Quality certificate is one of the first in Europe

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 7, 2005

Yokogawa has gained a much sought after ISO/TS29001 quality certificate, issued by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance - one of the first in Europe.

Yokogawa has gained a much sought after ISO/TS29001 quality certificate, issued by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance - one of the first in Europe.

Joey Dreier Gligoor, Manager QHSE, MIS and Facilities at Yokogawa System Centre Europe in the Netherlands says: "The ISO/TS29001 quality certificate gives Yokogawa a competitive advantage because the certificate is not well spread among our competitors but is recognised by our customers as very important.

Besides this, it proves the added value Yokogawa can deliver and is able to comply with the high standards within the industry".

As the new technical specification for implementing ISO9001-based quality management systems (QMS), ISO/TS29001 results from a successful partnership between ISO and the international oil and natural gas industry.

Published as ISO/TS29001:2003: "Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries - Sector-specific quality management systems - Requirements for product and service supply organisations", the new standard will become the common and unique basis for the industry's quality management system requirements worldwide, avoiding multiple systems that would, if each needs to be certified, require multiple audits.

ISO/TS29001 is available for use by manufacturers of oil industry equipment and materials, upstream and downstream, service providers to the oil and gas industry, purchasers of equipment, materials and services and organisations.

The new standard is the result of collaboration between the American Petroleum Institute (API) and ISO technical committee ISO/TC67: "Materials, equipment and offshore structures for petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries".

According to John Modine, Director - Certification Programs, American Petroleum Institute (API), ISO/TS29001 is expected to result in "increased international acceptance of time-tested sector-specific quality system requirements on a broad scale for the worldwide oil and gas industry".

He defines it as: "One industry - one standard".

For many years, the API standards served as the de facto international standards for the oil and gas industry.

In recent years, however, the oil and gas sector has recognised a market need for uniform and consistent standards for worldwide application and has been making a major renewed commitment to working within the ISO system to develop a new set of coherent international standards.

In line with this commitment, the API transferred 72 of its work items to ISO technical committee ISO/TC67: "Materials, equipment and offshore structures for petroleum and natural gas industries", to become ISO international standards.

ISO/TS29001 is the result.

Joey Dreier Gligoor explains: "Top-class, internationally-recognised quality standards and certification are essential in today's highly competitive oil and gas industry".

"This new quality protocol covers all essential activity of the sector and will become the standard by which every hydrocarbon-related company will be judged".

"This very early gain for Yokogawa's oil and gas capability underlines the company's VigilantPlant philosophy which applies seamless quality to operational excellence in plant safety management".

"It recognises our vision of plant personnel who are watchful and attentive, well-informed, and ready to take action, focussing their time and energy on building tomorrow's successes".

"It marks Yokogawa out as a leading supplier in the sector, dedicated to the maintenance of outstanding quality at every stage in the hydrocarbon production process".