Insights and best practices for construction management technology and project delivery
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Customer Success,
Energy and Resources
April 10, 2019
Oracle Aconex Helps Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Power the World
It’s been almost two years since Siemens Wind Power and Spain's Gamesa joined forces. Even before the merger, preparations had begun for the introduction of a company-wide project management system. Siemens Wind Power decided to deploy Oracle Aconex after positive experiences with Oracle’s Primavera.
The results have been extremely positive since Siemens Wind Power—now Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE)—chose Oracle Aconex for their offshore business unit.
SGRE looked for a robust, proven solution that was flexible enough to meet specific project needs as the company standardized their processes and systems across offshore projects.
"We had too many systems in use," recalls Dana Cojocari, the responsible project manager. The project was divided into smaller pieces from the start.
Transitioning from several disparate systems to one standard solution was too complex to be solved in one pass.
SGRE uses Oracle Aconex as a collaboration tool to simplify enterprise-wide communications. From the beginning, Cojocari informed all SGRE employees that they would be using Oracle Aconex, a point she emphasized through every step of the project.
This visibility became one of the most important success factors for the rollout.
"SGRE has 25,000 employees. It’s important to communicate regularly on such a big project," says Cojocari. Knowledge rollouts ensured that all employees recognized the benefits of using Oracle Aconex.
Flexibility is a key to standardization
A common solution was needed to gain efficiencies across projects, but that solution needed to be flexible enough to meet project specific requirements. In addition to their own employees, sub-companies and numerous auditing partners also needed access to the common database.
SGRE recognized the importance of optimizing their processes, rather than just automating them. Standardizing the data available in the company was also part of the digitalization preparation.
"We’re part of a fast-moving industry, so agility and adaptability are crucial," says Cojocari. SGRE was also under pressure to act from customers and partners to satisfy the market’s demand for digital transformation.
To meet this demand, SGRE introduced Oracle Aconex as a collaboration and information management system for all offshore projects. "At the beginning, the focus was on extensive standardization measures for documentation and service planning," explains Cojocari.
This would have included adapting to industry codes and standards such as RDS-PP, a reference designation system for power plants. RDS-PP particularly applies to giant projects such as "Horn Sea 1," the largest offshore wind farm in the world under construction. Managing that quantity of drawings and documents simply wouldn’t have been possible using manual methods.
Early on, SGRE saw the benefits of adopting Oracle Aconex. "The simple configuration helped us continuously improve our internal projects," says Cojocari. "That way, standardization and flexibility were ideally supported to meet the specific requirements of customers in each individual project."
SGRE’s digital transformation journey
SGRE’s successes stemmed largely from thorough assessment and planning.
"We conducted a detailed gap analysis of the current documentation planning and delivery processes in our company," says Cojocari, outlining one of the most important components for project success. In addition, she was in close contact with the project teams to collect requirements and insights throughout the project.
"Ultimately, the successful implementation of Oracle Aconex helped redefine the way we work," Cojocari says.
By the numbers
- About 700 SGRE employees are working with the Oracle Aconex solution.
- These individuals are working across 15 current customer projects.
- They are managing over 80,000 documents.
- 20 partner companies also have access to Oracle Aconex.
- There has been a significant drop in document access and review times.
- SGRE achieved a 50 percent reduction in the time required to distribute documentation.
"Even more impressive: by processing all site documentation through Oracle Aconex, we saved up to 5,000 working hours per project," says Cojocari.
Upcoming innovations: SGRE and Oracle Aconex – an open, cloud-based system
- Cojocari and her team plan to further integrate the documentation from global sites and harbors into their offshore project information management system.
- They also plan to improve their reporting to better front load their project planning and to help track deliverables such as safety documentation.
- Finally, SGRE can improve the performance and value for their customers by leveraging data to run analytics and gain insights, enabling more accurate resource planning and budgeting.
Key takeaways
- Recognize upfront that tool implementations are a fluid process reliant on the evolving needs of users and projects.
- Never underestimate the need for a solid process foundation that’s supported by the organization and management. Define and optimize processes before working to automate them.
- Engage ambassadors and promoters in the change project to ensure the initiative is widely known and supported. Gain representation from appropriate levels and disciplines. Demonstrate the value of change to the organization, projects, and individuals.
Explore how you can deliver project success with Oracle Construction and Engineering.
Hear from Cojocari to learn more about how her team uses Oracle’s Primavera P6 and Oracle Aconex to plan and execute their projects.
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