Yes/no/N/A

12   Do you identify service requirements that are imposed by regulators? Yes/no/N/A

13   Do you identify service requirements that are imposed by statute? Yes/no/N/A

14 Etcetera … Yes/no/N/A