Facing AMP7 challenges together

Tania Flasck, director of consultancy firm Turner and Townsend talks to Utility Week about why communication is key to ensuring the supply chain can weather the storm after lockdown and what utilities companies can do to ease the pressure.

As restrictions ease, working within the new normal will add pressures in all sectors, for the water industry the challenges of AMP7 were already prominent.

“The biggest challenges for the sector are to meet customer expectations for less, driving efficiency and thinking about how to achieve outcomes differently,” Flasck says. “We need to be thinking differently for that. It is part of a massive jigsaw where all these pieces come together.”

She says the very real pressure on efficiency targets, cost and schedule impacts are going to make delivering on AMP 7 commitments even more challenging. “Organisations need to embrace innovation and agility, as well as resiliency planning, to address these challenges effectively as well as realise the opportunities presented by them.”

Flasck was recently appointed to the British Water board and sees the importance of making the voice of the supply chain heard, particularly as it faces this difficult period.

She sees two specific challenges to construction in the water sector post-coronavirus as the capacity and sustainability of the supply chain.

As the construction industry tries to resume pre-lockdown productivity levels, capacity will be an issue especially with required safety measures, protections and new ways of distanced working. “This clearly remains a significant challenge for site-based work, but we’ve also seen considerable adaptations and virtual working has been embraced and proven as a viable alternative in many instances,” Flasck says.

The sustainability challenges will relate to the viability of some suppliers continuing to operate at this time as uncertainty of work puts enormous pressures on businesses.

“There needs to be real openness – cash flow is an immediate concern for all suppliers and trying to get firms paid quickly will help,” Flasck says. In light of this doubt, she says openness about upcoming projects will give confidence to organisations to sustain themselves and see upcoming schemes they can bid on.

“As we start the new AMP, it’s critical that client organisations re-evaluate their programmes of work quickly, establish their pipeline of work and get this packaged up so that the supply chain is sighted on the future work that can help sustain them through this crisis,” Flasck says.

Whatever the new normal will look like, as organisations return to work and infrastructure projects resume Flasck says many hurdles have been tackled but anticipating what might come next is crucial. She suggests taking a global view of the supply chain and what that may mean for orders of equipment and material supplies impacting projects here.

“Other parts of the world are progressing further ahead of us – Europe and Asia are emerging so suppliers reliant on manufacturers in those parts of the world should be aware their order books are filling up fast – so demand is outstripping supply. But in the US and other parts of the world, they are lagging behind which is causing ongoing delays to supplies.

“All of this will impact schedules and needs to be considered in terms of AMP delivery commitments.”

To reduce delays to projects and minimise problems in the supply chain, Flasck suggests open dialogue and innovative thinking will help.

She says the flattening of organisational structures to allow easier access for all levels of the supply chain and improving engagement and communication will be critical to driving fast decision-making and new ways of doing things.

“Fresh ideas on how to deliver and achieve construction outcomes need to be embraced and implemented, and this means getting suppliers – and particularly SMEs – engaged in early planning and feasibility stages. It’s important for clients to understand how programmes of construction work can be prioritised and packaged up so that works can be delivered quickly.

“Ultimately it will be the organisations that can adapt, be progressive and move at pace that are most likely to minimise delays and realise the upside of the current situation,” she explains.

Plugging the skills gap

In order to move at pace, the industry and wider supply chain need to address and close up the looming skills gap. This of course existed before Covid-19, but there is an opportunity now to attract different people to work in water and retain those already employed in the sector.

Within the water and wider utility sector, one fifth of the workforce is over 55 and set to retire over the next decade, which will leave a huge hole in terms of skills and experience. However, there are chances now to bring in diverse people to fill those roles.

Flasck says that broader sector appeal and attracting as many diverse people as possible will give rise to more innovative thinking to rise to the challenges the sector faces in AMP7 and beyond.

She points to cross training, or re-training people who find themselves looking for their next career move as well as capitalising on the flexibility that working from home has enabled and use that to entice people.

The response from across the sector to work flexibly from home has challenged the traditional view of working set hours in a fixed location. Flasck believes now is the time to seize the opportunity this has brought and make radical changes that could entice more people to work in utilities.

“We have all been really adaptable and it has been an eye opener to the art of the possible. It’s incumbent upon us to seize that good stuff – water and energy are key services and we must seize on this as an opportunity to build on that momentum and positive reflection.”

Offering non-traditional working hours may make jobs appealing to people who have family or other commitments, predominately women are the ones who change a job or career to fit with childcare, so Flasck believes the flexibility seen during lockdown could reduce churn rates.

Preparing for the future efforts must be made to attract young people to work in the water sector.

“This requires concerted and joined up efforts to build the necessary pipeline of skills, prevent people leaving the sector mid-career, and capture the knowledge from those looking to retirement in the next decade.”

Flasck sees the pipeline starting from primary school. Attracting children to pursue STEM subjects, especially to encourage more girls to work in the sector is an important part, but she says it should go beyond just schools.

“How do we attract people from different walks of life and ethnic backgrounds? Outreach work might be needed there with families as well. Often blockers are with community leaders and parents who don’t see it as a viable career option for their daughters.”