Document Management Specialised Project and Procurement Management

Client: UAB Kauno termofikacijos elektrinė (Kaunas Heat and Power Plant)

Sector: Private, Energy industry

Business Overview

UAB Kauno termofikacijos elektrinė is the energy sector company, which produces and supplies the city of Kaunas with heat and steam. Company has two offices, in Kaunas and Vilnius.

Client Background

In the year of 1994 UAB Kauno termofikacijos elektrinėje began the era of changes. The company has implemented information management system, which enabled specialists to observe technical parameters and execute various work analysis of electric power station.

In the year of 1995 VĮ „Lietuvos valstybinė energetikos sistema“ has reorganised into special purposes joint stock company „Lietuvos energija“, and its branch, Kauno termofikacijos elektrinė, was renamed to branch named Kauno elektrinė.

In the year of 1997, on August 15, during the reorganisation of special purposes joint stock company „Lietuvos energija“ and its heat household, its management was passed to local government offices. It was a time when Kauno elektrinė became the branch of SP JSC „Kauno energija“.

In the year of 2003, on March 31, the company’s purchase documents were signed and the owner of Kauno elektrinė became UAB Kauno termofikacijos elektrinė.

From the year of 2003, December 31, the company is exploited by the UAB „Energijos sistemų servisas“.

To this moment the company is the main source of heat producer in Kaunas city.

Challenges

In the year of 2005 UAB Kauno termofikacijos elektrinė began rapid computerisation of the company. First of all the IT strategy was created for the company, which identified what types of information are non-structured and disorderly managed in it. Strategy also pointed out what types of systems would help to solve identified problems.

The first task was to organise company’s document management area. One of the main tasks was to connect remote company’s offices in Vilnius and Kaunas and to join their document management in one space, which to this moment was managed separately.

One of the main of the company’s activities management ways are projects, which mostly are planned and executed in long term and are quite complicated. The execution of these projects always involves internal and external contractors. This forms the demand to coordinate common project management area between all project participants and gather, with the possibility for further reuse, the correct project documentation. Inaccurate project results can be critical to further machinery exploitation and raise accidents. These preconditions were what formulated quite big requirements for project documentation management module, including proper data representation formats, possibility to work with big data amounts and project team collaboration possibilities.

During almost all executable projects in organization appear other activity – organization of purchase and management of all process of purchase.  After following it was formulated third task – optimize and maximally automatize this process in usage information technologies.

As soon as the first document management module was started to use, the obvious benefits were noticed. Firstly, the communication between Vilnius and Kaunas became possible, also registered documents gained common numeration and management ways standards. The company’s employees gained the possibility to be more informed about company’s activities with a help of system generated informative notices. As soon as company’s employees could feel the benefits and realised system possibilities they started to more precisely formulate their requirements and wishes, which of course led to more effective system function usage. This experience also helped to more precisely formulate and realise next modules, projects and purchases management and related documentation management, requirements.

ERP Solution

Effectiveness and less administration requirements in projects, purchases and  document management is the critical factor in all big and small companies in all sectors all over the world.

With the help of technologies communication conception from simple voice files or written text migrated into various format files, which can store text, pictures or sound. Also emerged the possibility to store all this information, classify it and register according to regulations, and what is even more important easily find it.

The conception of work area itself migrated from small work groups, working in the same room, to big groups which are allocated in distant offices, buildings, towns or even continents.

Increasing information amounts are even more difficult to control, especially through all the lifecycle, during which information must be managed and used, also stored, archived or even destroyed according to regulations and rules.

The projects, purchases and document management system created and implemented for UAB Kauno termofikacijos elektrinė meets all these requirements and more. System was created combining EMC Documentum eRoom platform best Web collaboration possibilities and features. Collaboration in Web medium became especially valuable between people who needs to exchange and share knowledge, seek to communicate with each other and coordinate each other’s tasks. To this moment, remote work places document streams and work course process coordination is quite a big challenge for all types of processes.

Seeking to realise all the requirements held for company’s system, and some of which were quite specific, it was needed to develop some additional eRoom functions and implement them.

The main goals raised for the system were:

• To centralise company’s document management, minimising the paper document amounts;
• Project execution processes optimization, standardisation and necessary documentation package preparation;
• Purchases execution processes optimization, standardisation and necessary documentation package preparation;
• To ensure management and control of projects and purchase work administration from initiation to closure;
• To delivery tools for management personal to observe executable projects and purchase;
• The improvement of internal employees communication;
• The preparation for business management system implementation.

After evaluation of held goals and after the definition of requirements for implementing system, it was decided to choose EMC Documentum eRoom as a platform for a solution. As the project goal was to create the collaboration based project environment document and work courseprocess management solution, this chosen tool first of all is dedicated to reach and expand company’s collaboration. The last thing was to adapt it to company’s projects, purchases and documentation management specific requirements. The functions which eRoom already posses have let quite easily to achieve the main goals, and those functions, which were needed as additional, were developed by UAB „ERP“ developers and effectively implemented. Finally, the solution was developed, which fully complied with all held user requirements for the whole expected system.

The project took about a year to finish. It would seem a long term, but as we mentioned, the company have just started computerisation and is having difficulties formulating requirements and demands for the system due to the lack of experience. In such situation, it was decided that the longer project term would let project members to better get acquainted with used tool possibilities and more precisely formulate held requirements. Finally, the implemented system was quickly fully comprehended by the users because of its Web medium and started effectively to use in everyday matters.

To this moment, company’s employees already formulate new emerging computerisation requirements and are preparing for business management system implementation.

Summary

The projects, purchases and document management system implemented at UAB Kauno termofikacijos elektrinė was a good start for a company towards everyday tasks computerisation. System implementation not only helped to review attentively company’s managed procedures, but also to create new ones, which were missed and the demand already existed. Also, system brought new ideas into company’s everyday work traditions, from now on the employees are more motivated to use system resources and depict their gained results using system tools, as it was also the first tool for company’s management people to observe results using informative reporting tools.

To this moment there are enabled optimised and usefully working office activities management processes, also complicated and especially helpful project and purchase management combined processes. In such a way, processes became executed more transparently and easier observation of their states enables. Additional advantage is that the system is based on collaboration principles, and that especially it is suitable for project activities execution, when project members are allocated at remote work places.

This system also brings benefits for company’s management layer, as from now on it is possible to observe company’s project and purchase document management activities summaries in detail with a help of informative various dashboards. System especially helped company’s office workers to systematically store and quickly find any needed documentation, project team – to manage purchases and projects management work course stages, centrally to save project documentation.

The nature itself of a system and its abilities make preconditions for its unlimited expansion, such as including into the system environment new tasks realisation, use it as employee connection into one unified informative medium. After implementing the system company already started preparations for further information system implementations and of course this systems expansion and integration towards business management tasks realisation.

The main success factor implementing this system was its simplicity and flexibility adjusting it to specific user requirements and demands. Also this system functions in a custom for any user Internet medium, which makes a vision of an especially friendly system.

Systems implemented:

Dragonfly™– documents management system.

Butterfly™ – Project management system.

Snowfly™ – procurement management system.

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