Shell going well after outsourcing decision

Practice does make perfect judging by the successes Facilities Management Company Pragma has achieved for fuel giant, Shell, which some years ago decided to outsource all maintenance activities to the company. Louis Volschenk, divisional manager facilities for Pragma, told delegates at the monthly Transport Forum recently that various reasons influenced Shell to take the decision, including poor customer service and an attempt to cut costs. “The initial FMC scope was to handle all the contractor management and procurement, the commercial reporting and payment of contractors as well as the maintenance call handling and data capture,” said Volschenk. “Various other elements were added as the contract developed – which saw us taking full responsibility for maintenance.” In the past ten years various lessons have been learnt, said Volschenk. “It is important that there is a clear allocation of responsibilities from the outset and that there is strict adherence to business processes. One can also not underestimate the importance of communication.” He said the main brief from Shell was that they no longer wanted to be involved in the day-to-day activities of contractors, which meant Pragma took effective control over the contractors. “Not only did we have to renegotiate contracts but we also had to get rid of the dead wood in the system. When we started there were some 200 contractors on the books while at present there are only about 110 involved.” He said having outsourced FMCs had not just proved better for customers as there was now a reduction in downtime and a more efficient and consistent system in place, it was also simpler for employees as they could focus on core activities. “The decision has also paid off for Shell as there has been a direct cost saving,” said Volschenk.