Norse Cutting & Abandonment

NCA is experiencing increased demand for its services. The company is even exceeding its own estimates. “A previously assumed growth of 65 percent has now been adjusted to 100 percent in 2006, and similar growth is expected in the coming years,” says Knut Bang, CEO of NCA. “With IFS Applications we have an integrated, efficient and flexible solution that meets our Oil & Gas functionality requirements and enables us to control growth. It provides us with improved visibility, quality and security in our global operations.”

Rapid growth demanded a flexible standard industry solution

“The reason for this growth is our unique technology, competent people, and a growing market for removal of oil and gas platforms,” says Knut Bang. “NCA’s market potential is huge, and our challenge is to grow in a controlled manner where we at all times have complete control of, and can assure, quality in all aspects of our business”. 

NCA has already established a company in Houston, and are now starting up in Aberdeen. Later NCA is planning to establish companies in Dubaiand Singaporeas well. “We need to be where the market is, and therefore we are expecting our international activity to increase in the years to come,” adds Bang. 

The objective for NCA was to improve the visibility, quality and security of their operations, and to find a standard industry solution with the flexibility and scalability necessary to support the continued internationalization of the business. 

Previously NCA was running a financial system together with a number of fragmented systems based mainly on spreadsheets. The systems were not integrated, and the lack of control meant they had no consolidated view of their projects, resource allocation, material management, or maintenance and rental requirements. These systems were not capable of handling the rapid growth the company was experiencing.

Careful selection

NCA wanted to establish an integrated IT architecture that would handle the rapid business expansion and that would effectively support the company’s project-intensive work processes. One of the main requirements was that data about projects and equipment, and other information needed to run seamlessly through the system and provide full visibility at all levels. 

In cooperation with the consultancy firm, Ernst & Young, NCA evaluated every provider of ERP systems in the Norwegian market before IFS was selected. “In addition to extensive functionality and a global presence, IFS’ in-depth industry knowledge of the offshore industry was a key reason for selecting IFS,” says Bang. 

“IFS has long experience of delivering business solutions to service providers in the oil- and offshore industry. The company knows the business needs of our industry. Moreover, IFS delivers a standard package so the system has already been developed and proven with other companies in the industry. This was important to us. We did not have the time to wait for the development of new software nor the resources to support the software vendor with functional specifications for required modifications. The IFS offering with a standard industry solution has proven to be crucial to allowing us to implement business- critical systems in less than 3 month,” says Bang.

IFS provides integrated project, material and financial control

IFS Applications is perfectly suited for project-intensive organizations and provided a solution with an efficient information flow to secure the necessary overview and financial control. IFS supplied a process-oriented solution with seamless integration between the different areas.

Business-critical systems up in less than three months

NCA had a strong desire to get the systems operational as soon as possible. NCA’s business is seasonal, and it needed to implement the financial and logistical systems prior to the start of peak season. Delays would mean that implementation would have to be postponed for one year, which would increase the complexity dramatically. “One of the main advantages of the IFS solution is its component-based architecture. This was crucial to us as it meant the implementation could be done in stages and that we could focus on the most critical aspects first,” explains Bang. “Thanks to this unique technology and the competent IFS people, the financials and logistics components were up and running in less than three months.” 

“The step-by-step implementation also ensured that our organizations were given vital time and training to adjust to the changes. We cannot afford any downtime, and thanks to the step-by-step implementation process and the skillful people at IFS, things have gone very smoothly,” adds Bang.

A global solution that grows with NCA

The second phase of this project will now add maintenance, project management, document management, CRM, engineering, HR and business performance components, and create a holistic integrated business solution that will be vital for monitoring, measuring and managing the future growth of NCA. 

The benefits of IFS Applications global architecture is further illustrated by NCA recently being awarded the contract for cutting services related to the damage caused in the USby the hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The USmarket is growing strongly and this demands that the system needs to be implemented in the USsooner than scheduled. Again the focus is on implementing the most critical components first in order to handle this large growth.

About NCA

Norse Cutting & Abandonment (NCA) has since it was founded in 1999 developed into the most complete provider of specialist services for offshore removal operations. The company strategy involves rapid growth, primarily through internationalization, but also through taking on a broader scope. NCA is a Norwegian company headquartered in Stavanger, and provides services worldwide through several operational offices and agents. NCA has developed a unique, patented technology within well operations, subsea cutting and removal operations.