Joey Ebanks, EHS and Training Manager for Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) and Intelex client, dropped by the Intelex offices in Toronto, Canada this week to make a presentation to Intelexians on how CUC is using Intelex software, and how it has boosted the performance of its EHS programs. 

Below is an excerpt from his presentation, an excellent anecdote that reflects Joey’s confidence as he entered an audit of his environmental management system (EMS) last month:

“In April we had a surveillance audit. The auditor came back in to look at 50 per cent of our EMS system. And I actually took the weekend off and went to Fort Lauderdale, had some fun. My boss, our VP, was very upset that I was not there, making sure everyone was ready for the audit. But I was absolutely sure we were ready. In fact I said to him, 'I’m 99 per cent sure we are going to pass. If we don’t, you can fire me.'

“So we created within Intelex a little audit report based on what the auditor was looking for. And on April 18, the auditor came in. Traditionally the audit wrap-up session takes two hours, because there are so many things to discuss. This audit wrap-up session took four minutes. Four minutes. The CEO and all the executives came in the room and sat down, prepared for a fight. Then auditor went through the report, and she just simply said, ‘Look: these are the recommendations. Take them or leave them. This is as close to as flawless an audit as I’ve ever seen.’

“So it took us four minutes, and that’s how we knew were making huge progress with Intelex.”

We're pleased to announce that Intelex has been chosen by Telenor Pakistan to provide them with a web-based software solution designed to address all aspects of an effective telecommunications quality management program including document control, nonconformance and corrective-action tracking, and audits management, etc.

Telenor Pakistan is a subsidiary of Telenor ASA – a telecommunications service provider in 13 countries across Europe and Asia. Since its launch in 2005, Telenor Pakistan has become the single largest direct European investment in Pakistan to date, which as a result has contributed to its success as the fastest growing mobile network in the country, with coverage reaching deep into many of the most remote areas of Pakistan.

When Telenor Pakistan began shopping for a software provider, they identified several requirements for the solution that would best meet their needs, the top three being an easy-to-use document control system, a reliable audits management program, and the ability to streamline TL9000 initiatives organization-wide. We knew that our out-of-the-box quality management system didn’t address TL9000 requirements so we used our iForms^® technology to build custom forms and reporting capabilities that would comply with TL9000.

"In what is an exciting, fast moving market, Telenor Pakistan always needs to be ready to meet growing market demands and offer reliable and robust services that our customers demand of us. Choosing a TL9000-based QMS is a step in that direction. TL9000 includes all the ISO 9000 requirements, and 90 additional requirements specific to the telecommunications industry. However, what really sets TL9000 apart from ISO 9000 are the set of measurements, which can be benchmarked globally under various product categories. We selected Intelex because it's QMS, iForms^®, and reporting software could be easily configured to manage the TL9000 measurements, in addition to the standard requirements of ISO 9000. We look forward to a rewarding partnership between Telenor Pakistan and Intelex Technologies," said Khalid Shehzad Chief Technology Officer of Telenor Pakistan.

"Telenor Pakistan has only been around since 2005; however, in just four years they've become the dominant player in the telecommunications industry in Pakistan. They have experienced tremendous growth over the last few years by dedicating themselves to providing their customers with a superior product and customer service," commented Mark Jaine, President and CEO of Intelex Technologies Inc. "Implementing the Intelex Quality Management System with iForms^® is just another way for Telenor Pakistan to solidify their commitment to providing high-quality services."

The May 2009 issue of Information Week Canada features an article by Richard Bray called "Pushing paper, right out the door: How an Ottawa company wound up in a paperless place."  The article focuses on the pains and successes that OCM Manufacturing experienced during the transition to a paperless office. After their first paper-based attempt at ISO 9000 certification failed and hundreds of thousands of pieces of paper had to be destroyed Michael Julian, CEO at OCM, decided that the second attempt at ISO 9000 compliance was going to be a lot different, it was going to be completely paperless! Post-transition Julian says "Ask anybody around here, they wouldn't ever want to go to a paper system, in both ISO documentation and in manufacturing documentation."

"The bottom line benefits of eliminating paper have meant money in the bank. Since the paperless push began, OCM Manufacturing has eliminated at least three administrative positions, while doubling in size and doing twice as many transactions. Communication is improved, because with electronic document everyone is literally on the same page and information is always available to authorized personnel, no matter where they are." – Richard Bray

Some of the motivators for converting to paperless workflow include:

• Increased efficiency - controlling document versions and workflow can give an organization a competitive edge,
• ISO certification - document management is a key piece to ISO certification,
• Controlled internal & external document standards - ensure employees across your organization are using the most recent versions of documents,
• Audit preparedness - the Intelex Document Management System automatically archives old file versions for year-round audit preparedness, and
• Corporate Social Responsibility- environmentally friendlier business practices translate in to social responsibility, consumer loyalty, and cost savings.
  

If you're interested in learning more about converting from time-consuming and wasteful paper-based system to a streamlined web-based document control, please submit a request online or call 1.877.932.3747.

Free subscriptions to Information Week Canada magazine are available through their website.

Workplace accidents and fatalities are a common occurrence, but many safety incidents could have been avoided through improved training management, accurate data reporting, internal audits, and generating a culture of safety within an organization.

The American Society of Safety Engineers has published a great, unbiased article titled "Technically Safe: Gaining 360◦ Visibility with Technology" by Peter Thiveos. The article addresses the key components of a successful safety management program, business rules and practical solutions, the value of designating a safety champion, and the benefits of using technology to improve an organization's safety performance.

Mr. Thiveos speaks to the need for a comprehensive system that addresses multiple facets including; training and certification management, incident and observation management, records and document management, risk assessment, monitoring and audit management, and corrective action management. "While all these systems have inherent benefits independently, collectively they provide unparalleled functionality and improvements in managing, compiling and reporting on an organization's overall safety status and SH&E governance," Peter Thiveos.

Intelex clients' Metso Minerals and Ferro Corporation are excellent examples of corporations that have actively generated a culture of safety consciousness across their organizations. One of the contributing factors to Metso Minerals' success was their safety champion Chris Adkins. Mr. Adkins spear headed the implementation of the Intelex Safety Management System and communicated Metso Minerals' safety program across the company. "With the Safety Management System now operational Metso Supervisors and managers can manage safety documents, report employee incidents and draw upon continuously updated best practice guidelines from Metso operations worldwide ... Part of my role is to create standard practices that are equal in every region. With verifiable results I can help protect and maximize the potential of Metso’s greatest resource, our employees." Chris Adkins – Global Health & Safety Specialist.

Ferro Corporation's Systems and Development Manager Art Plow is also their safety champion. In a recent case study, Art described Intelex as "an integral part of Ferro's world-wide Safe From Within Program and as a critical piece of our [Ferro's] larger effort to send all of our 6,500 employees home safely to their families at the end of the day, in some 17 time zones around the world." By using Intelex Safety Management Software to track all safety-related data and documentation in real-time, Ferro has been able to accurately measure their success in terms of improving their safety performance organization-wide.

Although safety management systems require an initial investment, the return-on-invest is quickly recovered through improved operating efficiency and a reduction in environment, health, and safety incidents. This sentiment is echoed by Peter Thiveos in the aforementioned article, "In light of today's nation and global economic condition, organizations need to understand that technology innovation and automation is one of the best ways to identify additional cost savings in their operations. Companies should always spend on effective technology-and, in the author's opinion, they should spend more in a downturned economy."

Learn more about how the Intelex's Safety Management Software can help your organization improve its safety performance.

Intelex Technologies has released its latest software innovation, the Intelex OpenPass API, a revolutionary application programming interface that will enable its users to sync and report data between multiple business management systems.

The Intelex OpenPass API functions as a conduit for seamlessly feeding data between multiple software programs. This means that Intelex’s environment, quality, and health & safety, and business management Software can now share data with pre-existing business software applications; thereby, saving time and resources while maintaining a degree of accuracy that’s difficult to achieve when data is transmitted manually.

The City of Calgary and St. Gobain are the first Intelex clients to take advantage of the OpenPass API.  The City of Calgary used our OpenPass API to import employee and location data from their pre-existing HR system into their Intelex System. They also used the OpenPass API to export employee injury data (i.e., incident number with date and time stamp) from Intelex’s Master Incidents Module into their HR program.

St. Gobain used the OpenPass API to import training courses, employee lists, and employee workgroup data from Lotus Notes into the Intelex System and Training Management Module. By using the OpenPass API St. Gobain was able to quickly populate their new Intelex System with historical data that will be a key factor in reporting accuracy and trending.

If you think that your organization could use the Intelex OpenPass API to import, export, and sync data between a pre-existing management program and your Intelex System, send an email to client.relations@intelex.com or call 416.599.6009 for more details.

Hey Blog readers!  With the release of Intelex 5 officially in the books, the Client Relations Team, in addition to posting free Intelex-Exchange content, would like to continue sharing success stories and other interesting musings/developments from the world of Intelex.

Just prior to the release, Project Consultant Devon Ambrose, along with Help Desk Team Lead Jeff Preager, had the opportunity to visit with Kikkoman Foods Inc., in Walworth, Wisconsin for the purpose of conducting on site training.  If you’ve ever used soy sauce in any of your gastronomic culinary experiments, I’m positive Kikkoman is a company you’re familiar with.

Using Intelex’s Environmental and Safety Management Systems, this particular training session focused on Safety Incident Reporting, Document Control, Audit Management, Safety Meetings, Hazards and Risk Assessment, and reporting (Dashboard and Scorecard building). 

Several factors helped make it unique: the most intriguing of which was an Intelex initiative to enhance Help Desk awareness.  By having Jeff actively participate in training, the Help Desk immediately gained a first hand sense of both training requirements and client expectations.  Jeff was also able to form a more personable relationship with Kikkoman representatives, individuals he’s closely communicated with in the past.

Not only did Kikkoman benefit from having two trainers present, this invaluable experience has allowed the Help Desk to more effectively prepare for clients transitioning to ongoing support, something all Intelex clients will benefit from.

Intelex is happy to bring you the following Standard Safety Incidents (SSI) reporting tools free of charge on the Intelex-Exchange.  Two Dashboards along with a multitude of Scorecards and Configurable Reports aim to help make your SSI reporting process even more effective

DASHBOARDS Standard Safety Incidents Dashboard (1) Standard Safety Incidents Dashboard (2)
(1)			(2)

SCORECARDS
Standard Safety Incidents – Total Incidents This Year by Month
Standard Safety Incidents – Total Incidents This Year
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents in Last 90 Days
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents in Last
Standard Safety Incidents – Rates for the Current Year
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents Current Year vs. Previous Year
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents Current Year vs. Previous Year (Graphical)
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents by Status by Month
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents by Stages
Standard Safety Incidents – Search by Record ID
Standard Safety Incidents – Search by Date of Occurrence
Standard Safety Incidents – Tab Scorecard
Standard Safety Incidents – OSHA Rates Metric
Standard Safety Incidents – Days Metric

CONFIGURABLE REPORTS
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents This Year (Grouped)
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents Last Year (Grouped)
Standard Safety Incidents – OSHA Lost Time by Company (Matrix)
Standard Safety Incidents – Injury by Case Classification (Matrix)
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents by Supervisor (Grouped)
Standard Safety Incidents – Incidents by Nature of Injury/Illness (Matrix)

Attention Audit Module users!  A new Audits Management Dashboard is available for free download from the Intelex-Exchange.  You can also download several of the Scorecards and Reports used to build it.  As always, feel free to comment on how these products have helped your business or organization.

DASHBOARD Audit Management Dashboard SCORECARDS Outstanding Audits - Current Year Outstanding Follow-up Audits - Current Year REPORT Outstanding Audit Follow-up Actions

New reports and scorecards for the Intelex Audits Management Module are available to be downloaded for free from the Intelex-Exchange.

Once you've used the reports post a comment to let us know how they've made your job easier. Or post a comment with suggestions of reports or scorecards that you'd like to see built.

REPORTS
Audits Scheduled in Next 90 days
Lists all the audits that are scheduled for next 90 days.

Completed Audit Results
This report lists all the audits that have been completed in the last 3 months.

Upcoming Audits by Type
Grouped report listing all the audits upcoming for the current year.

Audits by Person Responsible
This report displays a list of Audits that are scheduled for the current year and grouped by Person Responsible.

Follow-Up Actions by Audits
Grouped report showing the Follow-Up Actions that are required after conducting the audits.

Scheduled Audits This Year by Month
Grouped report showing scheduled audits for the present year.

Upcoming Audits by Location
Groped report showing the upcoming audits grouped by location for the current year.

Audits Causing Standard Non-Conformances
Grouped report showing audits resulting in Standard Non-conformances.

Audit Scheduled This year by Type
Matrix report showing the number of audits scheduled this year by Audit Type.

Audits Completed This year by Type
Matrix report showing the number of completed Audits in current year by Audit Type.

Audits Scheduled vs Completed by Month and by Audit Types
Audits as well as Completed Audits for the current year by Audit Type.

SCORECARD
Number of Audits vs. Number of Follow-Up Actions
Graphical representation of the number of audits for the given year vs. number of follow-ups happening during the same year, grouped on a monthly basis.