01.03.15
Reaping the benefits of collaboration
Source: Rail Technology Magazine Feb/March 2015
Suzanne O’Keane, community manager for rail and transport at Achilles, says that RISQS is ahead of the game when it comes to collaboration.
The rail industry has proved itself to be a model for collaborative working – defying the results of a new survey that shows the vast majority of UK businesses do not work together to tackle business critical issues.
Recent research found that less than one-third (31%) of large UK companies work collaboratively to manage supplier risks in their industry. Two-thirds (64%) do not work with similar business to share the administrative burden of carrying out due diligence such as pre-qualification, verification and audits.
This comes despite 87% of UK companies requiring their international affiliates to adhere to the same health and safety, quality, sustainability, ethics and environmental standards as the UK office.
Furthermore, it’s estimated that this approach of siloed working costs the UK transport sector £56.84m a year in terms of duplication of effort and wasted time. Half of this could be saved through collaborative working.
The survey was commissioned by Achilles, which provides pre-qualification and accreditation services for the Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme (RISQS) and delivered by IFF – an independent research company, which carried out telephone interviews with supply chain professionals at 106 large businesses across the UK.
But it seems RISQS is ahead of the game when it comes to collaboration.
RISQS, which incorporates services provided by Achilles, brings together more than 110 rail and transport buyers and more than 3,000 suppliers – 83% of which are SMEs. Buyers work together to form a single ‘business critical’ questionnaire, which allows suppliers to pre-qualify to work with multiple buying organisations. To further reduce the burden placed on suppliers, buyers have also agreed on a single audit process, which incorporates all industry standards, in order to help ensure suppliers meet buyers’ needs and safety requirements.
The scheme ensures pre-qualification is run by the industry, for the industry, with the RISQS board consisting of 21 industry professionals; from industry bodies, principal contractors, train operating companies and infrastructure managers providing governance.
This collaborative approach ensures the pre-qualification and accreditation scheme remains ‘in-touch’ with industry and what small and large companies alike need from the pre-qualification process.
Reduction in costs
Rail companies have already taken steps to combat the administrative burden caused by intense pre-qualification processes by working in collaboration with likeminded businesses to reduce paperwork.
We are extremely proud of our work in helping to deliver efficiency savings to the rail industry – via shorter questionnaires, greater standardisation and changes to the pricing structure, which saw fees reduced for 83% of suppliers. So with such clear benefits to collaboration, why are some businesses still holding back?
The government will be pushing for rail firms to take advantage of any cost reduction opportunities in order to maximise the more than £38bn committed to improving and maintaining the rail network from 2014-19.
This period of investment, which includes projects such as Crossrail and HS2, has opened up a plethora of opportunities for both small and large competitors alike but at the same time will increase the administrative burden with companies subjected to additional scrutiny.
Reducing duplication
A common complaint from suppliers in the rail industry is that they are required to provide the same information and documents to multiple buyers time and time again.
Paul Cheeseman, director of Technical Programme Delivery, an SME rail technology consultancy, said a challenge the company often faced was the duplication of e-paperwork, with buyers often asking for the same information in their own specific way, placing significant pressure on their limited resources.
Through buyers establishing common safety standards, suppliers know the minimum requirements they need to meet in order to work with multiple buyers.
Streamlining audits
At a time of great change within the rail industry, it’s essential that the views of all stakeholders are acknowledged and included.
This includes changes to the audit programme. At the beginning of 2014 Achilles, in consultation with the RISQS board, introduced a new audit process to ensure it met the current requirements of the industry.
The new process has been designed to reduce the amount of duplication in the audit process and to ensure buyers are provided with the checks and balances they require before contracting a supplier.
In a period of high investment, rail companies need to continue to work in collaboration to help reduce costs and duplication as well as help improve industry standards.
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