Sellafield Ltd has achieved official certification to ISO 44001:2017 for its collaborative working practices. Sellafield is the first in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority estate to do so. ISO44001 is the international framework for managing effective collaborative business relationships. B2B team supported Sellafield Ltd on its journey to certification from 2018 to 2020.
The B2B team supported Sellafield Ltd on its journey to certification from 2018 to 2020. The support was in two stages:
Stage 1 – Initial work included a review of the current state and the development of the implementation plan carried over January – February 2018. The scope of the project stage was to:
- Create a gap analysis between Sellafield Ltd processes, structures and culture for working collaboratively and delivering the collaborative working expectations of ISO 44001.
- To identify a roll out plan to engage key supply chain partners into an ISO 44001 way of working with Sellafield Ltd.
- Develop an implementation plan including key actions, priorities, risks and costs.
Stage 2 – Deployment of implementation plan to support Sellafield Ltd in gaining certification to ISO 44001:2107 was over the period 2018 to 2020. The scope of this stage was to:
- Develop the Sellafield Ltd management system to include collaborative working processes
- Develop a relationship programme to manage key supply chain relationships
- Develop an approach to develop key resources in collaborative working
- Support teams to prepare for the certification assessment
A Challenging Business Operational Environment
The Sellafield Ltd mission is to clean-up the UK’s highest nuclear risks and hazards, to safeguard nuclear fuel, materials and waste. It has an annual budget of £2.2bn, an employee team of 11,500, and engages 1122 companies in its supply chain. The Sellafield Ltd project is one of the most complex working environments in the world and a challenge to develop effective collaborative working across all the supply-chain partners. Effective collaborative working between Sellafield Ltd and with its key supply chain partners is a critical success factor for the Sellafield Ltd strategy.
B2B Support Project Stages
Stage 1 – January / February 2018
B2B supported developing a plan for collaborative working and certification. This included:
- Conducting a collaborative working maturity review of over 60 processes across 11 subject areas, including risk management, people management, project execution, supply chain relationship management, procurement and governance.
- Engaging with several Sellafield Ltd process owners, conducting interviews with key personnel and conducting a gap analysis and collaboration maturity survey with 20 key personnel from across all key functional areas.
- The outcomes identified the Sellafield Ltd current position in a range of areas related to ISO 44001 compliance and indicators of the existing collaboration culture.
- Developing a resourced project plan for collaborative working development and certification project plan
Stage 2 – 2018-2020
B2B supported Sellafield Ltd to develop the Business Management System to include collaborative working approaches in readiness for certification to ISO 44001:2017. This included:
- Development of the Corporate Relationship Management Manual (CRMM). This manual integrated the collaborative working policy and processes with the current Sellafield Ltd processes for supplier relationship management, project and acquisition management and competency management.
- Develop a Relationship Programme that integrated with the Sellafield Corporate Strategy and Supply Chain Strategy objectives for collaboration and identifies key supply chain relationships for collaborative working
- Develop joint Relationship Management Plans for the four key relationships in the Relationship Programme enabling the collaborative working objectives and benefits to realised
- Develop an approach to assessing key individuals’ collaborative working competency with linkage to the wider People Transformation Programme
- Support the development and deployment of a collaborative working awareness and communication plan
- Review the readiness of the organisation for certification and support the team during the certification body’s assessment
Long Term Cultural Development – Life with Certification LwC
Certification to ISO 44001 is a recognition of what has been achieved but Sellafield Ltd recognise it is part of a longer term developmental journey for the Company. B2B have supported Sellafield Ltd in developing the next phase captured in a Life with Certification (LwC) Plan. This identifies key follow up stages to extend the on-boarding to the relationship management programme to the wider supply-chain and to continue the process of embedding collaboration practices across Sellafield and with its key partners. It also includes actions to ensure benefits are achieved for all stakeholders.
Stephen Scott, Sellafield Ltd Programme Project Lead said: “We wanted to see collaboration in action and not just a set of procedures that led to certification. It needs to be a platform to work more closely with our supply chain to improve delivery performance and unlock value.”
Martin Chown, CEO, Supply Chain & Enterprise Director said: ‘Collaboration is key to delivering projects successfully. By bringing the power of collective knowledge we can ensure right first time in everything we do, leading to significant efficiencies. This allows us to plan for success and reduce cost. This is absolutely fantastic news for our business and following a thorough audit by LRQA without any minor or major findings is a huge achievement’.
Graham Dobell – Principal Consultant B2Bppm said ‘the key aim is integration – integration of collaborative working objectives with the corporate strategy, integration of the collaborative working processes into the management system and integration of collaborative working behaviours into how people work. To make collaboration a “business as usual” approach’.
B2Bppm Ltd is a full-service collaboration support consultancy specialising in
- Developing collaborative business relationships and management systems
- Evaluating potential partners collaboration capabilities
- Measuring, developing and improving collaborative working
B2B is one of only 3 companies accredited by BSI as ‘experts in the implementation of ISO44001’. In 2019 B2B was the first consultancy in the UK to be accredited by the Institute for Collaborative Working – for all of its collaboration support services above. B2B are certified to assess and develop collaborative behaviours to the international behavioural assessment standard ISO 10667-2.
