This is the third in Kestrel’s series of articles about Technology-Enabled Business Solutions.

A decade ago, when “handheld computers” (i.e., smartphones) first became popular, storing appointments and contact information on a portable electronic device was the prime functionality of the smartphone. Convenient? Yes. Robust? Not quite yet.

Mobile technology has clearly come a long way since then. Your smartphone and other mobile devices/tablets are every bit as powerful as any computer you have in the office—perhaps even more so when it comes to collecting real-time data and creating operational efficiencies.

Forms, Checklists, and More

Think about this for a minute…how many forms and checklists do you use in your operations? Maybe it is a daily forklift checklist, near-miss form, behavioral-based safety observation, daily housekeeping checklist, food safety sanitation inspection, hazardous waste inspection checklist, near-miss form, and so on.

What if—instead of taking a clipboard into the plant or field—employees were able to simply pull out a phone, complete the checklist online, and hit submit? What if they were able to do it from anywhere and without any login information? What if management could access the data immediately to run reports and get real-time analytics?

Case Study: There’s an App for That

That is precisely what a large chemical distribution company needed. In the most basic terms, they asked Kestrel to create a mobile form for forklift inspections that would provide:

• Simple electronic access to the forms employees already use daily
• Ability for employees in the field to submit data without logging into the system for ease of use
• Data in CSV format that could be sent immediately via email to management for review/analysis
• Dashboard reporting to show a real-time view of checklist status, outstanding issues, overdue items, and other metrics

By integrating various Office 365 technologies, Kestrel created an app using the company’s familiar forklift inspection form, which can be customized per location. The mobile version allows employees in the field to capture forklift inspection data electronically. The forms are accessible at multiple levels and can be assigned down to an individual location. Importantly, there is no need to log in to submit data, ensuring ease of access and use for all employees. Shortcuts to forms can also easily be added to mobile devices, computers, or other websites for ease of access.

As employees complete the checklists, data is collected and uploaded into the company’s Office 365 compliance information management system (IMS) in real-time. Not only does this eliminate the problems associated with manual data entry and manipulation, it provides real-time access to valuable data. Kestrel has created dashboards that house key metrics on inspections completed and issues identified that are updated immediately and automatically whenever a new checklist is completed. Beyond that, using the simple forklift checklist, we can now automatically create an entire series of events that had traditionally been done manually (e.g., maintenance requests, part orders, inspection requests).

Mobile Technology, Operational Efficiencies

For employees, mobile technology makes completing checklists of almost any type easier and faster in the field. For management, mobile technology takes things a step further by creating operational efficiencies:

• Provides central management of inspection schedule, forms, and other requirements.
• Increases productivity through reductions in prep-time and redundant/manual data entry.
• Improves data access/availability for reporting and planning purposes.
• Allows data to be submitted directly and immediately into SharePoint so it can be reviewed, analyzed, etc. in real time.
• Creates workflow and process automation, including automated notifications to allow for real-time improvements.
• Allows follow-up actions to be assigned and sent to those who need them.
• Integrates with the overall compliance IMS for a comprehensive view of compliance status.

Stay tuned for coming articles in our series, which will continue to dig deeper into functionality, highlight some case studies of Office 365 in action, and tap the insights of Kestrel’s Office 365 developer.

It’s not uncommon to think more is better when it comes to software. It’s also not uncommon for companies to gravitate toward specialty software, whether related to certification support, QEHS compliance, cGMP, food safety, incident management, audits, permit tracking, or any number of other areas.

However, as robust as companies want their information management system to be, a simple and adaptable solution is often a better approach. As the NAEM survey we summarized in our first article in this series stated, some EHS&S software experts are migrating clients away from commercial systems to basic tools such as Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint, which can be easier to understand, easier to use and navigate, and easier to adapt to ongoing business needs.

Flexibility in the Familiar

Many companies look at software as a silver bullet—a fix for everything. But applying technology to operations isn’t about just finding and buying a software tool. It is about:

• Understanding the business need;
• Customizing and integrating the appropriate tool into existing operations; and
• Deploying it so it is effectively applied.

Information management systems and compliance efficiency tools built on an Office 365 platform offer an adaptable/scalable solution that can meet business and overall compliance needs, while offering the familiarity that encourages employee buy-in.

Robust Functionality

But really, what can Office 365 and SharePoint do? Perhaps surprisingly to many, Office 365 is highly adaptable and, with the right resources, can offer the solutions a company needs to address a plethora of operational and compliance requirements, including the following:

Compliance Management  Many companies—especially those that are not large enough for a dedicated team of full-time staff—struggle with how to effectively resource their regulatory compliance needs. Kestrel’s experience over many years suggests that reliable and effective regulatory compliance is commonly an outcome of consistent and reliable information management system implementation. Office 365 can allow you to more efficiently manage compliance tasks, corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs), and other project activities to ensure you are meeting your compliance requirements. Compliance management components may include:

• Compliance tracking/calendar
• Audit assessment & inspection
• Mobile forms & checklists
• Audit tracking
• Permit management/tracking

Training/Learning Management Having a system that records employee training is critical to compliance, especially to ensure policies, procedures, and work instructions are followed. Office 365 allows for the centralized implementation, management, tracking, scheduling, assignment, and analysis of organizational training efforts. From simply logging and tracking training to creating training plans and generating quizzes, training management ensures that the workforce is knowledgeable and appropriately trained.

Complaint & Issues Management From a quality perspective, it is important to effectively track and manage customer complaints/issues and corresponding follow-up actions, including any resulting nonconformances. Doing so electronically can help you identify and respond to complaints more quickly. With an aligned system, you can also connect nonconformance reports (NCRs) to other systems for CAPA management.

Incident Management Most organizations plan for and continually strive to prevent incidents. Effective incident management provides the opportunity to learn about and improve overall performance. Web-based tools can be particularly helpful in documenting, tracking, and reporting on all incidents and near-misses, including injuries, illnesses, spills, releases, and recalls. What’s better is that this can happen in real-time (thanks to mobile functionality) to ensure compliance with reporting requirements and internal incident management processes.

Document Management Document management is a key tool that will help companies in their efforts to go paperless. However, document management is not only for managing files. A quality document management system can also establish document structure, streamline content creation, create version control, and organize your workflows. Office 365 document management systems are scalable to the organization and designed to store, secure, and ultimately help you make sense of the documents your business uses.

Achieving the Big Picture

By having so many features and applications on a single platform, it is easy to tie them all together into an aligned system and to create multiple functions/uses for the data being collected from so many sources. With an aligned system, achieving the big-picture, desired state (rather than the short-term fix) becomes entirely possible.

This approach offers the following benefits:

• Scalability. Office 365 is scalable to ensure it meets organizational/ business needs, as well as regulatory requirements. Your system can contain the parts and pieces your company needs to operate efficiently and in compliance with regulations, standards, and customer requirements.
• Alignment. The system can be expanded to integrate, connect, and support multiple standards (e.g., ISO, FSSC, SQF, IFS, Responsible Distribution) and/or regulatory requirements. Integration of multiple management systems into a single platform makes management more effective and efficient than when systems operate independently.
• Accessibility. The central, web-based system is accessible from any location. Mobile access and forms allow you to capture data via phones, tablets, or PCs—anytime, anywhere—even in remote locations, where a data connection has not yet been established, or in facilities that do not have consistent wireless connection. Data are automatically synchronized when a connection is made and stored in the Cloud to improve data access/availability, generate real-time analytics, and create workflow and process automation.
• Measurement. Data can be collected and compiled for review and analysis, as well as more sophisticated predictive analytics. Dashboards and reporting capabilities provide insights into system health, operational results, and business performance for senior management. A standardized approach for reporting further creates accountability and ongoing performance monitoring and measurement.
• Easy Adoption. Building off a common Microsoft platform allows for easier adoption due to its familiarity. It also limits the number of solutions, software, and systems needed by a company, as well as the extra fees associated with additional software, such as license, user, and change fees.

This is the first in KTL’s series of articles about Technology-Enabled Business Solutions.

It goes without saying that change is hard. Even positive change for the better is not without challenges. Change when it comes to Information Technology (IT)/software systems can be flat out painful because of the significant investments of time, money, and resources required. That is why many companies choose to avoid making a change until absolutely necessary.   

How do you know when that time has come? How do you know when you are investing more in your compliance Information Management System (IMS) than you are getting out of it? What are those hot buttons that drive companies to seek a system change? And when seeking a new compliance IMS, what do you look for to ensure it will meet your business needs? 

Why Companies Seek New Systems

According to a March 2019 survey conducted by the National Association for EHS&S Managers (NAEM) entitled Why Companies Replace Their EHS&S Software Systems, the following is the rank order of key reasons why companies seek a new IMS:

• Current system doesn’t perform as advertised.
• New business objective(s) aren’t supported by the current system.
• Current system costs too much to maintain.
• Current system doesn’t integrate well with other business IT systems.
• Platform being used has changed.

Criteria for New Systems

These reasons tie directly to what companies in the NAEM survey say are the most important criteria when shopping for a new software system:

Let’s review a few of these top criteria and why they are so important in any decisions made about implementing a new compliance IMS. We will dig deeper into these reasons throughout our series of articles on compliance information management solutions. 

Integration
As indicated by the NAEM survey, it can be a real challenge to integrate technology, whether it is with hardware, other compliance/certification software, ERP software, global systems, legacy systems, human resources systems, financial/inventory systems, etc. When it comes to having multiple systems, it’s not that you necessarily need one system to manage every business function. However, you do need your systems to talk. Lack of integration can contribute to duplication of effort, data inaccuracy, and business inefficiencies across multiple departmental functions.

Real-Time Metrics Tracking/Mobile Accessibility
With today’s technology, we are accustomed to instant gratification. There should be no reason why your IMS cannot provide that when it comes to real-time metrics tracking. Mobile accessibility allows for data to be collected on-the-go rather than re-entering information from the field back in the office. Data can be collected and compiled in real-time for review and analysis, as well as more sophisticated predictive analytics. Dashboards and reporting capabilities provide insights into system health, operational results, and business performance for senior management. A standardized approach for reporting further creates accountability and ongoing performance monitoring and measurement.

User Friendliness
What does it mean to be user friendly? Is that focused on the end user entering data in the field? Does it pertain to management who is reading reports and metrics? Are we talking about the system administrator? A truly user-friendly system will be something that meets the needs of all parties. If employees are frustrated by lack of understanding, if the system isn’t intuitive enough, if it is hard to put data in or get metrics out, the system will hold little value. In fact, according to NAEM, if a system isn’t user-friendly, employees may end up using workarounds that create more inefficiencies and inaccuracies. 

Customization, Updates & Maintenance Costs
Perhaps the functionality was oversold, perhaps the system cannot handle your data in the ways you anticipated, perhaps the solution you need requires additional customization that you did not anticipate. Whatever the case, not getting what you paid for is an exercise in frustration and a waste of resources. Business priorities and objectives change. If your system cannot adapt to these changes, users will fail to engage, and it will become obsolete. At the same time, if you continually seek customization, it can come at a price—not just for the customization but for the expertise required to maintain a customized solution. Customization can quickly become a money pit that you cannot climb out of. The key is to find an IMS that is simple and adaptable to respond to business changes. 

Simple Solution

It’s not uncommon to think more is better when it comes to software. However, as robust as most companies want their compliance IMS to be, a simple and adaptable solution is often the best approach. According to the NAEM survey, some software experts are helping to migrate clients away from commercial systems to basic tools such as Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint, which can be easier to understand, easier to use and navigate, and easier to adapt to ongoing business needs.  

The next article in our series will explore the idea of going back to basics and leveraging familiar tools like Office 365 to meet compliance IMS and overall business needs. 

What was once a very niche market, drones are emerging into an important new phase: everyday use of drone technology in the workplace. It’s no longer just tech-savvy companies that are using drones. Enterprise-level drone operations are becoming a big deal—and not just in industry. During 2018, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reportedly used drones to conduct at least nine inspections of employer facilities.

OSHA’s drones were most frequently used following accidents at worksites that were considered too dangerous for OSHA inspectors to enter—a common and important benefit of the drone technology. However, is likely that OSHA’s use of drones will quickly expand to include more routine facility reviews, as drones have the ability to provide OSHA inspectors a detailed view of a facility, expanding the areas that can be easily viewed and reducing the time required to conduct an inspection on the ground.

Employers must currently grant OSHA permission to conduct facility inspections with drones, and there are many implications industry must consider in giving this permission. Read the full article in EHS Today to learn more.

Join the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) and Kestrel Principal Evan Fitzgerald for a free webinar on Responsible Distribution Code XIII. We will be taking a deeper dive into Code XIII.D., which focuses on cybersecurity and information. Find out ways to protect your company from this constantly evolving threat.

NACD Responsible Distribution Webinar
Code XIII & Cybersecurity Breaches
Thursday, September 20, 2018
12:00 -1:00 p.m. (EDT)

Traditional processes tend to produce traditional results. You can’t expect technological innovation without technological integration. The key is identifying the traditional processes that yield benefits (most likely cost or time savings) from technological integration. Doing this allows companies to stretch and empower every limited resource.

Fix It & Find It

Take the business practice of internal auditing as an example. The most traditional practice for internal auditing (e.g., environmental, safety, DOT compliance, ISO 9001, food safety) is a “find it & fix it” cycle, where the internal auditor goes out into a facility and audits operations as they exist. During the audit, the auditor identifies issues based on a standard set of protocols. The auditor typically walks a facility with a notepad and pencil taking notes of field observations that aren’t in compliance. Following the audit, the auditor creates a report and shares the findings with a responsible party. This can take weeks or even months. The cycle is repeated when the auditor comes back at a later time to check the site again.

The “find & fix” audit cycle works, but only to a point. The difficult part comes next. What happens with that inspection form or accident investigation report after it is completed? It is likely reviewed by a few people, perhaps transcribed into electronic form by a data entry clerk, and filed away someplace for legal and compliance reasons, rarely (if ever) to be seen again.

Filing data away in a drawer is better than nothing because it does show some documentation of findings, but that is where the benefits end. What happens when the auditor is asked to compile year-long data from the findings? How do you evaluate patterns and trends to best allocate your limited resources for improvement initiatives? The paper method of recordkeeping makes compiling field data into a report an enormous task.

Electronic Data Capture

If the auditor were to capture all the field data via smart phone or tablet at the point of discovery, the task of generating a report to analyze trends would be much easier. When data is collected, uploaded, and stored in a database, accessing and reporting on the data becomes as easy as asking a question. Questions like, “How many deficient issues were there at the warehouse last year?” or “How many overdue action items does Bruce have in repackaging?” can be answered by simply making a request of your data.

Data entered in the field can be used in many ways. Some applications written for devices allow you to print reports immediately from the smart phone and tablet device. Others require the data to first be uploaded to a desktop computer. Either way, the reports generated can include photos at the point of discovery and reference information, along with field comments. These reports support the auditor’s findings and remove questions about what was observed or whether a situation is in violation of the protocol. Subsequently, these reports also become a valuable learning tool for employees in the field.

Once uploaded, the data is stored in a database for later reference. Assessments continue to be added as audits are performed to amass a large bank of data. In electronic format, that data (unlike handwritten notes) can be easily arranged for analysis. Reports can be generated using a large menu of criteria, including running statistics on a site over a period time or identifying instances of a certain violation. Mining your data in different ways helps identify root causes and end harmful trends so that real improvement can occur.

Companies grasp the importance of using technology to create business efficiencies. Integrating technology into traditional processes allows companies to stretch and empower limited resources. It offers ways to provide more value to company operations and management systems.

Traditional Solutions

When it comes to technology integration, however, companies traditionally look for an isolated solution to a single problem—a find-it, fix-it approach. A simple example of this would be creating an Excel spreadsheet to manage data from multiple sources. While this creates an improvement beyond the traditional hard copy binder, it is a linear, isolated solution to one issue that offers minimal additional business value.

Consider the data on that spreadsheet and consider how business systems work. Does the data stand alone or does it impact other parts of the business? Does the business system operate in a silo or are there common elements with other business systems? In most cases, there is overlap between data, information, systems, platforms, etc. As a result, building a patchwork of technology solutions to address individual problems is only a short-term fix.

Relational Approach

Truly valuable technology solutions take a relational approach that considers the immediate issue within the context of the overall business need, and then integrates multiple platforms/systems, as required, into an aligned system.

A forward-thinking, relational technology approach takes a solution perspective that thinks beyond the singular project need to the big picture and then designs backward. It’s a shift in mindset from “How can I use technology to make this efficient?” to one that asks, “Ultimately, what does the big-picture, desired state look like…and how can technology get us there?”

A relational approach such as this follows these steps:

Case Study in Technology Integration

The following case study provides a real-world example of how a global chemical distributor is following these steps to create a relational technology solution that will improve business efficiencies across the company. Initially, this distributor wanted to pull data from facility reports for 150+ locations into one database—that was the “simple” problem. The old system had facilities entering data into Excel forms. That information was then pulled into Access so the data could be manipulated.

Understanding that the facility data is intertwined with many aspects of the business, Kestrel looked beyond this singular issue at the bigger picture. The forward-thinking solution would be to create a technology platform that would solve this facility data problem and could easily be expanded to other business needs, particularly since facility data is tied to most aspects of the business.

To do this, Kestrel built the facility form into SharePoint as the base application for the company’s overall system. SharePoint houses all data previously input into Excel documents for each facility broken up by 11 regional operating companies with multiple locations under each. The form requires that each facility contact fill out quarterly information on the facility (e.g., permits, fleets, transportation, personnel). Beyond the facility form, the SharePoint system currently has the following modules, which all feed into the facility form:

1. Facility images
2. Storage tanks
3. Facility audits
4. Sustainability

The SharePoint system is continuing to be expanded to integrate other systems into a single source that will create significant business efficiencies. This approach is creating many benefits across the company:

• The company is able to collect multiple levels of data and then associate that data to the individual facility or provide a composite report (i.e., data required for storage tanks, sustainability efforts, audits conducted).
• The look and feel of the forms in SharePoint are very similar to the original Excel documents, so it is an easy transition and very intuitive system to use. Little training has been required.
• The company can easily track information on all facilities. Management can export data to Excel and create reports. The company has complete ownership of data and deliverables.
• The system can create alerts for overdue items and generate real-time metrics and dashboards. Many additional options can be further customized based on ongoing business needs.
• Additional data from other systems being used across the company (e.g., auditing program) can be integrated and aligned into SharePoint as users become more familiar with the platform.

Why SharePoint?

SharePoint is a dynamic solution tool that can be customized and designed to capture data and provide consolidated reporting to all levels of management. Because of SharePoint’s flexibility, the possibilities of what it can do are virtually endless:

• Creates a single, familiar platform that simplifies access
• Provides functionality for continual adaptation to meet future data management and reporting needs
• Adapts to the needs of the business, rather than the business adapting to the capabilities of the program
• Maximizes efficiency and connectivity between many field and corporate groups
• Allows information to be shared and tracked in multiple ways
• Allows users to easily create complex databases that are both manageable and flexible
• Gives the ability to manage sites/facilities/plants/departments for compliance purposes
• Simplifies the data entry process by providing user-friendly functionality
• Consolidates reporting
• Provides a dynamic solution – updates made to the tool are reflected immediately
• Allows local users to control and build sites to their specifications
• Allows all levels of users to work with it easily due to its intuitive nature

By having so many features and applications on a single platform, it is easy to tie them all together into an aligned system and to create multiple functions/uses for the data being collected from so many sources. With an aligned system, then, achieving the big-picture, desired state (rather than the short-term fix) becomes entirely possible.

All types of business and operational processes demand a variety of audits and inspections to evaluate compliance with standards—ranging from government regulations to industry codes, to system standards (i.e., ISO), to internal corporate requirements.

Audits provide an essential tool for improving and verifying compliance performance. Audits may be used to capture regulatory compliance status, management system conformance, adequacy of internal controls, potential risks, and best practices.

By combining effective auditing program design, standardized procedures, trained/knowledgeable auditors, and computerized systems and tools, companies are better able to capture and analyze audit data, and then use that information to improve business performance. Having auditing software of some sort can greatly streamline productivity and enhance quality, especially in industries with many compliance obligations.

The following tips can help ensure that companies are getting the most out of their auditing process:

1. Have a computerized system. Any system is better than nothing; functional is more important than perfect. The key is to commit to a choice and move forward with it. Companies are beginning to recognize the pitfalls of “smart people” audits (i.e., an audit conducted by an expert + notebook with no protocols or systems). While expertise is valuable, this approach makes it difficult to compare facilities and results, is not replicable, and provides no assurance that everything has been reviewed. A defined system and protocol helps to avoid these pitfalls.

2. Invest time before the audit. The most important time in the audit process is before the audit begins. Do not wait until the day before to prepare. There is value in knowing the scope of the audit, understanding expectations, and developing question sets/protocol. This is also the time to ensure that the system collects the data desired to produce the final report.
   

3. Capture data. Data is tangible. You can count, sort, compare and organize data so it can be used on the back end. Data allows the company to produce reports, analytics, and standard metrics/key performance indicators.
   

4. Don’t forget about information. Information is important, too. The information provides descriptions, directions, photos, etc. to support the data and paint a complete picture.
   

5. Be timely. Reports must be timely to correct findings and demonstrate a sense of urgency. Reports serve as a permanent record and begin the process of remediation. The sooner they are produced, the sooner corrective actions begin.
   

6. Note immediate fixes. During the audit, there may be small things uncovered that can be fixed immediately. These items need to be recorded even if they are fixed during the audit. Unrecorded items “never happened”. Correspondingly, it is important to build a culture where individuals are not punished for findings, as this can result in underreporting.
   

7. Understand the audience. Who will be reading the final report? What do they need to know? What is their level of understanding? Not all data presentation is useful. In fact, poorly presented data can be confusing and cause inaction. It is important to identify key data, reports desired, and the ways in which outputs can be automated to generate meaningful information.
   

8. Compare to previous audits. The only way to get an accurate comparison is if audits have a common scope and a common checklist/protocol. Using a computerized system can ensure that these factors remain consistent. Comparisons reinforce and support a company’s efforts to maintain and improve compliance over time.
   

9. Manage regulatory updates. It is important to maintain a connection to past audits and the associated compliance requirements at the time of the audit. Regulations might change and that needs to be tracked. Checklists, however, may remain the same. Companies should have a process for tracking regulatory updates and making sure that the system is updated appropriately.
   

10. Maintain data frequency. For data, the frequency is key. Consider what smaller scope, higher frequency audits look like. These can allow the company to gather more data, involve more people, and improve the overall quality and reliability of reports.

A well-designed and well-executed auditing program—with analysis of audit data—provides an essential tool for improving and verifying business performance. Audits capture regulatory compliance status, management system conformance, adequacy of internal controls, potential risks, and best practices. And using a technology tool or system to manage the audit makes that information even more useful.

Regulatory enforcement, customer and supply chain audits, and internal risk management initiatives are all driving requirements for managing regulatory obligations. Many companies—especially those that are not large enough for a dedicated team of full-time EHS&S staff—struggle with how to effectively resource their regulatory compliance needs.

The following case study talks about how The C.I. Thornburg Co., Inc. (C.I. Thornburg) is using a technology tool to efficiently meet National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) and a number of other regulatory requirements.

The Challenge of Compliance

C.I. Thornburg joined NACD in January 2015. As a condition of membership, the company started the process of developing and implementing Responsible Distribution in April 2015. Responsible Distribution showcases member companies’ commitment to continuous improvement in every business process of chemical distribution—and it requires rigorous management activities to develop and maintain.

With an EHS&S department of one, managing all of those activities was a challenge for C.I. Thornburg. The company was looking for a way to streamline the process and more effectively manage Responsible Distribution requirements and regulatory compliance obligations.

Code & Compliance Elite™

C.I. Thornburg brought on Kestrel to initially help the company achieve Responsible Distribution verification. Kestrel worked with C.I. Thornburg to customize and implement Code & Compliance Elite (CCE™), an easy-to-use technology tool designed to effectively manage management system and verification requirements. Kestrel tailored the CCE™ application specifically for C.I. Thornburg to provide:

• Document management – storage, access, and version control
• Mobile device access
• Regulatory compliance management and compliance obligation calendaring
• Internal audit capabilities
• Corrective and preventive action (CAPA/CPAR) tracking and management
• Task and action management

CCE™ played a large role toward the end of C.I. Thornburg’s Responsible Distribution implementation, particularly with document control and organization, and in the verification audit. During verification, documents could be quickly referenced because of how they are organized in CCE™, making the process very efficient. According to C.I. Thornburg Director of Regulatory Compliance and EHS&S Richard Parks, “The verifier was blown away by how well we were organized and how the tool linked many documents from different regulatory policies.” The company achieved verification in May 2016.

Broadening to Other Regulatory Requirements

CCE™ is still being used to manage Responsible Distribution requirements, but C.I. Thornburg is now working with Kestrel to expand it to all regulatory branches that govern the business. Regulatory requirements function similarly—for example, Responsible Distribution has 13 codes, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has 18 performance standards (RBPS), and OSHA PSM has 14 elements. All require internal audits and corrective action tracking—things that can be easily and effectively managed through CCE™ to create a one-stop shop for regulatory compliance. Kestrel is currently developing the DHS and PSM modules in CCE™ for C.I. Thornburg.

Valuable Management Tool

CCE™ is providing C.I. Thornburg with a valuable management tool that automates the regulatory landscape. According to Parks, as a small organization that depends on using efficient tools to manage compliance rather than adding more manpower, CCE™ has provided huge cost savings and tremendous value for the organization, including the following:

• CCE™ has become the ultimate tool inefficiency. Tasks that used to take hours to complete are now easily done in just minutes.
• The internal audit function of CCE™ makes audits seamless and tracking and follow-up easy.
• The CAPA tool ensures that the company is managing corrective actions and completing follow-up activities and tasks.
• The functionality of CCE™ allows for managing multiple regulatory dashboards, providing a one-stop shop for managing regulatory compliance obligations.
• CCE™ creates an organized document structure that enables easy access to information and quick response to auditors.
• During Senior Management Review, senior managers see the benefit of being able to reference the history of corrective actions and audits through CCE™.

“A lot of NACD member companies are small organizations that have limited resources to effectively manage all EHS&S needs,” said Parks. “CCE™ really creates the department and is a huge value to small businesses. With the CCE™ technology and a company’s clearly defined goal, Kestrel can provide an efficient solution to most any need.”

Key performance indicator (KPI) is, arguably, one of the biggest buzzwords of the decade. If you want someone’s attention, mention KPIs. According to Investopedia, KPIs are “a set of quantifiable measures that a company or industry uses to gauge or compare performance in terms of meeting their strategic and operational goals.”

For some individual practices—financials, inventory, sales—KPIs are relatively standard. For example, a company may measure revenue growth year after year as a standard KPI. As we bridge into operational practices with varying numbers of employees and levels of risk, however, it can become more difficult to understand not only how to establish KPIs but also where to get the data.

Technology can help to create a pull-to-push methodology that puts site-specific leading KPIs at stakeholders’ fingertips.

Leading vs. Lagging Indicators

In order to understand how to use this pull-to-push methodology to create leading KPIs, it is important to first understand the concept of leading versus lagging indicators.

• Lagging indicators measure and help track how the company is performing in comparison to its goals. Lagging indicators are usually fairly easy to measure—but they can be hard to influence because what they are measuring has already happened or performance data already captured. In this way, lagging indicators are backward-focused. Many standard performance metrics are lagging. In safety, for example, the Recordable Incident Rate is a lagging indicator. Important information to know but hard to change.
• Leading indicators signify the direction performance is going. Because leading indicators come before a trend, they are often seen as business drivers and should be incorporated into the business strategy. The forward-looking nature of leading indicators may make them harder to measure and they may change quickly; however, leading indicators are generally easier to influence. A good example of a leading indicator in determining the most common causes of an incident before it happens to prevent future recurrence, thereby impacting performance.

Pull vs. Push Metrics

That brings us back to the pull-to-push methodology. Or, in essence, digging for metrics versus having KPIs sent directly to the appropriate stakeholders.

With a push approach, metrics are literally “pushed” to end-users, who then extract meaningful insights and take appropriate actions for themselves. Push metrics can have a number of components that trigger when (and who) metrics are sent to, including threshold, capacity, severity, and timing.

Conversely, with a pull approach, data is pulled in order to answer specific business questions. Pull metrics generally require someone with analytical skills to dig deeper into the data to identify the desired metrics.

While pull metrics may be more time consuming to identify and obtain, that doesn’t mean pull metrics aren’t important to have. In fact, organizations often need to pull data in order to create the push metrics that provide for standard KPIs. And push metrics may demand you circle back and pull further information. In reality, the process is cyclical: pull produces what should be pushed; push cycles back to pull in order to dig deeper into the details.

Creating Standard KPIs

How does an organization, then, get to the point of having standard KPIs that can be pushed when needed and that don’t require the time and investment associated with digging for information?

Technology can help to create that pull-to-push methodology for creating standard KPIs. This requires a number of things:

1. The program must be well-established and designed with the operational requirements, capacity, tools, and skills to effectively integrate the program itself and associated data with technology.
2. Assuming a program such as this is developed, initial reports can be pulled to check the program’s effectiveness based on a number of key attributes/metrics. This yields analyzable data.
3. This data should be explored in many different ways. This allows the company to start seeing the interaction between stakeholders and the data and, eventually, creates the “a-ha” moment of understanding as to what metrics are important and meaningful.
4. At this point, it becomes possible to begin comparing data and metrics on a periodic basis, while continuing to pull information from technology. Remembering what queries are effective will aid in establishing initial leading KPIs. This process also will yield improved understanding of how the data gathering process (e.g., incident investigation) needs to be improved and standardized for a more reliable pull of information.
5. This comparison of data should then be used to discover what data is beneficial and what information needs to be more granular to really hone in on the standard KPI.

Walking through this process and leveraging available technology makes it possible to effectively transition from pull methodology to push reporting—putting leading KPIs in the hands of decision-makers and identified stakeholders.