AT A UKOOA (now Oil & Gas UK) business breakfast a couple of years ago, a speaker was heard describing this industry as being initiative rich but action poor. He was right, of course, and the chronologically gifted among Energy’s readership will remember a number of bright ideas that have not been carried through to fruition.
However, it is believed this criticism cannot be levelled at FPAL. Started more than 12 years ago in the almost forgotten era of the $10 barrel as a response to both the CRINE cost-saving initiative and EC procurement legislation, usage of FPAL is now at an all-time high.
Eighty-three active purchasers (operators and main contractors) and 2,500 suppliers are now benefiting from the efficiencies which this supply-chain gateway vehicle brings.
Despite this success, the FPAL steering committee, under new chairman Ian Donaldson, of Talisman, has masterminded a complete review of the organisation’s services and has found that suppliers are still receiving requests for duplicate information already held in FPAL. To overcome this, a new advanced registration service is in the final stages of testing before its release.
The advanced registration is a new online questionnaire that will replace the former hardcopy capability profile questionnaire. Designed to be easier to complete, the big advance will be that the whole submission, including supporting documentation, such as ISO quality certificates, will be visible to purchasers.
The steering committee believes this new tool has the potential to dramatically reduce the amount of requests for information and will help streamline the procurement cycle.
The challenge now for both suppliers and purchasers is to be action rich and make full use of this big advance.
Suppliers interested in taking up the challenge to be among the first with a completed advanced registration are invited to contact FPAL on 01224 337500.