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Ostroleka Power Stations Group, situated in northeastern Poland about 120 km from Warsaw, purchased IFS Applications as a vital ingredient in preparing the company for the privatization process that has been commenced in Poland. IFS Maintenance, IFS
Distribution and IFS Financials form the basis of the company’s ambition to streamline budgeting, identify sources of costs and involve all levels of staff in running operations.
The setting
Since 1990 Poland has been undergoing a transformation in the ownership structure of its economy. New private businesses are developing, and many of the traditional state-controlled companies are being transformed into State Treasury Corporations
(STC), which means that while the stock is 100% state-owned, the company operates on a commercial basis. Coupled to this are the new energy guidelines established by the Polish Cabinet in 1996 for implementing reforms in the energy sector, which allow
third-party access to the national grid. The guidelines also seek to create a competitive energy market and promote environmental protection. Ostroleka Power Plant is an STC, at present providing electricity for the national grid but eventually offering
power direct to customers as well. And like other STCs, the transition from state control to commercial enterprise is one of the major challenges facing the company today. With a position among the top 15 of over 50 power plants in Poland, Ostroleka is a
respected player in the market. The solution
Ostroleka chose IFS Maintenance, IFS Financials and IFS Distribution for a variety of reasons. First, references from other power plants where IFS solutions had been implemented were very important. Furthermore, of all the other vendors considered, IFS
best fulfilled the criteria set up by the company, providing the functionality that Ostroleka required to take it into the next millennium. IFS’ decentralised research and development operation weighed heavily in this respect. With one section of IFS
R&D located in Poland, closeness to the customer is guaranteed. Localisation and customisation were done more swiftly and smoothly than expected, which resulted in a user-friendlier product for the ordinary user. In addition, as the company is
planning to implement a program of Internet access for all employees in the coming year, the web-enabling features of IFS Applications made it very attractive. In the words of one of the managers at Ostroleka: "IFS’ philosophy is to adapt systems to
people, not people to systems. What’s more, IFS could provide a system at a competitive price. The company was also very keen to select a solution that could be used on its existing Solaris platform and run on its Oracle database. Here again, IFS was the
best alternative." Implementation
The project commenced in May 1998. Unlike the old system, everybody at the plant will now work from terminals so a substantial training program was initiated. That has now been completed, and the status of the project has been analysed. Implementation
is now in progress and will be completed in the last quarter of 1999. Benefits
The keys to success in a company undergoing major changes are rigid control of costs and knowledge of the entire process. To control costs, they have to be identified as early as possible. To acquire knowledge, information must be available
continuously. IFS Applications will provide these keys. As all the modules are used in an integrated environment, information is available to those who need to access it. Staff working with budget and finance will have direct, immediate access to
information about maintenance and distribution. Maintenance, for example, generates costs. With IFS Applications, the structure of these costs can be analysed, providing the potential for better planning and more economical use of resources. Moreover, as privatisation entails the involvement of more levels of employees, and not just management, in running the company, this speed of access will enable faster, more accurate decision-making based on up-to-the-minute information. However,
tracking costs incurred is perhaps not the main benefit for the company. More importantly, IFS Applications will also enable Ostroleka to forecast future needs and costs. This will permit improved budgeting and cost allocation, introducing an essential
element of discipline into this area. The ultimate result of this will be more streamlined and cost-effective operations. Software
IFS Financials
IFS Manufacturing Hardware
Sun Ultra Enterprise 450 Workstations
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