“Implementing Safeguard’s Crime Module has completely changed the way in which Wincanton responds to criminal incidents across the Group.”
About Wincanton
Wincanton is a leading European supply chain solutions provider.
• Employees 28,000
• Number of locations 420
• Number of workshops 44
• Home deliveries 34,700
• Number of vehicles 6,500
• Total warehousing space 2.8 million m2
• Revenue 2009/10 £2.18 billion
• Second largest contract logistics business in Europe
Project Summary
The Safeguard Crime Module provides Wincanton with a consistent risk management platform. They are now able to monitor and respond to criminal incidents across pan-European operations more effectively.
In 2007 Wincanton’s Group Profit Protection Manager, Paul Regan was looking to introduce a system driven incident reporting and escalation solution that would track and record a broad range of criminal incidents across Wincanton’s 420 locations. It was crucial that the system fitted with the existing risk management framework in place within Wincanton and provide them with a return on investment.
Business Needs
At Wincanton, a major incident reporting process had always been in place and captured all significant criminal incidents, but many other smaller incidents would go unreported. Paul wanted to find a way to encourage all Wincanton employees to report the smaller events to enable the Profit Protection team to identify crime patterns and target potential threats.
Solution
Rivo’s Safeguard solution was already being used within Wincanton’s 420 sites to record, quantify, assess and control risks in the area of Health and Safety compliance and helping to provide a safer working environment for its 28,000 employees. Working with the Safeguard team Paul helped develop “the crime module” to capture crime related data and provide Wincanton with the ability to share real-time information across the organisation, respond to criminal incidents more effectively and highlight any potential security gaps.
Benefits
Adopting the Crime Module as part of a framework for risk management and business continuity across the wider business has had a number of benefits for Wincanton which include a consistent approach to risk management, reduced risk and a reduction in the associated costs; improved data management and real-time analysis and intelligence led investigations.
Risk reduction and associated cost savings
Safeguard’s Crime Module provides the Profit Protection team with an early warning system of potential weaknesses and allows the team to identify problem areas which could end up being a high cost to the business if they are not detected at an early stage. With the Crime Module, tasks can be created and delegated and there is an instant escalation process built in. Safeguard’s Crime Module allows Wincanton to focus on all sites not just those with more obvious risk. Since the implementation of the Crime Module, the number of criminal incidents being reported across Wincanton has increased.
Having Safeguard in place has raised awareness across Wincanton’s employees of criminal incidents and sends out a message to all the staff that they all have a role to play and that even so-called minor incidents should be reported and not overlooked. This proactive approach to risk management ensures that the Profit Protection team is instantly notified when incidents occur and is consequently, better equipped to make cost-effective risk management decisions.
Real-Time Analysis
The Crime Module enables Wincanton to profile and analyse the data related to criminal incidents with ease. Information can be easily searched and retrieved in a variety of formats for accurate management reporting. As Wincanton are better informed about all criminal incidents that have taken
place across their locations, they are able to allocate resource more appropriately. For example, by identifying a particular warehouse with lots of low value incidents, Wincanton can target extra resource there to reduce the number of incidents at an earlier stage.
Intelligence Led Investigations
Implementing Safeguard has completely changed the way in which Wincanton respond to criminal incidents. The cost savings identified by picking up incidents of crime have justified investing in a new dedicated Internal Investigation Manager that investigates every single incident of crime. This level of
personal contact has had a visible impact within Wincanton. For example, Wincanton used to receive a report that indicated that an incident had occurred, but which often lacked details about the type of incident or its seriousness. This meant that they were unable to see if there might be a pattern of certain types of incidents so that they could take pre-emptive action. Wider awareness of incidents and the dedicated Internal Investigation Manager allows Wincanton to have more personal contact with the person who reported the incident. They are also able to quickly identify the areas that need attention and rectify the situation, for example, putting additional security, cctv cameras, extra manpower or fencing in place.
Return on Investment
Talking about the difference Safeguard has made in the area of risk management, Paul commented: “Safeguard is integral to the risk management framework that we have put in place and supports the whole crime investigation life cycle at Wincanton. We now have an improved method of identifying the risk areas and security gaps within the business and it has reduced the risk of loss across the group, allowing us to focus resources appropriately to prevent reoccurrences. This new targeted approach helps to maintain a safer environment for employees by increasing security and has delivered significant financial savings.”
This white paper details the measurable financial benefits delivered to Rivo’s clients through the implementation of Safeguard.
