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Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company,

placed it s confidence in ISO 9001 :2000 to

provide a backbone for supporting the

deployment of a massive SAP enter-

pri se resource planning programme

that has already seen SAP training

for more than 144 600

employees since 2000.

World’s biggest oil company usesISO 9001:2000 in giant SAP roll-out

As the world’s largest oil and

gas producer, Saudi Aramco

does things in a big way, includ-

ing when it comes to striving for

excellence in everything it does

by following three key com-

pany attributes : performance,

reliability and innovation.

And this drive for excellence

motivated the company’s

choice of ISO 9001: 2000 as akey tool for the deployment of

a major training and change

management process.

INTERNATIONAL

Like all organizations with

vision and mission statements,

Saudi Aramco faced the chal-

lenge of translating its ideals

of performance, reliability and

innovation into reality. To

begin, the company decided

to implement SAP across the

organization to streamlineperformance and improve reli-

ability of day-to-day operations.

But what exactly is SAP ?

SAP AG, one of the world’s

leading enterprise resource

planning (ERP) software pro-

viders, has captured 33 % of

the worldwide market. “ SAP ”

is an abbreviation for Systems,

Applications and Products in

Data Processing – a software

programme used by 80 % of

Fortune Global 100 companies.

The software is highly flexibleand can be customized to meet

the unique needs of individual

industries and companies.

by Tom Bartridge Saudi Aramco pump

station.

© ISO Management Systems, www.iso.org/ims


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/p27-international 2/528 ISO Management Systems – May-June 2006

Wide-ranging

In fact, SAP solutions within

Saudi Aramco make up one

of the largest and most wide-

ranging ERP system installa-tions in the world.

management, projects and

capital planning, aviation,

medical, transportation and

fleet management, e-train-

ing and professional certifi-

cation.

This widespread and remark-

able undertaking was pro-

moted by Ibrahim Al-Mishari,

then Saudi Aramco Corporate

Information Technology (IT)

Vice-President and Ahmed

Al-Zayyat, the SAP Computer

Center General Manager.

Both strongly encourage the

“ drive for excellence ” and an

innovative atmosphere.

In addition, one of the stron-

gest champions of innovation

is Fouzi Bubshait, Director of

the SAP Training & Change

Management Department

whose philosophy is “ the best

way to see the future is to

design it yourself.”

The main focus of the SAP

Training & Change Manage-ment Department is to ensure

the success of the numerous

SAP applications within Saudi

About the author

Tom Bartridge has over 15 years ofhuman resource (HR) managementand consulting experience with thelast 12 years focusing on the oil and

gas industries within the Middle East.He is currently on a consultingassignment with Saudi Aramco.

He was awarded the HR Professional

of the Year at the Human Resource Summit held during September 2005in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Tom Bartridge has a column in Human Assets magazine ( www.humanassets-me.com ) and frequently

publishes HR and leadership articles on-line at AME Info ( www.

ameinfo.com/news/HR_and_Training ) and Emiritisation.org ( www.

emiratisation.org/content/view/858/43 ).

Tom Bartridge, Change Management Consultant,

Change Management & Communication Division, SAP Computer Center,

C-B1001 North Park 3, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Tel. + 966 3 874 2358.

E-mail [email protected]

Saudi Aramco oil supply planning and scheduling contro l roomat Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco’s SAP solutions

cover an amazing range ofbusiness functions including

the core areas of dril l ing,

hydrocarbon management,

plant maintenance, supply

chain management, materials

management, warehouse man-

agement and generally all

information that aids in stra-

tegic business planning.

SAP solut ions also cover

human resources, payroll andbenefits, performance man-

agement, finance, quality man-

agement, strategic enterprise

As the world’s largest oiland gas producer, SaudiAramco does things in

a big way




Aramco by providing commu-

nications support, expertise in

change management, training

material development and

delivering training to ensure

user needs are met.By focusing on these pri -

mary functions, the depart-

ment has developed specific

criteria and processes that

provide world-class services

to their customers.

Ensuring quality standards are

adopted is challenging in any

environment and due to the

size of Saudi Aramco’s SAP

project the task seemed over-whelming. But what exactly

does “ overwhelming ” mean

in this context ?

Training

As one example, let’s look

at developing and deliveringtraining. More than 144 600

employees have attended

SAP training since 2000 with

the main training campaigns

taking place to support major

implementations at the end of

2001 and 2004.

Although many users received

training in more than one

function, there is no denying

that the number of participantshas been enormous (see Figure

1) and the programme is still

continuing.

Making sure each SAP appli-

cation is implemented suc-

cessfully is critical to Saudi

Aramco’s strategic business

objectives since SAP solu-

tions are expected to be oper-

ating within Saudi Aramco for

years to come.“ Establishing an atmosphere

of continual improvement in

the SAP Computer Center was

one of the best ways of pro-

viding value-added services,”

noted Ahmed Al-Zayyat.

One way of adding value

was to align SAP Training &

Change Management respon-

sibilities with the require-

ments needed to support SAP

deployment throughout the

company.

A business transformationteam was put together and it

developed an on-line method-

ology that defined the func-

tions, activities, tasks and

roles required. In addition,the on-line process was also

used to identify the specif-

ic competencies needed to

support the SAP deployment

activities.

The results of this endeavor

were noteworthy for two rea-

sons. First of all, the organiza-

tional realignment that took

place laid the groundwork for

ISO 9001:2000 certificationand secondly, the process was

so unique that a provisional

patent was received on the

methodology developed by

Saudi Aramco personnel.

INTERNATIONAL

Primary focus

This is where Saudi Aram-

co’s ISO 9001:2000 certifica-

tion enters the picture. ISO

establishes standards that are

consistently applied to mate-

rials, products, systems, test-

ing, analysis, manufacturing

and services. In this way, cer-

tification of conformity to an

ISO standard provides ben-efits to business, consumers

and, of course, to society as

a whole.

SAP solutions within SaudiAramco make up oneof the largest ERP systeminstallations in the world

Saudi Aramco corporate aircraft.

Figure 1 – Number of Saudi Aramco employees in receipt of SAPtraining 2000-2005.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

4 474

32 349 33 239

24 22822 729

27 590



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INTERNATIONAL

Within the Training & Change

Management Department,the primary focus of the

ISO 9001:2000 certification

involves services provided by

SAP training services, commu-

nication, change management,

end-user learning, administra-

tion and quality functions.

This was followed by two

ISO 9001:2000 auditor train-

ing workshops where 23 indi-

viduals, including division

heads and managers, learned

how to conduct conformity

audits. The ISO 9001:2000 task

force was also responsible for

developing a quality plan and

establishing the department’s

quality system.

Once the auditor training was

completed, the team focused

its attention on analyzing

existing processes, reviewing

and redesigning standardsand finally developing a qual-

ity manual.

This approach recognized

the importance of under-

standing and meeting cus-

tomer requirements, as well

as ensuring that all depart-

mental processes add value

to the business.‘ The best way tosee the future is

to design it yourself ’

Acquiring ISO 9001:2000 cer-

tification was no easy task so

Fouzi Bubshait and his team

laid out a comprehensive plan

to ensure the department’s

success. The first step involved

training the entire depart-

ment’s staff on the quali-

ty management principles

on which the ISO 9000:2000

series is based and on the cer-

tification process.

After the hard work – the reward (left to right) : the new Saudi Aramco Vice President of Information Technology, Abdulrahman

Al-Wuhaib , and Saudi Aramco Director SAP Training & Change Manage-ment Department, Fouzi Bubshait , are presented the ISO 9001:2000certificate by the Vice-President of the TÜV Cert certification body,Dr.Vougioukas .

What made this accomplish-

ment unique was that the

entire process, from proce-

dures to process f low dia-

grams, was completed on-line

through a dedicated Web site

instead of relying on a paper-based system.

The entire process wascompleted on-line through

a dedicated Web site

Saudi Aramco nightoperations.




INTERNATIONAL

Next, internal audits were

conducted throughout theTraining & Change Manage-

ment Department. The inter-

nal auditors completed 28 for-

mal audits during a five-day

inspection period and identi-

fied 81 nonconformities that

had to be addressed before

the final certification audit

could be conducted.

In mid-December 2005, the

certification body auditorscompleted their audit of the

Training & Change Manage-

ment Department’s quality

management system and rec-

ommended ISO 9001:2000 cer-

tification.

This achievement was remark-

able because the entire imple-

mentation and cer tification

process was completed in

only 16 weeks, compared tothe average 24 weeks most

companies require to achieve

certification.

involved from the start and, as

mentioned earlier, the entiredepartment received training

on the quality management

principles and on the certifi-

cation process. This approach

ensured that both managers

and employees supported the

programme.

Although Saudi Aramco’s

cert i f icat ion process wasnoteworthy, the real achieve-

ment was the acknowledge-

ment that the Training &

Change Management Depart-

ment is recognized world-

wide as a professional entity

for information technology

training.

Management commitment

What made Saudi Aramco

so successful at tackling the

implementation and certi-

fication process? The most

important factor was having

management commitment

during every phase of the pro-

cess. Management team mem-

bers were deeply and visibly

involved in all aspects of the

programme and were trained

to conduct internal audits.

Next, a concentrated effort

was made to get everyone

The certification processwas completed in only

16 weeks

Another critical factor was

d e t e r m i n i n g m a n p o w e r

requirements since the SAP

Computer Center wanted

to drive the entire process

through an on-line Web site. A

dedicated technical team was

appointed to support the pro-

gramme and the final results

speak for themselves.

And that brings us fu ll circle,

because pursuing excellencein everything we do is one of

Saudi Aramco’s corporate

values. •

The most important factorwas having

managementcommitment

(Below) The SAP Training &

Change Management auditorteam receives ISO 9001:2000training.

(Bottom) Saudi Aramco gas plant.


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