Our customers place a lot of trust in us, using our analysis for when failure is simply not an option. We never forget our customers are counting on us and that drives us to help our customers succeed at every opportunity. A cornerstone of this commitment to help our customers is our passion to deliver on both the quality of analysis and professionalism.
It is our belief that only through quality and professionalism can we truly achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Equally, by instilling a culture of operational excellence we are always prepared to meet any new challenges our business faces.
Our aims
- We aim to deliver analysis and service that not only exceeds our customer’s expectations but constantly strives to reach new levels.
- To be the benchmark that condition monitoring laboratory analysis and wear metal determination is set against, constantly raising the bar we set ourselves.
- Nurture a culture where high quality, reliable data and innovation are encouraged and rewarded within the organisation.
- Develop the understanding that high quality and accurate analysis is an unbreakable promise we make to our customers every time we receive a sample.
Our commitment to our customers
- Actively listen to our customers, constantly seeking a greater understanding of their needs and always respond to feedback to improve what we do for all our customers.
- Help train and teach our customer as well as raise wider awareness in the industry of the benefits of fluid condition monitoring technologies.
- Continuously innovate and challenge what we do in terms of quality management by regularly reviewing our objectives, risks, results in KPIs and customer net promoter scores.
- Embrace and uphold the independence of our laboratory as an impartial and well-respected authority in the industry.
- Respect our customer’s confidentiality and individuals privacy (see policy), whilst maintaining transparency to our customers.
- Ensure the prospering of Oil Analysis Laboratories through the protection of its unique technologies, methods and understanding.
- Regularly invest in, develop and improve our processes to deliver a better overall service to our clients.
- Develop talent recruitment and internal training practices to ensure our customers who expect the best in terms of service, receive it.
Ensuring we provide only the highest quality of data to our clients
Ensuring we provide the most accurate data to our customers has always been a cornerstone of our business. That is why we developed LubeWear, as the status quo in wear metal analysis offered by other labs simply wasn’t accurate enough. We use the following techniques in our quality management systems to ensure the accuracy of our data:
- Use of Calibration control standards and materials – having known reference materials allows us to compare the data we produce against known standards to ensure we at all times are delivering the highest quality data to our customers.
- Quality control charts – by plotting the results of regular quality control samples dotted amongst real samples in a sample tray we can assess our performance on various tests across the long term to look for patterns in data.
- Use of internationally recognised proficiency testing schemes – we are members of the ASTM international proficiency testing programmes where identical samples are sent to multiple labs all across the world. By the laws of statistics, taking the mean of all these labs data will average out any errors in any testing. Hence we test ourselves by how close we come to the average value often referred to as a z-scoring, using this data to make continuous improvements to our testing to come closer and closer to that perfect mean value. You can find proof of our participation in the letter below.
- Use of controlled electronic quality documentation – a vital part of any quality management system is to prevent the Chinese-whispers in procedures and training. This means we continuously refer to and use controlled documentation to ensure consistency and repeatability in methods and training. Paper copies can easily become out-dated, hence why we have a secure quality portal where the latest version of each document can always be found. You will see this document (see the footer of this page) is also a controlled document and we have many more documents covering not just laboratory testing, but general business operations including purchasing and sales, customer service, equipment calibration and stock control to name but a few.
- Use of a fully auditable and fully electronic laboratory information management system – our lubewear.com analysis and results portal logs not only logs the information you enter when you pre-register a sample before it even arrives at the lab, but also every step of the process the sample goes through from the point it arrives at our laboratory. This includes the operator that tested the sample, the time each result was entered, any additional or re-tests performed, quality control data, the diagnostician who interpreted your sample and even any calls made to inform a customer of an urgent result. Since the system is fully electronic this removes the need for additional often tedious to fill paper quality documents. All the key information is automatically logged and no missing paperwork, so quality just becomes a simple part of the core processes rather than a secondary paper-filling afterthought.
- Rigorous training – our staff each go through a full in-house induction and training programme and participate in regular continuous professional development activities to ensure they are always working to the high standards we at Oil Analysis Laboratories expect and encourage. This includes not just instrument/test-specific training and laboratory safety training, but also wider training on all things fluid analysis including our customer training courses.
You can read more about our proficiency testing and data accuracy policies here.
A pledge of the whole team
Delivering quality and professionalism is something we view as both an individual and collective responsibility for every member of our organisation at all levels. The management of Oil Analysis Laboratories is responsible for ensuring we deliver on these commitments.