Over 300,000 Sheets of Paper Saved and Counting
Marlborough Highways has created a digital work management platform called QUEST, which links every department and colleague throughout the business in real time, allowing the company to perform holistically and more efficiently. Accessible by desktop but created with employee smart phones and tablets in mind, the customised system has all but eliminated the use of hard copy documentation, helping the organisation to stream-line processes and to reduce waste. Marlborough’s in-house tech developers are delighted to announce that they have rolled out a new app feature, which shows users exactly how much paper they have saved. To date, the equivalent of more than 30 trees have been conserved thanks to QUEST and the digitalisation of Marlborough’s operations.
QUEST is a purpose-built system designed to support practices spanning a multitude of disciplines, including quantity surveying, health and safety, human resources, waste management, training, and supplier processing. The platform also acts as an internal communications system, with a dedicated news portal, updating staff across the business with accurate, up-to-the-minute information. Delivering improved organisational performance in a legally compliant way, QUEST provides detailed reporting and has excellent monitoring capabilities. With its easy-to-use dashboard, the interface processes large amounts of data, drastically cutting the company’s use of paper and enabling quantity surveying teams and Project Managers to deploy materials and resources more efficiently.
Since its launch in 2017, QUEST has gone from a basic system used by a handful of staff to a complex, fully integrated highways platform boasting over 50 apps with more than 300 active Marlborough users. In this time, it has been calculated that QUEST has saved 348,105 sheets of paper, with operatives and office-based staff able to complete and share a huge variety of documentation within the app. The waste saving is displayed by the comparable number of trees, with 10,000 pieces of A4 equating to one tree saved. The new QUEST feature also provides a breakdown of paper efficiencies by function, with the total number of job sheets and feedback forms completed digitally amongst those listed.
The paper saving tracker feature on QUEST is the latest initiative from Marlborough in its ongoing drive to operate ever more sustainably. With a commitment to become Carbon Neutral by 2025, employees are passionate about working in a greener and cleaner way, with the company fast becoming a leader in the decarbonisation of the industry. The protection of trees and the creation of greener spaces in which Marlborough operates forms a key part of this strategic approach, as does the installation of sustainable urban drainage systems, which limit water waste, reduce flooding, and help provide habitats for wildlife.
As well as preserving existing trees, Marlborough is committed to introducing more, with a pledge to plant one tree per carbon dioxide equivalent produced per contract, reducing emissions, and improving air quality. The highways company also regularly project manages public realms schemes, which includes the introduction of trees, plant life, flowers, and other foliage. Marlborough’s biggest tree planting programme to date, was in partnership with Hackney Council, when 5,000 saplings were planted across the London borough over a period of two years, in one of the biggest projects of its kind in the country.
Mathew Nebu, Director of QHSE and Digitalisation, Marlborough Highways said “QUEST is a powerful tool that is helping us to operate in a better, more environmentally friendly way. The bespoke system was created for our needs, but it benefits not only our clients, but every community in which we serve. The new tree saving feature lets us know exactly how much paper waste has been prevented and is helping us to think about how we can operate even more sustainably.”