Odisha Power Generation Corp. saves time, money, and labor with Oracle Primavera Unifier

Odisha Power Generation Corp. Ltd. is a world-class power utility committed to the creation of clean, safe, and reliable energy while enhancing value for all stakeholders and contributing to the growth of India’s economy.

As a government company of the state of Odisha in eastern India, Odisha Power has firmly established its credentials as a successful power generating company both technically and commercially.

Operating state-of-the-art thermal power plants throughout the region, the company maintains global best practices by adopting, innovating, and deploying forward-thinking power generation and facilities management solutions to serve millions of residents and businesses.

Manual processes slow effective communications

Odisha Power works globally with multiple contractors and suppliers. Manual processes slowed timely responses and the supply of deliverables with the potential to affect power delivery and disrupt the lives of its customers.

Constant planning and management of energy plant operations, from managing valuable resource requirements to maintaining millions of crucial documents, also requires keen attention to detail and processes and systems to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Communicating essential information and documents via email, SharePoint or even through the postal service was slow, inefficient, and prone to human error. Email attachments were susceptible to getting lost or buried deep in a single employee’s desktop folder.

Silos developed, hindering clear, transparent communications. As the utility giant grew, their existing processes no longer met their needs and began causing loss of valuable time and money, slowing operations.

Implementing Oracle’s Primavera Unifier

Toward the end of 2020, implementing a secure, automated solution to manage communications was vital, so Odisha Power sought a completely new comprehensive implementation of Primavera Unifier for its projects in India.

Odisha Power began its upgrade in June 2021 from laborious, inconsistent manual process management to Primavera Unifier as part of its commitment to innovation and the development of a single source of truth.

"Primavera Unifier is easy to implement in any industry and can handle multiple contracts, projects, and resources.”

—Parveen Kumar, Document Control Manager, Odisha Power Generation Corp.

Odisha Power had the opportunity to use Primavera Unifier dating back to 2014 through an earlier joint-venture partner and was impressed with its ease of use. But as Odisha Power transitioned from its joint-venture relationship to operations as a world-class public sector organization, they wanted to expand use of Primavera Unifier so that it would be completely under their control for facilities asset management.

Finding a common data environment is important

“Primavera Unifier project controls is a powerful, easy-to-use solution for managing project portfolios, controlling costs, and managing collaboration and communications across projects,” says Parveen Kumar, document control manager for Odisha Power.

“Implementing an automated solution with a common data environment for all documents, drawings, and project communications would build transparency and enhance predictability to improve energy delivery. Continuing incidences of disputes and claim settlements also led Odisha Power to implement Primavera Unifier,” he adds.

A powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use solution to automate program and facilities management, Primavera Unifier is a comprehensive solution for asset lifecycle management.

Primavera Unifier handles customer-specific facilities management tasks, including service requests, preventive and corrective maintenance, inventory, inspections and facility condition assessments, and space management.

Massive document migration goes smoothly

Odisha Power also faced the daunting task of transferring 1 million records accumulated during a six-year span with its joint-venture partners. It was a challenge to retain all the data, Kumar says. They wanted all their project documents in house to maximize control, as they embarked on full company ownership.

Through the ongoing support of Oracle partner Hyde Park Solutions, which facilitated the document migration as well as onboarding Primavera Unifier, the data transition took only about 45 days and was smooth, effective, and timely, Parveen Kumar says.

Ankit Mishra, country manager in India for system integrator Hyde Park Solutions, works directly with Odisha Power. He agrees that the quick document transmission proved valuable to build an audit trail should legal disputes arise.

“The actual project duration took about 45 days but migrating everything took only 15 days,” Ankit Mishra says, adding that “testing in multiple environments” occupied the other 30 days. “They are using Primavera Unifier for communications and document tracking. It’s very important for them in case there are legal complications with a contractor. Primavera Unifier will help them pinpoint and track all transaction communications.”

Savings in time, costs, and labor

Automating processes with Primavera Unifier quickly improved efficiency and productivity for Odisha Power. Parveen Kumar has seen savings in time, costs, and labor. Mountains of paperwork and misplaced documents are a thing of the past.

“Primavera Unifier has automated the business process for document management and project records,” Parveen Kumar says. “We are able trace historical records easily. We now get timely responses since we have extended it to our main contractors, and they now transfer documents through Primavera Unifier. We can get all the records of documents with a complete audit trail and logs.”

Parveen Kumar adds that Primavera Unifier’s adaptability to be fully customizable for project scheduling and leveraging cost control is particularly appealing. Proven access restrictions at every level also ensures essential security measures.

With Primavera Unifier, the utility can send the queries, receive answers, send and receive documents and drawings from their contractors and suppliers in just two to three days. Previously it took several weeks when Odisha Power relied on the manual processes. Speeding these processes helps keep critical projects on track.

Parveen Kumar estimates that moving to an automated solution has created a 15 to 20 percent boost in overall productivity because of faster response times. The utility can instantly see a complete log of actions and build an audit trail that would have been extremely difficult in the past with a manual system.

Ease of use is another benefit

The reporting tools are fast and responsive, and the Odisha Power team can collaborate effectively through easily configured communications features.

“I like how is easy it is to use the Oracle project management tool. The capabilities provided are excellent and make for successful project delivery,” Parveen Kumar says. “Cloud and on-premises functionalities from the system are perfect, task management is easy, and it is flexible on data analytics preparation.”

Collaboration at Odisha Power also has seen remarkable improvement. With Primavera Unifier completely implemented, the real-time visibility allows Odisha Power to make fast, accurate decisions in a business where unnecessary delays could jeopardize the safe, secure transmission of energy to millions of people.

“Primavera Unifier is easy to implement in any industry and can handle multiple contracts, projects, and resources,” Parveen Kumar says.

“The portfolio management provides planners and project execution personnel a common platform for the collaborative management of project portfolios to ensure the most efficient use of capital funds. Cost management provides automation, flexibility, and the power to handle the most complex cost control, cash flow, and fund analyses.”

Complete lifecycle history is also managed easily with Primavera Unifier.

“All parties are collaborating and communicating effectively,” he says.

Find out how to automate your project and portfolio processes using Primavera Unifier.

Oracle Construction and Engineering, the global leader in construction management software and project portfolio management solutions, helps you connect your teams, processes, and data across the project and asset lifecycle. Drive efficiency and control in project delivery with proven solutions for project controls, construction scheduling, portfolio management, BIM/CDE, construction payment management, and more.

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