Palumbo Shipyard handles more than 500 ships in two years – CEO
ISO 9001 first in series of quality certifications
Consultant Patrick Parnis (left) and Antonio Palumbo say the ISO 9001 certification is the first in a series to elevate the shipyard’s offering. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli
Palumbo Malta Shipyard has repaired or serviced more than 500 ships in the two years since it was taken over by the eponymous Neapolitan family, chief executive Antonio Palumbo told The Times Business this week.
Clients have so far hailed from Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Turkey and even Venezuela, but with the yard formally obtaining ISO 9001 certification in the last few days, it is now even more competitive and able to bid for important jobs internationally. Clients will see improved service levels, with faster turnaround times and even more detailed documentation, Mr Palumbo said.
“We have managed to bring more than 500 ships to the yard during an international crisis thanks to our commitment not only to the operation but also to the Maltese economy,” Mr Palumbo said.
“The economic activity around each job sometimes surpasses the revenue directed to the yard. Do not forget that we are in start-up phase here. It has been an uphill struggle, but we are satisfied, and my son and I are committed to marketing the business personally. We will continue our strategy to build relationships with clients.”
Mr Palumbo pointed out the yard’s major current competitor is Turkey where clients are invoiced in dollars, which translates into a 30 per cent disadvantage for the local operation. But the chief executive said the disadvantage was overcome “with our professionalism and hard work” and the will to turn every job into opportunity.
Palumbo Malta obtained the ISO 9001 certification after a year-long process to strengthen its quality management systems. The project was championed by Patrick Parnis, a health and safety, environment and quality management systems consultant, who led a team which also included the yard’s general and security managers. The certification streamlines the Malta yard with Palumbo’s other operations in Naples and Messina. Mr Palumbo admitted the yard’s previous procedures were stringent but the recently implemented systems give the yard an updated outlook on process management, with increased flexibility.
“The previous systems were not formalised or streamlined, and there were no written policies,” Mr Parnis explained. “We identified the weaknesses and the strengths, and of course the opportunities, and named a team to manage the implementation.
We came up with a top management commitment with a signature on the quality policy. The management team then identified measurable objectives for each department.”
A quality manual and standard operating procedures were then drawn up. Some investment was required to acquire the required resources, including equipment, to support the measures’ implementation. In a final phase, the operations’ compliance with the newly installed policies was audited and presented to management. Confident with the results, Palumbo then invited external auditors to assess the new systems which were given the thumbs up after a five-day inspection.
“ISO 9001 is the start of a long journey of continuous improvement in quality management,” Mr Parnis said. “The ultimate objective is to have in place leaner, more structured and more efficient processes which will benefit the yard in the interantionla market. We are now streamlined with other Palumbo operations, and now aim to achieve the ISO 14001 green certification and the health and safety management system certification, the OHSAS 18001.”
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marcus bonello
Dec 3rd 2012, 10:49
Let it work well, and make profit.
Thus employing Maltese workers, and pay tax to our coffers, and part NIS contributions.
This is the way forward, rather than "multiplenipplesucklingpolicies"
And of course, the private ownership is to make a decent profit for the good service done to its clients.
Jean Pierre Ellul
Nov 15th 2012, 17:50
if Palumbo was able to manage a profit and a good way forward fro the dry docks than this shows that the management appointed by the pn government failed to make the drydocks a success and this shows the failure of the pn . if a private institution can make a profit why is it that all government institutions are failing under the pn and working well under private management.
P Azzopardi
Nov 15th 2012, 18:27
Have you forgotten the times when dockyard workers johorgu fit toroq cos they thought they owned the country or maybe these times are beyond your imagination .
Yes, thanks to the PN government, the docks are privatized .....full stop u hadd ma ghadu ibezza b'tad dockyard !!
Raymond Darmanin
Nov 15th 2012, 17:43
Apart from the fermounth the dry docks was making profit.Even MIYY was making profit so why they had to close.Goverment should have took action on who brought the fermounth
S. Vella
Nov 15th 2012, 19:06
What profit? The last estimates I saw reported on the newspapers, talked of government subsidies amounting to nearly a billion euros! That is nearly one fifth of our national debt.
The drydocks were a millstone around Malta's neck for too many years and we, the taxpayers, are still paying the price.
Joseph Fenech
Nov 15th 2012, 16:53
Another success story for the PN in Government. If it were for the Socialists (or Liberals ???) , Malta would have remained with a huge mill stone around its neck going down deeper and deeper in the abyss. But then again the PN was not held hostage by the GWU like the Socialists were. Think people before you vote , come Election time.
John Borg
Nov 15th 2012, 16:40
Mhux kemm ghamlu vapuri rridu naraw, izda x'ghamlu u ma ghamlux!!!
George Calleja
Nov 15th 2012, 16:23
Well done Palumbo...you managed to do what Mintoff, KMB, Alfred Sant failed to do. Malta was dumping milllions of euro to save the Drydocks but politics ruined the place and its workers. The PN was right to privitise it because now we are reaping tax gained through this success.
G curmi
Nov 15th 2012, 18:42
Qed tghid well done lil xi hadd barrani li qed jaqla' l-flus minn pajjizna? Int bis-serjeta'?
Taf kemm ihaddem nies dan? Taf kemm qed jiggwadanja l-poplu Malti go butu ha jdawwar l-ekonomija u jkollu l-flus x'jonfoq?
G Zammit
Nov 15th 2012, 14:54
.. and the workers there are treated like slaves working 18 hrs a day every day. They need more workers and they wont employ.
Roderick Camilleri
Nov 15th 2012, 14:50
How is this possible?!!! We forked out millions every year for it`s debts, held comissions after comissions to save it, and now we hear that this Mr. Palumbo have managed? So there was a way forward for the docks after all? I have agreed with PN for long years that we could not pay any more for their debts, but with hindsight, i am really doubting if ever a PN Goverment wanted to save the docks
jm busuttil
Nov 15th 2012, 16:29
Rodrick you should know better that when a government institution goes private it works more efficient. They pay taxes on their profits. The dock workers were given a job with Palumbo and the others all found a job together with the termination benefit given to them. But the best thing is li spiccaw il-buzulotti organised by the Union. This was one of the best moves ever done by the PN
Brian Gatt
Nov 15th 2012, 14:39
and we closed Malta Drydocs, another success story of GonziPn
j brincat
Nov 15th 2012, 15:46
You mean like Smart city
Or Arriva which we are subsiding with our tax money when subsidies when subsidies are supposed to be a thing of the past?
Do you still remember Fairmount?
NB: How many Maltese nationals is this Palumbo employing?
(jb)
Brian Gatt
Nov 15th 2012, 15:53
I meant my comment to be sarcastic .....Malta Drydocs should never have closed !!!!
Joseph E Briffa
Nov 15th 2012, 16:45
Brian Gatt....It's a pity that the Drydocks had to be closed down in order to prevent further financial haemorrhages. The fault lies squarely with the GWU/Labour tandem that for six decades used the Drydocks as a political tool, particularly in the run-up to the 1971 elections.The Maltese have breathed a sigh of relief and not only those who pay taxes.
Giov DeMartino
Nov 15th 2012, 17:49
It WAS a success for Gonzipn. HE was the only person who had the courage and the ability to stop so many millions of liri going down the drain.
G curmi
Nov 15th 2012, 14:36
Can anyone tell me how many MALTESE workers are employed by Palumbo Malta Shipyard?
Since they are doing so well I assume most of the ex Tarznari SHOULD be working there, right??
Joe Fenech
Nov 15th 2012, 14:22
So now no one is saying that having a dockyard is madness!
Carmel Farrugia
Nov 15th 2012, 14:15
Prosit and keep up the good work. Government is there to oversee the country and not to manage industries, airlines, banks etc. Politicians are simply not able to manage industry, particularly due to their permanent search for votes.
R. Azzopardi
Nov 15th 2012, 15:26
Very well said! A politician is a politician, not a business man.
Eddy Privitera
Nov 15th 2012, 16:30
So politicians are not capable of running a business enterprise by appointing capable persons at the helm, but are capable of running a whole country, is that what you mean ?????!!!!!!
Carmel Farrugia
Nov 15th 2012, 18:15
Mr Privitera, history teaches us. The government owned enterprises that were operated successfully are few and far between. The only I can think of at present are the banks -- which make money on their own. Industry in the normal sense of the word starting from the Malta Drydocks, passing through, the Malta Foundry, then also the Marsa Shipbuilding, Sea Malta, Air Malta .... all failures.
S. Vella
Nov 15th 2012, 19:13
@Eddy Privitera
Politicians are not capable and should not run a country economically. They are there to guide with the least interference possible - something that Labour governments (or any socialist government for that matter) have never learnt.
Businessman with the capability to run the economy of a whole country would be stupid to take an MP job and earn a pittance.
tania parascandalo
Nov 15th 2012, 14:09
Good to hear. This company means business and is n the right track. Well done!
Austin grech
Nov 15th 2012, 14:07
and the maltese government couldn't keep it afloat.
John Borg
Nov 15th 2012, 14:14
Now the Maltese government does not need to worry about keeping it afloat and instead just benefits from the tax it receives from profits made by Palumbo.
Please let us think before we grumble
Angelo Polidano
Nov 15th 2012, 14:41
No because we haven't got any discipline.
Joseph N. Attard
Nov 15th 2012, 15:02
@ Austin grech: You must be joking. No, the government couldn't, not even with the constant help of the GWU. ;-( Not even with your help, in fact, as, like every other Maltese citizen, you had to fork out willy nilly for the Lm300 million debts the shipyard had run up over the years.
Dennis Zammit
Nov 15th 2012, 15:05
First ask how many full time employees does Palumbo Malta employ and them comment.
Michael Seychell
Nov 15th 2012, 15:10
Mr Grech
As an ex GWU Metal Section Secretary I can assure you that the P.N. Govt did everything to keep the Yard open, to the extent of making a 7 year agreement with the EU, the workers & the GWU. The truth is that despite this the goverment kept pumping millions of Euro to sustain the Drydocks, but the GWU and many workers had a not so hidden political agenda.
Michael Seychell Tal-Pieta.
Brian Gatt
Nov 15th 2012, 15:57
All Drydocks needed was good management not people sent there with a specific purpose to make the company flounder!!! Palumbo is the example of how the company should have been running. Look and learn Gonzi Look and learn.....
Eddy Privitera
Nov 15th 2012, 16:33
Michael Seychell: Who was responsible for the biggest single loss at the Drydocks, namely the Fairmount project ? The workers or the foreigners contracted by the management appointed by GonziPN ?
Please choose the reason of your report below: