|
NYK meet global & local compliance requirements
The Client :NYK Group (Europe) Background :
NYK Line is one of the world’s leading shipping and logistics companies, offering transportation services on a global basis with a strong emphasis on quality and security of service. |
 |
|
The Challenge Simon Benson is the European Environmental, Safety and Security Manager at NYK Group (Europe), with responsibility for health and safety, environment, security and disaster recovery – key aspects of corporate responsibility and compliance – across the group.
The company has been ISO 14001-compliant since 2002, and 9001-compliant in certain parts of the business.
The time had come for change though, says Simon, to streamline processes, reduce pressure on resources, improve visibility of information for dispersed and virtual teams, and reduce management travel time and expenses.
|
The Solution Despite the number of packages on the market, it was, says Simon, surprisingly difficult to find a software solution that met the company’s objectives. Some were written for specific industries or compliance issues, some were short on functionality, and some required new hardware.
A full review of solutions on offer produced two finalists. Achiever Plus was the eventual winner, offering greater usability than its rival, better support outside the USA, and a lower cost. Even a custom-built option proved more costly – significantly more expensive to build and likely to take six months to implement, compared to just 6-8 weeks for Achiever Plus.
Simon Benson explains why Achiever Plus ticked all the boxes. “It’s a very capable product that offers very good flexibility, a Web and client-based front end, and multiple ways of viewing or reporting on data. It’s well supported, is regularly updated, and has a proven track record. Additionally, Achiever Plus is available on the IBM Domino platform, which means it can easily be integrated into our IT infrastructure. The solution is intuitive, so users need very little extra training.”
As well as enabling NYK Group (Europe) to adhere to the global standards, Achiever Plus can be adapted to meet new and evolving standards, such as CT-PAT, the customer trades partnership against terrorism required for shippers to guarantee the security and safety of goods entering the US.
|
|
The Benefits
The environmental application has now been implemented, with others to follow, and NYK Group (Europe) is achieving benefits beyond original expectation. “Initially we had expected return on investment in two years. Now the clear success of Achiever Plus is leading to it being seriously considered by other disciplines, such as vendor contract management, and we can see ROI being attained in just a year.”
Achiever Plus will reduce what is currently a significant travel budget. Environmental management covers 26 sites across Europe. Simon explains that the system had been highly paper-based, and information had been very difficult to manage. Now information can be managed and monitored centrally for greater efficiency and consistency across a disparate organization. Chasing and escalating issues can also be handled centrally. This removes the need for managers to visit each site to deal with issues in the few weeks before each audit, racking up air miles and associated costs in the process.
“Now we are proactive rather than reactive,” says Simon. “We can easily see what’s happening across the organization. Reporting is easier too – taking minutes rather than days.”
| The Future continued
Removing the heavy reliance on paperwork to automate and centralise will bring important benefits to other areas too, such as health and safety. Not only will this reduce overheads, but it will offer a more efficient use of resources. The more qualified health and safety staff, for example, can now far more easily share their knowledge with their colleagues around the countries. Management and training will both become easier.
Transparency of information is a key benefit. Before Achiever Plus one person would be responsible for two or three sites, working practically in isolation. Achiever Plus offers a way of bringing the environmental facilitators into one virtual team, sharing the same versions of information within a community.
Although information is now centralized, it’s still possible to manage for regional differences. “A company our size has to adhere to local regulations as well as international. Where we have had 26 ways of doing things, we will now be able to deliver a standardized format with variations for the regions.”
With the exception of two managers, the staff that handle environment, health and safety, security and disaster recovery issues do so in addition to their primary roles within the company. This added ease of use and visibility, with full access to consistent information and resources, will prove invaluable in relieving pressure on these staff, enabling them to focus more time on their day jobs.
|
The Benefits - continued
The environmental application has now been implemented, with others to follow, and NYK Group (Europe) is achieving benefits beyond original expectation. “Initially we had expected return on investment in two years. Now the clear success of Achiever Plus is leading to it being seriously considered by other disciplines, such as vendor contract management, and we can see ROI being attained in just a year.”
Achiever Plus will reduce what is currently a significant travel budget. Environmental management covers 26 sites across Europe. Simon explains that the system had been highly paper-based, and information had been very difficult to manage. Now information can be managed and monitored centrally for greater efficiency and consistency across a disparate organization. Chasing and escalating issues can also be handled centrally. This removes the need for managers to visit each site to deal with issues in the few weeks before each audit, racking up air miles and associated costs in the process.
“Now we are proactive rather than reactive,” says Simon. “We can easily see what’s happening across the organization. Reporting is easier too – taking minutes rather than days.”
The Future
Achiever Plus will bring greater efficiency, consistency and accountability to NYK Group (Europe), reducing costs and enabling proactive management of issues across multiple sites. By making Achiever Plus available from the intranet, the company will see the management system become part of the day-to-day activities across the business. |
The future - continued
Auditors are now seeing the benefits of Achiever Plus too. “At our last audit in Hamburg the auditors were impressed by how fast we could bring up information,” says Simon Benson.
In time Simon would like to extend intranet access to provide an area for auditors to view the system themselves. With half of the audit currently taken up simply looking at paperwork, Simon can see real value in enabling auditors to view documentation before they arrive onsite.
NYKGroup (Europe) is also looking at the Achiever Plus Portal, a Web browser-based portal that offers fast and customisable access to information in databases within the company and on the Web.
Meanwhile, Achiever Business Solutions is implementing interactive training to reduce costs for NYKGroup (Europe). The system provides tools to meet a range of needs and proficiencies across the regions, from quick reference guides to virtual hands-on training.
Achiever Plus offers a comprehensive, practical solution to the advancement and improvement of NYK, in compliance with the standards and legal requirements to which we are committed
|
|
|
|