Complexity Is the SMS still Manageable? · PDF fileComplexity Is the SMS still Manageable? ... ©Marine Operations and Assurance Management Solutions Ltd 2014 What is complexity?

Martin L Shaw Managing Director

Marine Operations and Assurance Management Solutions Ltd

Complexity Is the SMS still Manageable?

Outline

• What is complexity?

• Why are we worried about it?

• Did ISM/SMS work and and will they continue to work?

• Complexity and the shipowner

• Strategy for dealing with complexity

• How to make things simpler?

©Marine Operations and Assurance Management Solutions Ltd 2014

What is complexity?

Complex

System as a whole cannot be understood by individuals

Changes generate emergent rather than designed behaviour

Complicated/Sophisticated

Can be modelled and understood with some effort

Changes may generate surprises

Simple

Understood by everyone Changes are predictable

Incr

ease

Un

der

stan

din

g/S

op

his

tica

tio

n

Red

uce

Co

mp

lexi

ty/M

ake

Thin

gs S

imp

ler

Complex Adaptive Systems

Features Goals/Competing for scarce resources Agents (people etc) that can learn and adapt to improve performance Large number of interactions Open system

© Marine Operations and Assurance Management Solutions Ltd 2014

$$$

???

Behaviour Alive Organised then suddenly disorganised Emergent (Surprising) Explainable after the event


Pro

ced

ure

s R

eq

uir

em

en

ts

and

Co

mm

un

icat

ion

s C

om

plia

nce

Cap

acit

y to

A

bso

rb c

han

ge

Is time a scarce resource?

Box Ticking

Corner Cutting

Time

What do I do?


?

Conflicting Goals

Your priority is safety, emissions, greenhouse gas piracy, security, making money,

doing things quicker, ballast

water, doing the paperwork

Duplicate /Conflicting Requirements

You need to follow the owners, charterers,

flag states, port states, terminals rules and

the qa system, chartering , accounts,

purchasing department, procedures

Systems Communications

ISO9001 ISO14001

ISM ISPS

SIRE/CDI TMSA

Budgets Planned Maintenance Spare Gear and Stores

Risk Assessments Incident Reports

Near Misses Port and Cargo Info

Why worry about Complexity?

Complex organisations are :-

Higher risk • Difficult and unpredictable to manage

• More unpredictable and unexplainable accidents and incident

• Confusing and de-motivating for the people within

• Brittle

Less profitable • Lost opportunities and profitability

• Lack of agility

• Cost more to run


ISM Objectives of ISM/SMS

1. ...safe practices in ship operation...

2. Establish safeguards against all indentified risks

3. Continuously improve safety management skills of personnel ashore and aboard ship including preparation for emergencies related to both to safety and environmental protection

Features of ISM/SMS

1. ...the Code is based on general principles and objectives

2. Expressed in broad terms

3. Compliance with rules and regulations

4. Codes from maritime industry taken into account

5. Commitment from the top and resources

6. Defined accountability and authority


Tankers-Did the SMS Work?

ISM Code

New Vessels Double Hull

Development of Port State and Vetting

Erika/ Prestige

Tightening of SOLAS MARPOL STCW

ISPS SECA’s

Piracy

Building Boom

Low Freight Rates

TMSA1 TMSA2

Ballast water Ship Efficiency

GHG MLC Etc


Other Traders 100+

Tankers (10,000+)

Tanker Companies (1,000+)

Port s (1000+)

OCIMF Members

100+

Other Charterer /Terminal Vetting

Organisations 50-100

Other Industry Organisations

(10+)

Other Port State

MOU’s (10+)

Other Port

States (100+)

Recognised Organisations (RO’s)/Class (30+)

IMO Member States (170+)

The system ISM/SMS works within

IMO

Flag state

RO/Class RO/Class

Shipbuilder Design & Build

Port

Tanker

Requirements •Contract •Specification •Modifications

Feedback •Plans •Sea trial data •Certificates

Requirements •SOLAS •MARPOL

Requirements •Class Rules •Surveys

•Surveys •Certificates •Audits

Requirements •SOLAS •MARPOL •ISM

Company

IACS

•SOLAS •MARPOL •STCW •ISM

•Arrival Documents •Cargo Documents

•National Laws •Port Regulations •Terminal Regulations

Port State

MOU

Port State inspection Detention/Sanction

Feed

bac

k In

spec

tio

n D

eten

tio

n/S

anct

ion

Inspection Detention/Sanction

Targeting Data

Public Domain

Info

Ran

kin

gs, b

lack

listi

ng

OCIMF

Vetting Org

ICS

SIRE

SIRE Ship Inspector

SIRE Inspection

SIR

E In

spec

tio

n

Rep

ort

Req

uir

emen

ts S

IRE

VIQ

Req

ues

t fo

r In

spec

tio

n

Operation

SIRE Inspection from initiating company

Owner Response

SIRE Reports

SOLAS,MARPOL,STCW,ISM

ICS Codes Guides

OCIMF Codes Guides

TMSA

Insurance Industry

Casualty Data

Terminal Feedback

Trader Vetting Clause

Vetting Status Feedback

Maintain Design

and Build

TMSA

Rankings, blacklisting

Will the ISM/SMS work in the future?

• The focus in the 1990’s was avoiding oil pollution

• Multiple goals, multiple priorities.

• Complexity is a function of time. 17 years since ISM became mandatory for oil tankers

– Organisation, structures and systems reflect all that has happened in that 17 years

– The world has changed and management concepts have changed

• What about continuous improvement of skills?

• Unlikely that ISM/SMS will deliver in changed environment

• Depends on how the owner copes with complexity


Shipping Company

What? Direction/Strategy

Core Activity Scale and Markets

Goals/Goal Conflicts

How? Performance

Structure Systems

Technology

Why? Values Culture

Motivation

Complexity-Influences and Choices Flag State

Legislation/ Compliance

Safe, Sustainable

Efficient and Reliable Operation

Corporate/ Commercial

Customers

‘Best Practice’

Litigation

Media

???

Strategy for Managing Complexity

• Reduce the perception of complexity by:-

– Education

– Standardisation

– Process and technology

• Reduce complexity by:-

– Addressing complexity generated externally. (industry issue)

– Providing clear direction for the organisation

– Making the right internal choices

– Building simplicity into all projects and processes

How to make things simpler

10 Rules of Simplicity

1. You need to put a very high value on simplicity

2. You must be determined to seek simplicity

3. You need to understand the matter very well

4. You need to design alternatives and possibilities

5. You need to challenge and discard existing elements

6. You need to be prepared to start over again

7. You need to use concepts

8. You may need to break things down into smaller units

9. You need to be prepared to trade off other values for simplicity

10. You need to know for whose sake the simplicity is being designed


From ‘Simplicity’ by Edward de Bono

Conclusions • Complexity is complex!!

– Complex organisations can be unpredictable, costly, unprofitable and unsafe

• ISM/SMS combined with the enhanced compliance structure reduced tanker incidents

– Compliance structure is complex.

– The addition of other requirements and goals (while legitimate in their own right) such as environmental, security etc creates goal conflicts

– It is unlikely that ISM/SMS will continue to deliver against its original goal in an increasingly complex world

• Complexity in the shipping company results from:-

– External drivers

– Internal choices

• Internal Choices..you are not a victim

– What you have to do is partly driven by external drivers but partly by your choices

– Why you do it is your choice

– How you do it is mostly your choice

• Manage complexity by reducing complexity and the perception of complexity

• You can make things simpler and be more successful too!! ©Marine Operations and Assurance Management Solutions Ltd 2014