Quality management for a water and waste business unit

In March 2011 the Dunedin City Council (DCC) delivered a bespoke Quality Management System (QMS) to its Water & Waste Business Unit (WWSBU) staff. This paper focuses on the rationale behind the decision to implement the system, the challenges, benefits and lessons learnt during the development process.

In early 2008 the WWSBU underwent major change to its organisational structure. Traditionally the water, waste and solid waste businesses operated as stand alone entities each with independent management. The merge of the entities, coupled with the inception of a new Asset Planning team was a key driver to review business priorities and approaches. Against this backdrop of change, the business unit joined 46 other water utilities in an international asset management process benchmarking exercise. The benchmarking comparison highlighted an opportunity to strengthen business processes and documentation - so the creation of a centralised QMS began.

The QMS has emerged as a key driver of improvement. The journey has included the development and implementation of in-house intellectual property. It has involved collaborative working, challenged traditional thinking and promoted an information sharing culture. The outcome, a suite of robust business quality documents and support reference material, hosted on a web based Quality Management Framework tool.