Len Hunt, President Al-Futtaim Automotive; Ahmad Halwani,General Manager, Volvo Construction Equipment Division, FAMCO; Lars Haglund, President,Volvo Construction Equipment, International; Paul Floyd, Managing Director, FAMCO; and Ilkay Fidan, Sales Director, Middle East, Volvo Construction Equipment
FAMCO (Al-Futtaim Auto &Machinery Company), the exclusive partners of Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Trucks and Volvo Buses in the UAE,has been awarded the Volvo Silver Partnership Certificate by Volvo Construction Equipment AB, further re-enforcing the Al-Futtaim Group’s standing as a UAE market leader in heavy auto machinery and construction equipment. The certificate was awarded at the Volvo Construction Equipment’s global dealership summit in Shanghai.
FAMCO is one of the very few companies in the world to have achieved the silver statuswhich indicates that the dealership has met the majority of Volvo’s rigorous standards. Volvo is yet to award any distributor globally with the Gold status.
The Silver Partnership award by the Swedish principals follows a detailed analysis and stringent verification of FAMCO’s systems, operational processesand quality standards. It comes close on the heels of the ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 certified company winning the ‘Material Handling Provider of the Year – 2011’ award at the SCATA ceremony in Dubaiearlier this month.
The Volvo Partnership monitor is a process of continuous improvement and tracks dealers performance measured on various parameters and identifies areas of improvement. The performances of dealers are assessed annually to ensure that standards are maintained.
“This is indeed a great honour for FAMCO and our Volvo Construction Equipment division. Achievement of this certificationis a clear statement that FAMCO has been judged to have not only developed rigorous operational and customer centric management systems, but also to have implemented these systems effectively across all FAMCO operations in the UAE,” said Paul Floyd, Managing Director, FAMCO.
“This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our employees who embrace Volvo’s superior global standards of operation, together withVolvo’s core values of Quality, Safety and Environmental Care. I thank Volvo Construction Equipment for recognizing our capability and performance levels. Our ambition now is to be Gold certified–anachievement that no Volvo distributor has yet reached,” Mr. Floyd added.
The assesment was lead by a team from Volvo Construction Equipment’s head quarters in Sweden who spent several days inspecting the FAMCO facilities and operations. The inspection teamidentified many strong operational areas, commending FAMCO in particular for its excellence in general management and operational planning, staff training and sales and marketing activities which contributed to the silver level certification.
Lars Haglund, President of Volvo Construction Equipment – International, said:“We at Volvo have high expectations and that’s why Volvo Construction Equipmentis pleased to honourFAMCO with the Silver Certification in our Partnership Monitor programme.Gaining this certificate is far from easy – and very few dealers have reached this advanced level. This status reiteratesFAMCO’sconsistency in surpassing the benchmark set by Volvo CE and we are extremely proud to have them as our UAE dealers. We wish them every success in graduating to the next level– the Gold Certification, yet to be achieved by a partner,” Mr. Haglundsaid.
