Excellence in Quality
Aramco collects several King Abdulaziz Quality Awards
Driven by operational excellence efforts, company earns highest of recognitions.
On behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Riyadh Region, recognized this year’s winners at a ceremony for those who won the fifth session of the King Abdulaziz Quality Awards.
Six Aramco departments received recognition this year for their institutional excellence and enhancing and promoting competitiveness in the respective sectors.
Amin Nasser, Aramco president and CEO, opened by thanking the Saudi Standards, Metrology, and Quality Organization for planning the award, which bears the name of the Kingdom’s founder, King Abdulaziz, as well as its sponsor, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman.
Nasser went on to add that although the Aramco often receives plenty of recognition when it wins international prizes, national achievements such as this hold even greater value to the company.
Nasser noted that the King Abdulaziz Quality Award is known for its comprehensive standards, which include:
- Sophisticated and detailed field inspection of the nominated establishments through independent experts
- Monitoring the quality of operational processes
- The efficiency of employees
- The administrative system
- The facilities ’readiness to face risks and emergencies
- Their commitment to sustainability standards
- The existence of targets and indicators to measure performance
Nasser further emphasized that Aramco is well-known for its quality and excellence in its facilities, and this extends to its suppliers, contractors, and the industrial sector in the Kingdom.
Standard bearers of quality
Nabeel A. Al-Jama’, Aramco’s senior vice president of Human Resources and Support Services, expressed pride in the company’s achievements, saying it helps confirm the company’s excellence.
“Winning this award stems from the company’s great interest in implementing standards of quality and operational excellence across all of its facilities, which has led its many achievements that were made possible through the dedication of its employees,” Al-Jama’ said.
Noting that Aramco’s relentless pursuit of quality as a key driver in the company’s ability to become the leading integrated energy and chemicals company in the world, Al-Jama’ said the drive for quality translates into all of its projects.
“The company has a long history of pioneering solutions to challenges, and we value the dedication in our people to continuously find new ways to improve performance and strive for quality in everything we do,” Al-Jama’ said, adding that Aramco’s operational excellence can be attributed to “our creative talents through participation in various projects, and our pioneering innovations that contribute to increasing quality, reducing risks, and improving quality of life.
“When passion and goals come together, we generate a culture of excellence in quality, adding to the value we produce and converting it into capabilities,” he added.
The winners
Aramco’s winning departments included:
The East-West Pipelines Department
The Hawiyah Gas Plant Department
The Khurais Production Department
Yanbu’ Refinery
The Mechanical Services Shops Department
The Computer Operations Department.
Also receiving the award were Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemicals Company (SATORP), a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Total Refinery Company, and Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company Ltd. (YASREF), a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Sinopec Century Bright Capital Investment Amsterdam B.
These awards are an embodiment of the excellence of Aramco's departments in all aspects of the work environment, the company's success in instilling a culture of excellence and quality as one of its core values, and an affirmation of the high levels of competence among its employees and departments, which confirms their merit in reaping such awards at all national, regional, and international levels.
About the King Abdulaziz Award for Quality
The King Abdulaziz Award for Quality was established in 2000, and is organized by the Saudi Standards, Metrology, and Quality Organization every two years. The ceremony looks to stimulate the production and service sectors while raising the quality of their performance.
The award provides specific criteria that enable organizations to measure their performance in many key areas to help them continuously improve their work, to set goals, prioritize, organize and review them in order to achieve these goals. The award requires candidates to meet strict requirements.
The nominated establishments are subject to field inspection by a team of independent national and international experts. The evaluation addresses several essential aspects, such as the quality of operational processes, the administrative system in the facility, the efficiency of human capital development, the facility’s readiness to face risks and emergencies, the presence of sustainability systems in the facility, and the existence of targets and indicators to measure performance.
This year, 11 government agencies, 14 private establishments, and two charitable enterprises won the award.