Highways Agency Supplier Recognition Scheme 2014 Best Practice Report Introduction This report looks to highlight the key aspects of the winning and highly commended entries in each category.
Background 2014 was the fourth year of the Highways Agency Supplier Recognition Scheme. The annual recognition scheme highlights the vital contribution made by the Agency’s suppliers who help it operate, maintain and improve England’s network of motorways and A roads.
This year entries for the awards increased significantly – as 118 bid for the honour to receive public recognition from the Agency across seven categories. These included joint ventures, the extended supply chain and small and medium enterprises.
2014 Winners and Highly Commended The Highways Agency received 118 entries from 50 entrants which included single suppliers and joint ventures. The following winners and highly commended were chosen:
Winners Highly Commended Building and Sustaining Capability
Costain Carillion Civil Engineering
Customer Experience Carillion Civil Engineering Mouchel (Designer) & Carillion (Delivery Costain Ltd Partner) Delivering Sustainable Value & Solutions Costain Group plc Interserve Construction Limited Sir Robert McAlpine & AW Jenkinson Managing Down Cost/Improving Value Carnell Group Carillion Civil Engineering WSP Skanska Balfour Beatty/Atkins Delivery Simulation Systems Limited Team Promoting Diversity & Inclusion
EM Highway Service Limited & BAM/Morgan Sindall JV Recycling Lives Safety, Health & Wellbeing Carnell Group A-One+ Integrated Highway Services Atkins Costain Ltd Colas Ltd Skanska Construction UK Ltd EM Highway Service Limited Hanson Asphalt & Contracting Supply Chain Management Collaborative Procurement Working Group (CPWG) (Carillion plc, BAM Connect Plus M25 Ltd Morgan Sindall JV, Costain) with Asset Norbert Dentressangle Logistics UK International, Polypipe & Saint-Gobain Skanska UK Plc PAM UK
Supplier Recognition Scheme Best Practice Report
Best Practice Report
Building and Sustaining Capability
The judging panel were seeking evidence where suppliers have created opportunities to bring people into the workplace and develop skills and capabilities through delivery of HA contracts.
Some of the key points picked out by the judging panel were: Suppliers building capacity and capability for the future by investing in their employees and engaging with outside organisations such as local job centres, local authorities, schools, colleges and the Prince’s Trust. The winning submission focused on the need to build a core team of highly experienced professionals, engaged local staff and operatives to deliver sustainably, brought promising new entrants into the industry, developed and encouraged future careers in construction, focused on training to improve and develop skills on the project and used feedback to continuously improve. The winner developed the team through recruitment, development and training. The winner and highly commended had both successfully applied to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) for the project to become a National Skills Academy for Construction (NSAfC).They were set a number of challenging targets relating to local employment, training and skills development. They had a dedicated Project Skills Co-ordinator. Engaged local staff and operatives. The winner had successful engagement with Sheffield Jobcentre and contact with the North East Derbyshire Strategic Employment Partnership (NEDSEP) which consists of representatives from a number of local authorities. Quote from Cllr Graham Baxter MBE, Leader of the NE Derbyshire District Council “I am delighted with the outcome for everyone concerned, it’s really added value to the investment.” The highly commended had created 33 new job opportunities with employees working directly for them. The winner was working with the Prince’s Trust to develop a resource pool providing opportunities for young people by developing a “taster day” followed by a two week placement for under- represented groups in Derbyshire. The “taster day” was offered through the local job centre through the ‘Get into Construction’ programme. Apprenticeships were offered to 12 successful candidates. Apprenticeships were offered by the winner through NEDSEP programme with local schools and colleges working with Chesterfield College. The highly commended had recruited 5 graduates and provided 7 undergraduates with work experience. They had 6 part-time students within the commercial team. Developed and encouraged future careers in construction by developing the future pipeline of industry entrants by working with local schools at various events, giving presentations and participating in career days. Work had also been undertaken in providing work experience opportunities to ex-forces personnel as well as Jobcentre Plus. Focused on training to improve and develop skills and used feedback to continuously improve. There had been a significant increase in the level of investment in training days for staff. The winner’s STEM ambassadors developed an app to help people understand the various careers available and the routes.
Page 2 of 6
Supplier Recognition Scheme Best Practice Report
Customer Experience
The judging panel were seeking to recognise suppliers with an industry leading commitment to customer service, through understanding customer needs and using feedback to constantly improve the customer experience.
Some of the key points picked out by the judging panel were: Strong evidence of customer focus and working with the local community e.g. educational activities visiting local schools, Stay Safe presentations to primary schools, career days at local secondary schools and colleges and utilising local knowledge to identify possible rat runs and seeking advice on where extra signage would be of benefit. Availability of Public Liaison Officer 24/7 so that any complaints and queries are dealt with immediately. Scheme webpage with a dedicated Journey Impact section providing information of forthcoming closures and diversion routes by email alerts to customers signed up to receive them. Commitment to local communities and those affected by the road improvements e.g. open door events, raising funds for local charities and assisting local projects by donating materials, man power and holding charity fund raising events. Focussed consideration given to the needs of customers, stakeholders and communities e.g. identified the benefit of refining the details of sharing road space by taking the absolute minimum required, appointed a dedicated road space co-ordinator to liaise and communicate with the MAC teams, developed Emergency Access Points designed in collaboration with the emergency services which has been submitted as an example of best practice to the HA’s knowledge bank. Introduced signage with artwork by children of workers on the project aimed at customers to think about the team as real people as well as the important message they are conveying. Worked with partners to develop a system that uses Automatic Number Plate recognition to capture live journey time information which is then displayed on temporary variable message signs throughout the length of the scheme. Proactive approach for effective communication and relationship management with customers and stakeholders e.g. worked with HA to review the top 20 stakeholders to seek opportunities for communication to explain the scheme and traffic management strategy to improve understanding of what matters to customers. Good customer focus e.g. information in Motorway Service Areas beyond the scheme limits, back to work initiative with managers joining the workforce to see from the customer’s perspective. Close working with the community e.g. giving recycled road planings to a local charity and ongoing and consistent engagement with customers, stakeholders and the community e.g. letter drops to local residents, monthly liaison meetings with maintainers and consultation with the regional control centre and emergency services to keep all informed. Use of remote interrogation fault monitoring capability to reduce roadside maintenance visits, giving less disruption to customers.
Page 3 of 6
Supplier Recognition Scheme Best Practice Report
Delivering Sustainable Value and Solutions The judging panel were looking to recognise suppliers that have integrated environmental, social, economic and management aspects of sustainable development into delivery of Highways Agency contracts. Some of the key points picked out by the judging panel were: An ambitious, group-wide, sustainability framework and action plan to 2020 and beyond, putting sustainability at the forefront of the company’s decision making. A strategy built around ‘four capitals’ (natural, social, knowledge and financial) that capture the wider impact of their activities and which aligns closely with the strategic objectives of the Highways Agency. The submission evidenced positive ambition and outcomes across all the criteria for this award with a reminder to us all to embrace innovation and continuous improvement. Submissions that demonstrated robust consideration across the three sustainable development pillars; economic (timber and woodchip market values), environmental (woodland management programme and wood to energy power) and social (health and safety solutions and specialist collaboration). The project provided evidence of cost mitigation and confirmed the logistics of material handling from timber and woodchip to biomass fuel. Understanding that delivering a concrete motorway refurbishment project on programme, to budget and environmental benefits successfully, doesn’t win awards, however doing it with enthusiasm and innovation, adopting working practices from parallel sectors and embracing partnering can! This submission’s credentials included on time delivery with zero waste, minimal disruption to road users and the network, innovative solutions shared with framework partners and the adoption of lean principles.
Page 4 of 6
Supplier Recognition Scheme Best Practice Report
Managing Down Cost/Improving Value
The judging panel were looking to recognise suppliers that had demonstrated significant achievement in mobilising all their talents and resources to deliver smarter and more efficient ways of working in delivering Highways Agency contracts.
Some of the key points picked out by the judging panel were: A tier 2 contractor that has shown commitment through innovation and lean assessment, developing solutions to Agency challenges that are being applied across the whole of our business. Clear evidence of thinking outside the box. Developing a process of re-cycling filter drain material that is faster and cheaper than the traditional method of replacement. Reducing the costs and traffic management requirements for conducting asset condition inspections. Introducing a non-invasive, risk based approach to roadside filter drain assessment. “Value Engineering” at design stage identified over 30 efficiency ideas, generating potential construction cost savings of 25% and a 33% reduction in the construction programme. These include for example. o Retaining existing bridges which has saved £8M and reduced the bridge construction programme by 14 months. And proposing top down construction of a new bridge to improve H&S through reduced need for working at height. o Seeking opportunities to improve our customers’ experience, for example the provision of new foot/cycle bridges across the junction, working with stakeholders, and providing safety improvements at the junction. o Working with the Statutory Undertakers to reduce future maintenance liabilities, reducing Health & Safety risk and reduced customer disruption. Demonstrating a ‘can do, will do’ attitude, innovation delivered in record time to meet an identified need of the Highways Agency. A highly effective infra-red CCTV system developed, tested, trialled, approved and deployed in 5 months. Remote access for software upgrades and fault investigation minimises road worker hazards. A technology solution that is now being adopted on other Smart Motorway schemes. A tier 2 Specialist demonstrating commitment to the wider delivery team. Significant savings were achieved through recycling of materials/arising’s, saving haulage and disposal costs and delivering environmental benefits. Value Management through Lean, innovation and innovative products. Collaborative approaches with the Design Consultants and supply chain partners have delivered significant savings. The development of a non-invasive Vehicle Detection System, completely eliminating the need for traffic detector loops (MIDAS) in the main carriageway, resulting in huge benefits in terms of road worker safety and reduced delays to our customers. Pioneering a new approach to delivering Smart Motorways with a high level of technology works, through optimising the sequencing of verge works and extensive collaboration with NRTS and the TechMAC. A Tier 1 Delivery Partner demonstrating the benefits of working closely with their supply chain partners and the teams of partners who have a responsibility to operate and maintain the motorways, delivering value safely and efficiently through collaboration.
Page 5 of 6
Supplier Recognition Scheme Best Practice Report
Promoting Diversity and Inclusion
The judging panel were looking to recognise suppliers that have created opportunities to bring people into the workplace and develop skills and capabilities through delivery of Highways Agency contracts.
Some of the key points picked out by the judging panel were: Apprenticeship programmes for 18-25 year olds Outreach work with unemployed people Outreach work with school children (STEM ambassadors, Big Bang, ICE Bridges to the future) Training programmes for line managers Flexible working targeted at attracting more women into the sector Partnerships with organisations that can reach diverse talent pools or provide specialist input (Remploy, MIND, Business Disability Forum, The Prince’s Trust, The Engineering Devt Trust, QUEST) Sought and built on expert diversity and inclusion advice carrying out a diversity audit and going through formal assessment Set up an EDI steering group that is cross functional, diverse and from a variety of levels including from the top Have developed an EDI framework reviewing all key HR policies to ensure they integrate to deliver clarity and consistency regarding EDI requirements. Developed a ‘RESPECT’ initiative which translates the high level stuff into meaningful communications to staff about what they are expected to do and what they can expect in return Developed ‘commercially focussed EDI Action Plans to drive real value adding change – these cover 3 broad areas – people, service delivery and supply chain Have set stretch targets e.g. gone from recruiting 4 apprentices in 2013, to 19 in 2014 and this years target is 34. A commercial recycling business which funds a charitable arm that supports long term unemployed and homeless people back into mainstream society. Through this particular partnership, two homeless people have been given employment placements. o Permanent employment has been offered to one and looks likely for the other. Turns out they are ‘grafters’ and fit in perfectly with the hard working ethic that our contractor needs. Specialist apprenticeship programme which develops skills and knowledge as well gives them a formal qualification equipping them to become the next generation of foremen and supervisors. For low skilled people in the local community there are general operative apprenticeships that run on site on one day a week and are doable in the time the project runs, offering a chance to gain experience and a qualification. All members of the supply chain have the opportunity to do NVQ onsite training providing upskilling in essential skills as well as skills that will improve future prospects – including basic and more advanced IT skills courses aimed at helping operatives improve their IT skills. Has trained 10 construction ambassadors deliberately selected from a wide variety of backgrounds and occupations. Two of them are women. Offered, in partnership with Re’New, a regeneration charity, a series of work experience placements to a diverse range of people who are long term unemployed.
The Supplier Recognition Scheme will return in 2015. Please look out for the launch in early June.
Page 6 of 6