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Going from a multitude of diverse systems to IFS Applications has given Indah Water Konsortium increased control of its operations and made it more efficient. Now the company has a single, integrated suite of componentbased ERP software that has been designed for the energy & utilities industry. Other benefits are improved customer service and enhanced management capabilities. Efficiency Drive Demanded New Applications
As part of the company’s ongoing drive to improve the service it offers its customers, it reviewed the software it was using to support the business. Among the issues it identified was the inadequacy of the legacy systems for proper monitoring and maintenance of assets. For example, the company was unable to monitor equipment downtime or the availability of spare parts at different sites—a major issue given that the company operates almost 40,000 pieces of equipment, among which are 500 vehicles. Nor could it access information about manpower availability and utilization. Another issue was the difficulty of managing off-site offices, of which the company has many. Visibility into off-site operations was poor due to delays in reporting to headquarters and the fact that many reports were submitted manually. With almost 9,000 sewage treatment plants run by 17 different site offices, the challenges were enormous. Moreover, the legacy system offered limited functionality for financials and purchasing, making it difficult to monitor and control budget utilization at the various departments and cost centers.
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Integrated Solution with Proven Track Record
IWK wanted an ERP solution that would maximize the use of existing assets, improve response times and customer service, ensure compliance with legal and environmental regulations— while controlling operations and maintenance costs. Mr. Ravindran Karupiah, General Manager for IT at IWK, said, “We looked at a number of global vendors and after careful scrutiny concluded that IFS covered our needs best. The amount of customization required was minimal. Moreover, IFS had a successful track record in implementing asset management software globally coupled with a profound understanding of the needs of our industry.” Another aspect of the business applications that caught IWK’s eye was the component architecture, which provides the openness and agility required to easily integrate with other systems at IWK. “We also liked the fact that IFS could offer us a single, integrated solution,” added Mr. Karupiah.
Phased Roll-Out
In keeping with IFS’ policy of minimizing disruptions to business, the components were implemented step by step in two phases. First, the head office and 3 other offices went live, with subsequent roll-outs to 14 other regional offices. To accelerate implementation in the regional offices, members of the project core team received additional training from IFS so that they could implement the components themselves. This also means that knowledge and skills related to the applications reside within IWK, not just with the vendor. Knowledge transfer of this nature is another key element of IFS’ implementation methodology.
Enhanced Maintenance Processes, Better Financial Control
Immediately after implementation, the first benefits were seen. Maintenance and operational procedures improved, with the result that asset utilization increased and the company is now better able to plan asset replacement and growth. This, in turn, has increased the reliability of IWK’s operations. In addition, paperwork and other administration were reduced with the introduction of on-line purchasing and approval, for example. It also became easier to manage field resources, which improved the efficiency of field operatives and work methods in general. This also contributed to a general improvement in customer service, which is evident in an enhanced ability to meet guaranteed response times, among other things. IWK also improved its budget control, due to a great extent to the fact that IFS Applications provides more accurate, real-time visibility into enterprise data by means of KPIs. With more efficient control of financial and business data, IWK also improved its management capabilities. Decisions— and adjustments if necessary—can be made earlier in projects and can now be based on more up-to-date information. And the benefits were not all at the top end of the business. For endusers in general, the manual workload has been greatly reduced and more employees can easily access the information they require to do their jobs. Mr. Karupiah concludes, “The overall benefit of replacing multiple systems with a single, integrated business applications solution has been critical to achieving our key goals of greater efficiency and improved customer service.”
About Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd
Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK), a national sewerage company, wholly-owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated, is responsible for providing sewerage services to 20 million users, operating and maintaining over 9,100 public sewage treatment plants and 16,000km networks of sewerage pipelines, and providing scheduled desludging services to over 400,000 individual septic tanks in Malaysia since April 1994.
Benefits
- Improved budget control
- Better, more accurate realtime visibility of enterprise data via KPIs.
- Improved service to customer e.g. meeting guaranteed times
- Reduced paperwork and administrative efforts
- Improved management of field resources
- Improved efficiency in field practices and work methods
- Improved asset utilization
- Improved maintenance and operational strategies
- Improved planning of asset replacement and growth
- Improved planning efficiency
- Improved management capability
- Increased system reliability
Software
- IFS Financials™
- IFS Distribution™
- IFS Maintenance™
- IFS Document Management™
- IFS Business Performance™
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IFS had a successful track record in implementing asset management software globally, coupled with a profound understanding of the needs of our industry.”
Mr. Ravindran Karupiah General Manager for IT at IWK
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