Stena is a name that many may associate with the classic shipping industry. And it is certainly true that it is engaged in a significant shipping business - the fleet of ships includes over 100 vessels. But that's only part of the truth about the family-owned Gothenburg company.
Stena AB is one of three groups in the Stena sphere. It is an extensive group with operations in a wide range of areas: shipping, real estate, oil drilling, travel, kitchen fittings, garden stores and much more. As an indication, Stena is the landlord of around 27,000 homes and premises, operates hundreds of wind turbines and runs five drilling units. Its total turnover is around SEK 50 billion.
Such a large and complex business makes it extra important to work in a structured way. For this work to be effective, a well-functioning system support is required.
Silo thinking no longer works
So what does it mean to work efficiently? Caroline Jakobsson, Head of Corporate Governance at Stena AB, knows. Her desk includes three important areas: regulatory compliance, information security and internal control for the group.
The great benefit lies in finding a structure that allows us to connect what we do.
- They are three different areas, but as we see it, they go into each other," explains Caroline. They represent different aspects of risk management. Risk is central to every aspect of what we do. When everything is so intertwined, you can't work in silos. The big benefit is to find a structure where we can connect what we do, so that we work in a structured way and avoid duplication.
Caroline describes how Stena strives to create a whole at group level. "It's something we're constantly working on - a constant effort to improve processes and working methods and meet new requirements and control needs.
The difference with Stratsys
Compared to how everything once started, the difference is noticeable.
- It may seem remote today, but previously we were using Excel, Word and PowerPoint to follow up the internal control work linked to the financial reporting. It was from this situation that we identified the need for a system support.
The choice fell on the Stratsys platform. Caroline and her colleagues quickly realized the benefits of having more areas together. The work became even more transparent and easy to work with, also when it came to follow-up and reporting.
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Caroline Jakobsson, Head of Corporate Governance, Stena AB
New areas added
Gradually, other products started to be added to the Stratsys platform.
- As I said, we started with internal control. But at the same time, we wanted to get our risk work into the system and built our Enterprise Risk Management structure into Stratsys. Something that we previously handled in PowerPoint. Risk management and compliance monitoring are also areas that we have included in Stratsys.
Information security and sustainability on the radar
A related issue was information security, which is also linked to GDPR, among other things. The register list has been in Stratsys for many years, but work is now underway to implement the entire Stratsys ISO-27 000 module - part of the Information Security & Data Protection product.
Magnus Carling works as Chief Information Security Officer:
- In our industry, it's a constant race against the clock. We see risks emerging faster than controls can be put in place. The threats are also more sophisticated than before. The conclusion for us was that we need to invest in an adaptive model that can help us anticipate risks and mitigate them, without compromising efficiency. So Stratsys was a natural choice.
Magnus Carling, Chief Information Security Officer, Stena AB
The work of integrating different areas into the platform has by no means stopped. One current area is sustainability, where a lot is happening - not least because of increased regulatory requirements, according to Caroline.
- As for the sustainability risk analysis, we've been doing it in Stratsys for a long time. But we started implementing the Sustainability Management product early this spring.
Someone who knows why Stratsys was chosen is Julia Eriksson, who works as Sustainability Controller at Stena AB:
- Stena AB is a large group with many different companies. We needed a system that helps us document and follow up in a uniform way. An important advantage is also that we can support the companies and help them to live up to increased sustainability requirements.
Julia Eriksson continues:
- We chose Sustainability Management in Stratsys because we were already using the system for our sustainability risk analyses, among other things, and saw the need for system support for other sustainability areas as well. Now we can also document double materiality analyses, CSRD gap analyses and sustainability goals in addition to our risks. This is something that really helps in our case.
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Julia Eriksson, Sustainability Controller, Stena AB
A huge strength
Compliance and safety work play an important role in Stena's business. The Group is seeing a growing need to work systematically with these areas. The demands come not only from within the organization, but also from external stakeholders. The requirements are also becoming more numerous, more complex and more time-consuming.
In this work, it is an enormous strength to have a system support like Stratsys in the back, says Caroline.
We have a structured way of managing the challenges and expectations we face.
- Thanks to Stratsys, we have a structured way of dealing with the challenges and expectations we face from different quarters. It also facilitates internal review and reporting internally to the Audit Committee and the Board. From a group perspective, it is also about being able to be clear in our expectations towards the companies - what rules and requirements we have and how we can help them.
Well on the way to success
Work is currently underway to link up and streamline the work in Stratsys even more. The goal is clear, if you ask Caroline.
With Stratsys as a partner, we have every chance of success.
- For us, it becomes more obvious every day. We want to bring all our work together to take advantage of the benefits it brings. We don't see our different responsibilities as separate silos, but as a coherent whole where we want to make the necessary connections. Then I think we can create a strong whole. And with Stratsys as a partner, we have every chance of succeeding.
