Resolving non-conformance reports (NCRs) is a fundamental step in managing performance and risk of critical assets. LRQA, a professional services company specialising in engineering and technology solutions, has said today that users of its asset performance and risk management platform AllAssets will now benefit from a new module called events management.
The new module will allow users to create a robust approach for meeting requirements associated with managing NCRs. By closely tracking non-conformance through to resolution using events management, maintenance and integrity teams gain ultimate transparency over resolution progress and ownership. This better ensures that events are not only identified but that action is taken before issues become a tangible environmental, economic or safety threat. Further, in keeping with Lloyd Register's vision of empowering companies to fully manage their risks, users can design the entire process of managing NCRs themselves using our low code approach or leverage LRQA's extensive experience in the area.
The update comes as heavy industry has experienced significant increases in the backlog of safety critical maintenance, compounded by the impact of Covid-19. AllAssets users will now be able to track anomalies and non-conformance from creation, typically identified during inspection activities, through to resolution, helping to drive efficiency, mitigate risk and reduce this backlog.
The new features allow multiple users to be assigned to specific steps in the process. They are notified of their requirement to contribute, improving transparency of responsibility and prioritisation of workload. All updates and insights are collated into one place, bringing visibility and shareability to each task and across the organisation as a whole. For example, the new functionality will also give users insight into whether the event concerned may be associated with other issues as many events can be allocated to the same observation. Patterns across NCRs can be identified to support the decision-making process and address multiple issues at the same time.
Facilitated by LRQA's low code approach, the update is being made available through the use of pre-loaded templates to support the resolution of non-conformance reports, incorporating industry experience and best practices gathered over many years of supporting customers in managing their risks. The templates can also be easily adapted to allow users to design their own process should they wish to tailor it to meet their unique plant and team needs.
Speaking on the update Victor Borges, Head of Digital Engineering Content, LRQA said: "For many years, resolving non-conformance has been an important yet resource-intensive challenge for operators, often involving thousands of assets. By introducing elements of automation to this process, we can help to improve the efficiency of inspection and maintenance while also reducing the serious risks associated with non-conformance."
The new release comes in response to requests from operators seeking a more streamlined way of managing instances of non-conformance. In future, the functionality could be expanded to provide a framework for tracking any number of different "events" from process upsets to managing small projects.
