The Episode consultant worked with the team in Scott Bader Middle East Ltd. to completely reengineer our Integrated Management System incorporating ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. Until then we were slaves to the ISO audits, with the systems not adding much value beyond certification. Now we have a business management system that really works for us and is truly integrated into our operations. We were also successfully re-certified along the way.”
John Kemp, CEO Middle East and Africa
Summary
Scott Bader is a specialist chemicals manufacturer headquartered in Wellingborough, UK. One of its most important facilities is in Jebel Ali, a free-trade zone in Dubai, UAE. The Jebel Ali plant had been certified to ISO 9001, quality management systems, and ISO 14001, Environmental management systems, for 12 years, and has an occupational health and safety system based on OHSAS 18001.
When a new Chief Executive Officer was appointed from the UK, he quickly realised that they needed to streamline systems and processes. With the help of Episode, they were able to greatly simplify their ISO management system (from over 400 documents to 96), be successfully re-certified (with very favourable comments on the amount of improvement seen since the last audit) and gain employee buy-in by involving them in the redesign of how they did everything in the business.
About the Organisation
Scott Bader Middle East (SBME) has its production plant and offices located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, UAE, with over 80 staff. It is ideally positioned to manufacture and distribute the Crystic® brand range of polyester resins, vinyl esters and gelcoats throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Central & West Africa, CIS and the Far East regions.
Through applied technical expertise and years of local experience developing specifically formulated resins for the region, SBME has emerged as the market leader within the region for offering technical solutions to key composites markets including Pipes & Infrastructure, Building & Construction, Automotive, Marine and Chemical Containment.
What the issues were
Having been certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, Scott Bader faced the typical issues with such a system caused by staff turnover, changes in ways of working not being taken into account and lack of proper controls –
a. There was too much reliance on individual people to make processes function – what documentation existed was often out of date and conflicted with other documentation
b. The system was simply not used, meaning all the operational benefits of having one were not being realised
c. The whole senior management team and other key staff spent a month a year getting ready for their ISO system audit by LRQA, their certification body
d. The system added little if any benefit to the company beyond having the certificates, needed for ongoing sales activity
e. The system comprised over 400 documents, grossly needing revision and rationalization (there were 5 quality policies, without anyone able to identify which the correct one was)
What we did about it
By conducting a detailed gap analysis and spending time seeing how it all worked, we were able to draw up and implement a project plan to
a. Identify the systems and processes that are in operation and how they interact with each other
b. Work with the Senior Management Team to decide how to re-engineer the system to make it more effective
c. Work with a team of representatives from each operational unit to help them improve the systems and processes in their area
d. Redesign and simplify the integrated quality, environmental and occupational health and safety system that was fit for purpose (for example, by taking out over 300 duplicated, out of date or unnecessary documents)
The outcome
The most pleasing aspect of the project was the feedback we got from operational staff at Scott Bader. They really felt the system was now of use to them, and that they are an integral part of the business, having been asked to help design the system. The senior management find they have a working month a year back as now the integrated management system is used daily and does not need tidying up before external audits. Scott Bader were successfully re-certified for another 3 years and received very favourable comments from the LRQA auditor saying how pleased he was with the level of improvement of the system since the last surveillance audit.
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).