An I.T. platform for managing the TPA’s strategic map and processes map (SCIO)

Responsible for the innovation project:

Management of Strategy, Quality and Innovation of the Tarragona Port Authority.

Description of the innovation project/innovation action:

The Tarragona Port Authority is part of the state-owned Port System and, therefore, it adopted in its day, the management by objectives system implemented by Ports of the State, derived from the Strategic Framework and the Strategic and Annual Business Plans of each port.

However, the TPA took the strategic decision to implement a management by processes system in order to obtain an ISO 9001 certification in matters of quality and point the organisation towards continuous improvement.

The fact that management by objectives (Ports of the State) and management by processes coexisted in a single organisation meant the inevitable task of finding I.T. tools that allowed for this coexistence without creating unnecessary duplication and taking advantage of the information for both systems. This is due to the fact that the corporate platform of the Port System (CMI) did not offer the possibility of evaluating the TPA’s map of processes, an essential requirement for the proper management of a system based on the ISO 9001 Standard.

Therefore, taking as a starting point the CMI platform, those involved proceeded to modernise it (access to the Web environment) and to design a parallel structure that would enable quarterly assessment of the indicators, sub-processes and processes. All this innovation work resulted in the SCIO platform, by means of which the progress of strategic goals, operations, processes, sub-processes and measurement indicators can be monitored.

This platform, therefore, incorporates the functionality of CMI, given that the goals of the Business Plan, the strategic goals and the measurement indicators continue to be assessed and the corporate information is relayed to State Ports.

The structural design of SCIO was carried out entirely in the TPA, and SOPRA STERIA, a company that designed at the time the Port System’s corporate CMI, was hired for its technological development.

Objectives of the innovation project:

To obtain a technological platform for managing the System of Management by Goals and the Quality Management System implemented at the TPA, certified in accordance with ISO 9001.

Expected benefits of the innovation project:

To have a useful and highly visible tool that was user friendly for all the people involved in the management of data with regard to indicators, initiatives, goals, sub-processes and processes, which would make it possible to assess the Strategic Map and the Map of Processes on a quarterly basis, and thereby guide the TPA towards continuous improvement, by analysing the data obtained and the assessments made.

Results achieved by the innovation project:

Since its introduction, the platform has been considered a strong point in the external audits carried out in order to obtain ISO 9001 certification.

Its implementation has meant that the people involved in the system of management by goals and the quality management system perform their functions in a single platform, avoiding the duplication of tasks and making their work more efficient.