CASE STUDY
Ian Macleod Distillers adopt Pisys Permit to Work system
Summary
Ian Macleod distillers adopted the Pisys Permit to work system across 5 distilleries. They have seen improvements in task planning and execution, risk management and improved management of contractors as well as better insight into all tasks undertaken at their distilleries
Background
Ian Macleod Distillers is an independent Scottish company with an 80 year history. They own a number of well known brands including Glengoyne, Rosebank, Smokehead, Edinburgh Gin and Tamdhu as well as several blended whiskies, rums, wines and vodkas
Headquartered in Broxburn the company operates across Scotland
Challenge
The Maintenance Management team at IMD describe some of the challenges facing the company…
“We own a large number of buildings of different ages and in different configurations and we have a constant programme of maintenance and upgrades to plan and execute. Many of these tasks are in high-hazard areas and involve working in confined spaces, hot work or working at heights.
One of our biggest risks is breach of containment – an unplanned release of a flammable substance. This means that our isolations management processes must be effective. We also use a large number of contractors who need to be competent to do the work we’re hiring them for – this means we need to check things like competence certificates and insurances before they come on site.
It’s essential that proper risk assessments are performed before work begins, so that everyone is aware of the dangers and controls associated with the tasks they need to perform. We also have several sites where members of the public are in close proximity to working plant – this introduces an additional level of complexity and risk. Our existing paper based permit system was not really suitable for the increased level of activity which has accompanied our growth over time so we decided to go to the market and see what was available.”
Solution
As it happens, John Kelly (Maintenance Manager at Tamdhu), had received a brochure through the post from Pisys. After a brief call and a demonstration of the system involving both John Kelly & John Colquhoun (Central Sites Maintenance Planner), IMD were able to start a trial with a couple of our distilleries. We were very impressed with the speed at which Pisys were able to get us up and running, and we started to see immediate benefits in terms of control and visibility of permits.
We made the decision to adopt the full system after a month’s trial and we’ve been delighted with how well it’s working. We have good visibility of activity across the sites and the time taken to manage permits has significantly reduced.
Result
The system is hugely configurable so we can alter or create permits as required. Isolations management is really straightforward and we’re able to keep good oversight of contractors to ensure their paperwork is up to date for the tasks they are doing. – overall we really appreciate the flexibility it gives us.
Cloud hosting means we don’t need to install any local software and Pisys hold the ISO 27001 accreditation which gave our security team confidence in their ability to protect our data
IMPROVED
Visibility
BETTER
Contractor Management
FASTER
Processing
Testimonial
We've seen significant benefits in a relatively short time, faster processing of permits and improved visibility of tasks have really made a difference to our operation.
