“We were seeking an independent assessment of our management systems in support of ISO certification and the consultant demonstrated an immediate understanding of our situation. We engaged him to support our certification effort which was successfully concluded, with fullsome praise of our systems from the assessors. His support was invaluable in terms of gap analysis, recommendations for improvement, and facilitation of the certification process. I would strongly recommend him to any organisation wishing to develop or improve its management systems, in a way which minimizes bureaucracy, and focuses on best serving the needs of the organisation”
Gary Evans, Project Director – Total Quality and HSE Lead
Summary
Fluor Middle East Project Management Consultancy Division has been engaged by the Government of Abu Dhabi to run its biggest infrastructure project ever undertaken. As part of its commitment to excellence the Project Director was keen to formalize its quality management system and have it rigorously tested by external audits. They chose to go for ISO 9001 quality management certification. An essential objective of the system building project was to improve and systemise communication between Fluor staff, and between Fluor and its client. Another was to establish a proven way of providing a quality management system for each of Fluor’s future major contracts, as this is seen as a major selling point for Bid Teams.
About the Organisation
Fluor Corporation is one of the world’s leading publicly traded engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management companies. Fluor has been a strong constructive force in the Middle East since 1947 and has played a major role in supporting the development of the region providing engineering, procurement, construction (EPC), program management, and maintenance-related services. Fluor has completed more than 600 projects in the region valued at more than US$ 150 billion in today’s dollars.
What the issues were
Fluor already had an exemplary quality management system in place. However, they were keen to achieve three things: 1. have an independent management system expert review the system and make recommendations for improvement 2. have the quality management system certified to a global standard that any potential client would acknowledge as being the best in the world 3. Improve communication within the organisation and between Fluor and the client
What we did about it
Episode, after having signed non-disclosure agreements due to the size and sensitivity of the project they are running, spent time with a number of staff throughout Fluor understanding the complex systems and processes that are inevitably part of an infrastructure programme of this size. A full review of the system, its documentation and day to day use showed that on the whole the system was extremely well constructed. It was working well and as expected. However, two important findings were 1. the system building team made up of the Episode consultant and Fluor staff agreed with the Project Director that communication could be improved 2. there were no clear quality objectives laid out and presented in a concise way that allowed all concerned to easily understand what the company’s quality expectations are. Meetings were held with divisional heads to focus on these two areas to arrive at a meaningful approach to communication, and to have quality objectives that truly represented the company and client’s needs. A series of workshops were held with all Fluor staff to introduce the revised quality management system and to get their buy-in to the two main changes made.
The outcome
Fluor was successfully certified, after the local Lead Certification Audit checking with his headquarters that a company can have a quality management system for a single client. Whilst highly unusual the value of the client was such it merited this. The system has helped Fluor bid for additional responsibilities on this project, and use the system to demonstrate to other major projects elsewhere in the Middle East what will be put in place for them should Fluor be chosen. They have since engaged Episode to adapt their ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 systems to comply with the new versions of these stands issued in September 2015, and asked us to help them be certified to ISO 45001 (the revised version of OHSAS 18001 occupational health and safety due to be ratified in due course).