Surveyors must anticipate int'l competition
Surveyors must anticipate int'l competition
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian surveyor companies must start changing their working methods if they want to survive international competition, an executive of the Association of Indonesian Independent Surveyors (AISI) said yesterday.
AISI Chairman Moedjiono said here that national surveyor companies currently rely too much on the "old" method of checking the quality of final products, and not enough on conducting quality assurance inspection of all aspects of the production process.
"Right now the world demands quality assurance. People need to know that whenever and wherever they buy a certain product, they can expect a standard quality," said Moedjiono, who is also president of the PT Sucofindo surveyor firm.
Speaking at the association's general assembly here yesterday, Moedjiono said quality assurance inspections would also be the trend in the upcoming free trade era, when more countries demand products coming from manufacturers with ISO-9000 and ISO-14000 quality management and environmental management certificates.
"Quality assurance is a market-driven international demand which every independent surveyor firm should be able to accommodate," Moedjiono told The Jakarta Post. Presently, only 10 percent of the 60 independent survey companies registered at the Ministry of Industry and Trade can provide such services, he said.
As a result, he said, only 130 Indonesian firms currently carry ISO-9000 quality management certificates. Ideally, 30,000 national firms should be carrying such a certificate.
Moedjiono said another problem AISI often has to face is ensuring that its members abide by the association's code of ethics.
Independent surveyors, he said, should demonstrate high integrity, reliability and trustworthiness. "The code of ethics means fair play. Independent surveyors must not take sides, even if they are paid by clients."
He said that over the last few years, AISI has had to give warnings to several members which failed to abide by the association's guidelines.
Moedjiono said AISI members have not standardized their service fees, but they must observe the association's standard procedures.
"Their competitiveness depends totally on their ability to maximize efficiency and the quality of their work should never fall below standards," he said.
AISI presently has 44 members which conduct inspections, studies and analyses on various products, ranging from their size and contents to their packing.
Their services consist of cargo surveys, which include sampling, quality inspection, cotton inspection and freight container inspections; marine surveys, which include supervision of shipbuilding, hull and engine damage survey and towing surveys; technical inspections; insurance surveys; quantity surveys; geography surveys; environmental impact assessments (Amdal); and non-destructive tests. (pwn)