Quality
assurance and
quality
control

Venturn organises and facilitates many exciting projects in the maritime and logistics sector all over the world. In this month’s Voice, we shed some light on one of our projects at Van Oord. Special thanks to Venturn consultant Danny Waterloo for sharing his experience at the company.

Danny Waterloo works as QHSE Consultant for Van Oord, a 150-year-old Dutch Contractor in dredging which since approximately 15 years has been active in Offshore Wind Energy. As QHSE Consultant, Danny leads a project intended to develop and implement a quality assurance and quality control process for subcontracting.

Danny’s tasks comprise of two phases. In phase 1, he states, “I investigated the needs and the gaps within the current way of working regarding the Quality Assurance and Quality Control,” which he did by interviewing over 30 persons. “In phase 2 we set up a scrum-team who will develop the process as well as additional documents and templates. As scrum-master I will facilitate the employees of Van Oord to make sure that the right items are delivered.” To accomplish such tasks he works together with colleagues from different departments: QHSE, Procurement, Engineering and Estimate, Operations and QHSE Systems. The biggest challenge of the project, according to Danny, is to get all the departments to work together. He has overcome this by making the scrum-team responsible for the deliveries which helps connect the different departments.

“Offshore Wind is a ‘new’ industry, which is still maturing. Within this evolution a lot of changes will occur. Change management is crucial in this, as well as making sure the company has the power to adapt.”

At the same time the challenge is what Danny enjoys the most. “I really like to confront the organisation, and make them think about their choices, actions and what the consequences are to make sure the company’s actions add value.” Moreover, he also enjoys the fact that within this project he is able to make a difference for the company. “Offshore Wind is a ‘new’ industry, which is still maturing. Within this evolution a lot of changes will occur. Change management is crucial in this, as well as making sure the company has the power to adapt.”

To the question what impact the project will have on the company, Danny answers: “In the end there will be less waste, more efficiency and an effective implemented way of working. A lot of personnel is hired every day, and it will be easier to instruct them on how Van Oord likes to work. Additionally, we will be able to show clients how Van Oord controls their sub-contractors. Towards sub-contractors there will be a clear way of inspections regardless of which quality controller does the inspection.”

Danny enjoys his time at Van Oord. “It is a great company, with very friendly and helpful staff. They really try to make you feel welcome and support you in many ways. Additionally, it is good to have an organisation as Venturn backing me up. Especially with delivering reports, which they can review and support.”