Learn to manage risk ahead of unpredictable events: RiskLogik

Avatar photo

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Risk and resilience solutions were given the spotlight during the Critical Program Supply Chain Risk Analysis and Management Project session at this year’s Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association conference.

Tackling unpredictable and often perilous events is not a preclusion of the trucking industry and the team at RiskLogik endeavours to mitigate damage from unexpected incidents.

At RiskLogik, trained risk managers determine specific risks to an industry and establish degrees of likelihood and consequence.

“We want to help people make decisions should an event occur,” said Rory Kilburn, RiskLogik vice-president. “Events can be manmade, natural disaster and it could also be a deliberate attack (from a) militant, terrorist or activist group.”

The team at RiskLogik has developed a three-step process that can mitigate damages to an industry in the event of risk.

The first step is discovery.

“This basic step is about gathering information and we are the masters of process but we have to go out and ask industry-specific questions from experts,” Kilburn said. “We need help from the industry.”

RiskLogik creates a model that prioritizes risks and vulnerabilities and depicts potential consequences. RiskOutLook software, created by the company, reveals the various paths of exposure to risk.

The discovery process involves in-depth research, which is garnered from industry experts and collected by the team at RiskLogik. The thorough examination of an industry sector allows RiskLogik managers to gain comprehensive knowledge and leads it to the second step: analysis.

“Once we gather all the data, we build a model,” said Kilburn. “We look at the dependencies between all risks. We ask, ‘if this risk happens, how will it affect other risks?”

The RiskOutLook software navigates past obvious cause-and-effect situations and examines a longer sequence of disruptive events.

“Analyzing the model means we will run it through some tests (to determine) if it acts like it does in real life, if an event actually occurs and we will compare it against past events and ask if that make sense. If it doesn’t, we have to go back and change some values and go back and ask industry experts if it makes sense.”

The last step is mitigation.

“Most people wait for something to happen and then when something happens they react. Our position is, if you react ahead of time, you can save up to 50% (of the cost),” Kilburn said.

According to Kilburn, had the city of Calgary implemented the RiskLogik approach, the damages from its $6-billion flood could have been reduced by 50%.

“We believe we can help (this industry),” said Kilburn. “The company is built not on going in and doing things for people, but teaching people how to do things for themselves. The trucking industry has been built on just-in-time delivery – you can’t do just-in-time resilience. You have to have a plan ahead of time. Have a plan for when something happens and I say ‘when’ not ‘if because something always happens. We just don’t know when.”

Risk managers teach companies how to use their software once a program has been tailor-designed for their business.

“Manage the risk ahead of time,” Kilburn said.

Avatar photo

Truck News is Canada's leading trucking newspaper - news and information for trucking companies, owner/operators, truck drivers and logistics professionals working in the Canadian trucking industry.


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*

  • We understand risk for our processes, procedures and systems… what about with our customers?

    The 1st order of business is to make a profit and to do so requires seamless efficiency. This comes with the investment in systems yes, but more importantly in the people who are it’s customers…

    Customer service and customer retention need to be integrated into the corporate culture, the difference between success and failure; It is about better customer care.