ALCO is focused on creating a globally applicable system for checks and balances in manufacturing, trading and logistics. In all aspects of our business, we use prescriptions by international standard setting bodies as benchmarks, and we train and empower our personnel to take the initiative to overachieve these benchmarks through practical innovation, discipline, and diligency. We apply these principles in all levels of management, which has led to three major results for ALCO investors:

 

Smoother and more efficient manufacturing processes through the elimination of bottlenecks and shorter lead times.

 

The mitigation of the negative effects of the risks that may arise during physical trading efforts in order to reduce financial loss in risk realisation situations.

 

Planning transportation routes and schedules to achieve less time consuming and more parsimonius logistics solutions for chemicals and dangerous cargo.

 

We are currently modifying our system where need be in order to achieve maximal output from our facilities. Once these modifications are complete our computer engineering team intends to integrate all of our software into single tailor made solution that will automise these checks and balances thus eradicating the room for human error and creating a more transparent insight into the company for investors. We believe that this practice will also allow our employees and management to be more productive by giving them more time to do the things that really matter and spend even less time on mechanical tasks.

Our efforts to systemise and automise management processes as well as out investments in fully automatic equipment have been rewarded a number of times by international standard setting bodies. Our laboratory, which operates as an individual unit responsible only to the investors of the company, has been awarded the ISO 17025 by demonstrating that they operate competently and generate valid results, thereby promoting confidence in their work both nationally and around the world. The manufacturing wing of the company has demonstrated the quality of their products and services and their ability to consistently meet our customers’ expectations and has therefore earned the ISO 9001 certificate for quality management. In addition, due to the use of modern technology and good manufacturing practices our manufacting wing has also been awarded with the ISO 14001 certificate for environmental management.  These standards are used as a way to benchmark operations in manufacturing, quality control and research and development, nonetheless we far exceed the requirements because of stringent internal rules and procedural regulations.

On a more specific level, the products that we manufacture undergo stringent quality control procedures before orders are fulfilled. We procure additives and base reserves only from internationally reputed companies that are considered “the best” in the industry. Regardless of manufacturing location, most of these raw materials are sourced from Europe. We have strict due diligence guidelines that avoid dealing with countries under sanction and companies which deal with these countries. Once we receive the procured materials our quality control laboratory facilities check test the parameters to see if the factual values reciprocate the contract data sheets and product specifications. The materials that are not forwarded are then processed based on recipes prescribed by our process engineering team and re-tested to check if the desirable parameter values have been achieved. Once the requirements of the process engineering team are achieved products are packaged or packed in bulk ready for dispatch. We very rarely warehouse large volumes of goods because of our FMCG oriented business practices, however when we do random samples are selected and traced back to individual manufacturing batches and raw material batches to test how these products have fared through time. We encourage our macro-distributors to carry out similar tests for products that are in circulation in order to improve our products for the future. Lastly, we always stress test our products in order to gain insight to how reliable they are. This includes testing of waste oil for a number of parameters which helps improve formulation for future batches, as well as outright stress tests to see how well our additive packages are performing.

Our efforts in perfecting the art of processing and blending have been rewarded multiple times by OEMs such as Mercedes Benz, Renault, Volvo, MAN, Mack and General Electric. In addition, our products have earned a number of approvals from the American Petroleum Institute and the European Regulatory Body ATIEL. We are proud of these achievements, and we plan to continue to be certified and approved by more OEMs and regulatory bodies as we progress.