Adept Concept
Setting New Standards In Compliance Management

Long before the world started focusing on the requirements for regulatory compliance for both the internal control regulations and the ISO standards, the folks at Adept Concept had already caught sight of the fact that complete control over all regulations held the key to maintaining a company’s competitive advantage. When it comes to regulatory compliance, it all started back in the 1980s when the Norwegian Petroleum Authority (PSA) introduced the Internal Control regulation for establishing an internal control system (also called quality system) that focused on health, safety and environmental (HSE) issues. It was followed by the introduction of ISO 9000 series in the 1990s for process-oriented quality systems to ensure that quality was systematically focused in the vendor chain. However, even though requirements for regulatory compliance were part of both the internal control regulations and the ISO standards all the way from the 1980s, the focus on this issue did not start until after 2000. While non-compliance with regulations and referred standards started resulting in several accidents, delays, and costly incidents, it was only a matter of time before regulatory compliance gained the much-awaited prominence.

“Our customers can track all the changes at a glance and use effective tools to handle and document them. All responsible persons are notified by e-mail whenever a new version is available”

The organisations were quick to realise the complexity of the dynamic regulations and standards and the lack of proper tools to follow up. The experts at Adept Concept made a concerted effort back in 2002 when the first version of Adept™—a compliance management solution—was developed in the project with five customers.

Today, 17 years later, the solution has become a state-of-the-art general compliance tool for any industry or company AdeptTM is a cloud-based application where each customer can easily manage their own regulatory account and document compliance. To begin with, AdeptTM allows organisations across diverse industries to devise a compliance strategy through a sound and practical compliance process aligned with the customers’ strategy, policies, and objectives. Based on this perspective, relevant legislation can be easily identified, whether it is a risk related to authorisation, HSE, quality, reputation, or others. The core element of the solution is the client’s specific Requirements Library. Besides verifying and documenting both operational and technical compliance, AdeptTM’s Requirement Library can be used to access relevant legislation and standards in full text. It also provides all required tools and functions to allocate responsibility, define the relevance of chapters or sections, interpret sections as required, and verify compliance with the management system and for technical systems or installations.

Adept Concept has also developed an Update Centre that updates requirement documents with regards to the frequent changes in legislation and standards. “Our customers can track all changes at a glance and use effective tools to handle and document them. All responsible persons are notified by e-mail whenever a new revision is available,” states Haakon Meitzner, CEO, Adept Concept.

The process of implementing this well-documented compliance strategy begins with getting familiar with the customers and their objectives when it comes to compliance.

“Based on this common understanding, we propose/agree a combined implementation/training project/period where we configure the system and train the participants,” says Meitzner.

“We emphasize is that this is not a world championship in compliance; limit the scope to the strategic legislation and start with the most important, using the risk-reduction principle.”

The uniqueness of Adept stems from its ability to support any company approaching a general compliance process. “We offer tailor-made tools in a generic solution for company, by adding relevant legislation and standards together with company-specific information like linked management system documents, technical component, and organisational information,” explains Meitzner. For instance, AdeptTM has been used for 10 drilling and accommodation rig new-building projects since 2012. All units achieved AoC (PSA acceptance) and went directly into operation upon arrival in Norway. Prior to 2012, it was normal that rigs had to go through severe modification due to non-compliance with Norwegian regulations. On the technical side, while international standards are licensed and issued in encrypted PDF format together with strong copyright protection, the standards in such frames are close to useless. To solve this challenge, Adept Concept has been a participant and contributor in the digitalisation project initiated by Standard Norge (Standard Norway) in early 2018. This project has resulted in Standard Online now offering standards in a digital format that can be used legally in compliance tools. “Our system, Adept, is one of five systems currently approved by Standard Online,” informs Meitzner with pride.

With a strong foothold in Scandinavia and the rest of Europe, Adept’s projects have also received warm recognition in Korea. “Adept Concept is currently planning to explore the realm of artificial intelligence and machine learning to further assist the users in utilising the solution and guiding them through it in the solution itself,” concludes Meitzner.