Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of remote intervention equipment, operating in hazardous environments worldwide.
Problem
SMD has four separate business units and each managed risk using excel. Although an appropriate place to start the ERM journey, over time spreadsheet use made little sense. Data was difficult to share and a lack of commonality in how risk was catagorised made comparison difficult. Associated with this was the lack of visibility of threats to the overall business; a consolidated overview could not be achieved.
Solution
SMD decided that they needed dedicated risk management software to rectify these issues. JCAD CORE was chosen because of its ease of use and the ability to customise the framework. These elements were essential to ensure staff recognised and embraced the new solution.
JCAD CORE was set up in a familiar fashion with a business unit hierarchy that was easy to navigate. During the implementation, the Risk team noted how easy the system was to update and modify.
Using a centralised system was a great opportunity to ensure that risk management was uniform across the business and categories and risk rankings were set at the outset to ensure consistency.
Proactive risk management
SMD starts to create risk registers for a new project during contract negotiations. Due to the high value nature of the equipment & solutions it supplies, it is important to understand any commercial or technical risks that may occur. With this insight, risk can be mitigated earlier in the contract or an informed decision made as to risk acceptance.
With the risks & controls highlighted upfront, the engineers are able to identify any technical risks that can potentially be designed or engineered out.
With multiple projects on the go simultaneously, it has proven beneficial for SMD to have greater visibility of risks across the business. For example, a supplier was late for delivery for one of its projects. Considered a low impact risk for this one project, wider implications could be identified through the new centralised system. This allowed SMD to establish whether other projects also supplied by the same supplier could also be impacted.
SMD put mitigation measures in place including more rigid control measures with additional staff assigned to review at set dates and times. A quality engineer was hired to assist in mitigating the risk and allowed the supplier to be closely managed to ensure the other projects were not affected.
Benefits
- Simplicity
CORE’s intuitive nature ensures everyone uses it. - Centralised solution
Using CORE has ensured greater consistency and visibility of companywide risks. - Audit
The system provides visibility of who has made or updated a change. If someone does not agree with the change they are able to follow up with the person who initiated it. - Flagging system
CORE has a ‘flagging’ system in place that allows identification of risks needing management review. No separate list or register needs to be created. - Reporting
SMD produces 2 management reports each month. The system allows for the report to be run quickly and efficiently with the data produced easily exported for use in different documentation. Having purchased a Crystal Reports license, SMD can build their own bespoke reports or amend pre-existing ones. - Business & individuals more risk focusedÂ
- A dedicated risk management system which can be easily scrutinised has driven cultural change.
