Guest post by Detlef Aden, GiS
Globally wind energy is becoming one of the most important components in the energy mix, joining a German trend. These wind energy plants are attracting public interest. This means that expectations for these plants rise as well. Wind energy plants must be reliable in their energy production. The historical approach of letting a wind energy plant run till it stops or crashes is no longer desired or economically justifiable.
The operators of such plants, or wind parks, are dependent on them working efficiently with as little downtime as possible. The less downtime, the higher the yield and the more interesting it becomes for investors. Modern plants are more efficient, but also more complex and susceptible to error. Preventive maintenance measures substantially lower plant availability. If maintenance is required, it must be provided quickly and competently. “Time is money” in the wind industry.
Comprehensive maintenance software solutions are complex, and very few medium-size or smaller enterprises can implement them. Therefore many enterprises have a heterogeneous mix of non-integrated systems and spread-sheets.
This is a challenge as managing multi-faceted maintenance tasks require deep process know-how and a comprehensive portfolio of ideas and possibilities.
Maintenance planning is a challenge for the operators
Wind farm operators, who project manage their own maintenance, can reduce the resulting costs if these measures are carefully planned and coordinated. A challenge for the operator lies in the selection and coordination of the suppliers. This is not simple and at times things can go horribly wrong. Until now there was no appropriate support available in the form of an integrated IT-solution for such requirements.
These requirements are addressed by the maintenance-oriented ERP solution of GiS based on SAP Businesses ByDesign.
Over and above the planning of maintenance and protective measures, the solution offers comprehensive ERP functionality, e.g. organize quotes and tenders for products and services, administer contracts and manage your suppliers – all in one system!
Independent suppliers for maintenance and project engineering
Independent Service Providers (ISPs) specialize in the complete maintenance portfolios of certain types of installations. They have to deal with big challenges on a daily basis. Their business model is based on taking on plant maintenance where service contracts with the manufacturers have run out. These businesses need sales and marketing tools to win new customers and retain existing customers.
A study of the Oliver Wyman Group makes clear that one of the most important challenges for a Service Provider is changing the sales approach – switch from reactive O&M delivery to active O&M marketing and sales including designated sales forces.
The deployment of an ERP solution that supports Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is particularly interesting for an ISP. Good to know that SAP Business ByDesign sets the bar here as well: develop your new business with the generation of leads and manage them from lead to opportunity to order. The system supports you through the whole process, including campaign management and competitor analysis.
Project management and maintenance (service)
Planning the maintenance of a wind energy plant is critical as they are not always available for downtime. Which components are required when? Who will be involved? Which work can be done in parallel? Which preparations can be made and preventive measures put in place?
Apart from the technical specifications of the plant, further parameters to consider are the qualification of the personnel and/or supplier or the procurement of substitutes. These aspects of wind plant maintenance extend classical project management, as a high level of technical know-how is required. Without the appropriate integrated IT-support this would be very difficult to achieve.
Bookkeeping and controlling
Operating wind energy plants and the provision of spare parts are cost and investment intensive. Banks, insurers and investors are important partners for operators and suppliers. These stakeholders want to know how healthy the enterprise is and will demand the most current financial status – a requirement that can place a heavy burden on the finance team. It is preferable to make reporting at the push of a button available to these stakeholders.
Result
To address all these challenges quickly and flexibly, GiS mbH is providing a maintenance-oriented ERP solution based on SAP Businesses ByDesign. Thus medium-size enterprises or startups can profit from GiS’s 25-years of maintenance and operating management experience, and can use a fully integrated software solution for various enterprise tasks, in particular, the maintenance and project management of wind energy plants.
Cloud:
This solution runs in the Cloud – an application running in the computing centre of SAP, accessed through an internet browser.
Mobility:
Each user can execute their tasks at a time and place that is the most convenient, including on-site at remote wind farms. This means that the entire enterprise is merged into the business processes: the management, sales, finance, and project management.
Current Data:
All employees work on shared actual information and there are no more knowledge gaps.
Cost Saving:
Interesting is also the cost saving in terms of IT-infrastructure. No more high investments in servers required. In addition the data is more secure than if it was in your own infrastructure, as it will be in one of the safest computing centers in Germany.
Track record:
GiS has a long history of providing reliable and flexible IT-solutions to operators of energy production plants.
Combining SAP Business ByDesign with our know-how and experience we have a complete solution for maintenance-oriented medium sized business like wind energy plants.
We are convinced that our experiences with conventional power stations will bring many advantages to companies in the renewable energy space, especially in the areas of planning, maintenance projects, and occupational health and safety.
For more information:
- Contact Detlef Aden via email: d.aden@gis-systemhaus.de
- Visit the website: http://www.gis-systemhaus.de/
- Learn more about the solution: http://www.gis-systemhaus.de/en/sap/windernergie.html
GiS will attend the event “20. Windenergietagen“ (20 Wind Energy Days) in Berlin. 25.-27.Okt. 2011
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:27 am
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