Universal

Universal Import & Export Limited is not your average importer and distributor. Our passionate and dynamic team has been providing top quality service and expert advice to Malta’s industries since 1972. The key to our success has been building strong relationships with our suppliers and key clients. As a result, we have earned the trust of our customers and suppliers by offering excellent hassle-free service and top quality reliable products.

We always strive to give our clients the best solutions using quality products through our vast network of suppliers. We are representatives in Malta for 3M, Sealed Air, Dow Corning, Avery Dennison, Smipack, Sudpack, Henkel, Purex, Honeywell, Sato, Borosil, and other leading brands.

Our clients rely on us for our technical expertise, efficiency, reliability and product quality. All this simplifies procurement and gives them peace of mind when dealing with Universal.

The industries we serve include Plastics, Electronics, Food & Beverage, Banks, Scientific & Medical, Pharmaceutical, Construction, Aluminium, Metal, Supermarkets and Retailers ranging from small businesses to multinational clients.

Starting from design and R&D, moving on to factory floor implementation and then to supplying consumables, our team at Universal will assist you technically during any stage of your industrial process.

As a company, we are a partner to our clients, understanding their processes and requirements and then deploying our team of 25 dedicated and experienced individuals to assist in achieving our client’s goals.

Industry:

Importation, sales and distribution to the manufacturing industry

Certification date:

24/07/2007

Challenge

Universal was already ISO 9001 certified when we engaged STEP. However, we wanted ISO 9001 to be more than just a certificate. We wanted it to be a working mechanism which would serve the purpose of challenging us year in and out to improve our inner workings and service. However, consistently carrying out such tasks can be a challenge at times and being objective and critical can prove to be the biggest challenge of all.

STEP has been our guide, our GPS helping us to move forward each year by assessing our current procedures, probing for possible cracks, assisting in the improvement or creation of new procedures, and challenging us to STEP up our game.

Approach

When STEP came onboard to assist Universal in maintaining its ISO certification, a run-through of all procedures had to be done. A challenging task, to say the least, however, the much larger task was updating those procedures and the creation of new procedures.

Over the past five years, Universal’s dynamic and size have changed considerably, requiring various types of procedures related to logistics, business, research & development, and production to be modified and created.

If such procedures are not evaluated regularly and updated, and if proper assessments were not carried out. The company and our service would in a short time span fall below our expected level of service and operation.

This is where STEP came through for the company, always managing to help us make the changes in the shortest time possible while considering the implications such changes may have internally and externally

Outcome

STEP successfully helped us achieve and maintain ISO 9001 for the past five years. Audits have always gone smoothly, and the feedback received from the auditing body has always been encouraging.

However, our most significant achievement is in seeing a smooth internal workflow, an organised and efficient system which results in a better service offered to our clients.

“STEP make it so easy and straight forward! STEP have been successfully assisting and guiding us in maintaining ISO 9001 for the past 5 years.

Their approach is hands on and direct, leaving little room for doubt when working towards or maintaining ISO certification”
Alistair Buttigieg VellaChief Executive Officer