The Challenge

DP World is Western Canada’s premier Container Terminal Operator and Stevedore, part of a global network of 70 terminals that is spread across six continents.  DP World’s processes must be scalable and flexible to support anticipated growth, as DP continues to grow organically following the acquisition of the container terminal in Prince Rupert and recently, Fraser Surrey Docks.

DP World engaged Propel Solutions to assist with developing a Shared Services Model and establish best practices to ensure Human Resource, Purchasing and Financial processes support the organization across all terminals.  The objective of this engagement was to identify opportunities for the alignment of these processes to position DP World to take advantage of the accelerated growth opportunities ahead.

The Objective

  • Process Design: Propel conducted a comprehensive review of the current processes within three key areas: Human Resources, Purchasing and Finance. Our consultants worked with stakeholders to map 18 of their current processes into cross-functional process maps which included the technology used across all ports to execute the processes. Propel facilitated functional and cross-functional critique sessions to uncover opportunities for process improvement.

 

  • Capacity Analysis and Service Menu Development:  Propel collected inquiry data to gain an understanding of the types and frequencies of the requests received by each area.  Additionally, Propel conducted an Activity Analysis through interviewing stakeholders. The analysis outlined processes and activities that would be performed by the Shared Services Centre. Information was used to develop a Services Menu to support a tiered Shared Services Model.

 

  • Design and Implementation of Recommendations: Over 40 method changes were developed that would consolidate activities, reduce handovers of information, improve roles and responsibilities, and streamline technology to support business processes.

 

  • Development of a Management Toolkit: Propel’s Business Process Improvement team worked with executives to develop a comprehensive Management Toolkit with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure success on daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Daily operating reports were installed to communicate results and problem solve variances on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis. Additionally, tools were developed to help each of the areas to plan and schedule workload.

The Result

The Business Process Review provided the DP World with the data and tools to achieve process and service improvements through clearly defined roles and responsibilities and standardization of processes.  This project aligned the three departments to support the strategic objectives of DP World, through creating an effect Shared Service Model to support the existing terminals and future growth of DP World.  As a result of the process implementations and Management Toolkit installation, Supervisors have greater visibility into their operations, enabling management to proactively predict and identify potential problems.