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In today’s world, manufacturing has become more data intensive and heavily dependent on intelligent devices and on automation. Automation of all processes, right from supply chain to shop floor manufacturing to outboard logistics, has made essential disaster recovery planning for the whole organisation. Emergencies have made manufacturers sit up, think and plan how to handle them.

What if a disaster strikes?

Companies have no answer to unexpected disasters. Companies, that invest large amounts of money in data-intensive research, large capital investments and in skilled labour, need protection. Various questions arise.

1. Is a company bound to shut down if a disaster strikes it?
2. Would all the research, labour and money invested in automating a plant be futile?
3. How to plan for disaster recovery?
4. What are the tips for disaster recovery?
5. How do Quality Management Systems help in disaster management?

This issue of Quality Digest aims to introduce the concept of disaster management and its importance in quality management. Hope you enjoy it.

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Disaster Management: A crucial role of Quality Management System

A three-day blackout in August 2003 affected 55% of the 22,000 manufacturers in Ohio, U.S.A. The resulting loss was an estimated $1.1 billion. A manufacturing firm had to shut down 23 plants located in Michigan, Ohio and Ontario due to the day black out. Similarly, a fire in Mexico destroyed the warehouse of a Gillette subsidiary leading to huge losses.

As Murphy’s law states, “If anything can go wrong it will!” Disasters are unexpected and unthinkable. We cannot, however, afford to be unprepared.

Ensuring consistency in manufacturing operations determines a company’s success and reputation. So, companies cannot afford to ignore the possibility of disaster. A disaster endangers the physical assets, monetary assets and more importantly employees of a company.

Disaster Management is about specific cure or the restoration of damaged assets caused by unpredictable risk events. In the highly unpredictable business environment of today, it is imperative for organisations to have in place an effective disaster management plan. Business continuity planning refers to devising a plan to minimise the chances of interruption to a firm’s business operations due to the occurrence of a disaster or other such disturbances. Broadly speaking, it encompasses disaster recovery planning and business resumption planning.

Need for Disaster Management
Disaster may strike once, but it is sufficient to change the course of a business. Therefore, organisations should have a disaster management plan in place. Disaster planning often requires the organisation to conceive every possible setback that can hit it and chalking a plan to tackle each of these situations. The organisations should have the right people assigned to take over critical functions in these situations.

Preparing for a disaster goes much beyond implementing a QMS. However, following a quality management system can bring the necessary discipline that will help an organisation plan for and face a disaster. Organisations that are able to successfully tackle a crisis are often those that actually succeed in their businesses in the long run.

Disaster Recovery Planning
Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) is necessary for manufacturers as DRP ensures continuity in the face of unforeseen or difficult circumstances. A disaster recovery planning is fundamental for the well being of an organisation. So, it is expected that companies would widely practise DRP.

However, in reality, many a companies are yet to take DRP seriously. A web survey in US revealed that not more than 50% of the manufacturers had disaster recovery plans. Even these 50% were just backing up their data centres and plants’ information technology. The safety principles and emergency steps for handling industrial accidents were not adequate enough to see a company through major production halts. Even minor events like power cuts and bad weather sometimes damage a factory where all the information and equipment are stored.

Objectives of Disaster Recovery Planning
The primary objectives of a Disaster Recovery Plan are to make sufficient agreed-upon preparations, and to design and implement a sufficient set of agreed-upon procedures for responding to a disaster of any size in the departmental area of responsibility.

The purpose of these procedures is to minimise the effect of a disaster upon the operations of a department. The emphasis is on safeguarding the vital assets of university/college/department and ensuring the continued availability of critical IT services. Other objectives of the plan are as follows:

• Risk reduction and prevention to help avert any interruption in computing system, application, network systems and services
• Reduce confusion during any chaotic period by having a clearly defined course of action that will reestablish services as soon as possible
• Identify critical functions with consideration of priority scheduling
• Identify alternate sites of operation that provide the same or compatible equipment. Conclude formal backup arrangements with such sites as identified. Specify steps necessary to relocate to the alternate site
• Identify key personnel for each application, database or service so that they can be summoned without delay when needed
• Identify users of departmental services to be notified of delays and involved in the recovery process. Establish the personnel responsible for all phases of Disaster Recovery.

Disaster Management and Quality Management System
Quality Management System (QMS) has been propounded as a means to improve product or process performance to meet customer expectations. It has been put forth as a way of getting ahead of the competition and gaining market share. It has also been projected as a sure way to gain access to foreign markets like the European Union by meeting the standards accepted by them. However, QMS has another equally crucial function -- Disaster Management (DM).

Companies that have successfully survived a disaster are those that actually had the foresight to prepare for any eventuality. Having understood the critical components of their business, they have planned and prepared to overcome any setbacks to these critical components. Thus, whenever a disaster struck, they just needed to set their plans in action. Companies that have floundered on the contrary are often those that failed to plan and prepare comprehensively for eventualities.

Role of QMS in Disaster Management
How can a QMS help an organisation in the time of a disaster?

Here are some insights:

1. A QMS requires that the organisation formulate its quality policy. This quality policy, which actually specifies the organisation's mission and values, helps employees become aware of what they are working towards. When a disaster strikes, employees can normally be so overwhelmed with handling the crisis that they often neglect the very purpose of their business. However, a well -formulated quality policy can help them maintain the business focus even in such times.
   
   
2. A QMS actually replaces the 'police and thief' kind of system prevailing in many companies. In this system, an employee is safe as long as he is not caught doing something wrong. However, the QMS lays down principles that make individual employees more accountable and responsible for their actions. These principles that employees work by in normal circumstances, becomes a kind of second nature to them. Thus, in times of crisis, the same sense of accountability and responsibility prevails over the employees' actions.
   
   
3. A major advantage of a QMS is that it requires all procedures and activities to be properly documented and followed. This documenting of procedures and processes is a blessing in times of disaster. The documented procedures play the role of a map, showing the way to a company trying to limp back to normalcy after a disaster.

Conclusion
Every business must identify the skills and procedures to be followed by its employees to tackle day-to-day operations. A QMS requires that businesses identify these skills / procedures and provide training to their employees on these. An organisation following the QMS constantly identifies proficiencies required based on the changing organisational needs and provides the required training. Thus, in a crisis, the organisation is able to quickly identify the changes in procedures required, communicate them to the employees and train them on this if necessary.

Disasters strike without a warning. Never assume that a system breakdown cannot happen in your organisation. A little planning can prevent huge losses after an incident. It might take long to get things back to normal after a disaster strikes.

When disaster strikes, it strikes hard – Otherwise it would not be a disaster.

Some tips for disaster recovery are listed below:

1. Appoint a leader: Every company should have a leader to head the recovery planning team. However, only certified DRP professionals should be given the charge. Otherwise, the recovery planning system cannot operate effectively. DRI International is an organisation, which certifies professionals to undertake recovery planning. It approves only those people who have been thoroughly tested and have years of experience in handling abnormal situations.
2. Identify vital processes: A disaster planning system should at first identify some of the vital processes in the business. This helps the company to prioritise the operations and products. If the production halts, the company should decide in advance which operations should be resumed according to their priority.
3. Hold people accountable: The designated leader should be held responsible for recovery planning in his division. He should look after functions like updating the plans of his division, training and testing the employees and supporting the DRP chief. For instance at A.W. Chesterton, the General Manager of each division is answerable to the company’s President for updating the division’s DRP.
4. Document everything: “A single PLC failure costed a customer $500,000 a day due to power cut,” says the product marketing manager at GE Fanuc Automation. The General Manager at IBM Corp.’s aerospace and defence sector suggests that information about all the processes including the personnel working on them should, therefore, be well documented.
5. Maintain intricate details: At Chevron Texaco Corp.’s refinery, the best practices team leader recalls the 1998 hurricane, which left the refinery completely under salt water. He realised that it was easy to put the equipment back to work since inventory records about the machines and tools had been maintained. It is essential to collect information about each and every device on the shop floor.
6. Avoid gaps in plans: Minor gaps in a DRP can render it useless. The CEO of Sysix Technologies says that during a power outage, fax machines went out of operation. Minor and unimportant issues should, therefore, be considered before drawing up a disaster recovery plan.
7. Backup data: This is the most important part of DRP. Hot site providers like IBM and SunGard help backup data for companies. Smaller manufacturing companies can use cheaper technology like fault tolerant and redundant servers.
8. Arrange alternate workplaces: Backing up all the data would be of little use if there are no alternate workplaces. Alternate manufacturing plants should be made available (as backup) in case the main manufacturing unit is unavailable. For instance, Chesterton, which had multi-site operating units, had the provision of shifting one manufacturing unit to another, during emergencies. Companies operating from a single factory can use the space provided by suppliers or competitors.
9. Inform suppliers: Suppliers should be informed about the change in manufacturing plant location. This facilitates rerouting the deliveries.
10. Update the plans: DRP needs constant updating. Any change in the company should be followed by a change in DRP too.
11. Test the plans: The Vice-President of Venturi technology consultants advises testing of DRPs at least once a year. Shifting the production to alternate locations can be helpful here. At A.W. Chesterton, the DRPs are tested in small portions to keep the production going. These tests avert extra costs. However, they provide valuable experience and prevent repetition of mistakes.
12. Work with technology providers: It is more intelligent on part of the manufacturers to work with technology vendors. For Chevron Texaco, alliances with Rockwell Automation and other service providers proved to be highly beneficial. In 1998, Chevron’s Pascagoula refinery’s production came to a complete halt when it was struck by a hurricane. However, with Rockwell’s services, Chevron started functioning within a very short time. Rockwell built more than 1,000 replacement motors for Chevron on top priority to tide the crisis.
13. Work with IT: A company’s IT team plays a significant role in its DRP. However, the plans go beyond manufacturing operations. Hence, IT should just be a part of planning and work with DRP leaders.
14. Complete insurance: Adequate insurance should be in place for a company’s assets. This necessitates a proper rapport with the insurance providers. They should be in constant touch with all those dealing with insurance matters.
15. Proper implementation and use of systems: Lack of proper knowledge of operating systems may worsen a problem. The technology programme manager at Honeywell International Inc. says that most problems that lead to a disaster are avertable. To ensure this, he recommends proper use of communication and tool monitoring systems. Microsoft offers a free Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) document. It helps one understand the right use of products.
16. No cost limitations: Companies should not restrict their DRP budgets. The expenditure is worthwhile as it eliminates production halts. However, Chesterton distributes the cost to various individual manufacturing units to make it less burdensome.
17. Address PR: An effective DRP should take into consideration the post disaster public relations. According to the President of CommCore Consulting Group, public should be made aware of the explosions, smoke and other problems in a factory as an aftermath to disasters. Hence, a DRP should also consider ways to address the public on such issues.
18. Prepare employees personally: A Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) programme was developed to prepare employees to face disasters. CERT is a four-day programme ensuring that employees at Toyota are physically prepared to face a disaster. CERT aims to train 25 employees in every branch of Toyota in: Emergency search, Rescue techniques, CPR, Curbing fire, Triage, Fire hose usage and First aid. The trainers include a nurse and off-duty fire fighters. Apart from preparing employees for an emergency, the CERT initiative has fostered confidence and team spirit among employees.

Disaster Recovery Journal
The link contains all that you want to know about latest information on disaster recovery and business continuity. However, you need subscription to access the resources.
http://www.drj.com/

Guide to Disaster Recovery
The link contains a comprehensive guideline for generating a disaster recovery plan prepared by the University of Arizona.
http://security.arizona.edu/fileadmin/templates/content/security/pdf/drguidelines.pdf

The Disaster Recovery Handbook: A Step-by-step Plan to Ensure Business Continuity and Protect Vital Operations, Facilities and Assets
by Michael Wallace, Lawrence Webber
Book description
This book gives readers processes and techniques to develop a disaster recovery plan and protect their organisation in the face of extraordinary circumstances. It discusses how to plan disaster recovery, risk assessment and emergency operations. It illustrates how to write the plan and how it can be tested and executed. The book also discusses about the various assets most firms have to protect and how to cover these assets in disaster recovery plan. The assets discussed include electrical services, telecommunications, vital records, data, Networks, PCs, customers and suppliers. The book discusses how to prevent disasters including fire, virus attacks, terrorism, health and safety.

Disaster Management and Preparedness (Occupational Safety and Health Guide Series)
by Thomas D. Schneid, Larry R. Collins
Book description
This book discusses all the special considerations important in planning for disasters, from natural disasters to acts of terrorism to catastrophic events. It covers all aspects from assessing the risk prior to a disaster to the legal ramifications following a disaster. The text addresses the "how-tos" of avoiding common mistakes, which turn natural and man-made catastrophes into economic disasters. It encompasses not only the tried and true tactics used for decades, but also focuses on areas often overlooked during the reactive and post-disaster phases. Organisations can be prepared and be proactive by using this guide to make a disaster management plan before disaster strikes.

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