A comprehensive training program was carried out before Go Live of the system to train all prospective users of the system. The extensive change management program included comprehensive campaigns, game shows to promote awareness about IEAMS in the company. A number of key personnel in their respective organizational units were designated as Change Agents to promote IEAMS and to ensure smooth transition upon Go Live.
TopOrganization Background
It is a major oil and gas company having the responsibilities of exploration, drilling, and production of hydrocarbon resources. The company is also involved in the storage of crude oil and its delivery to tankers for export.
The company maintains a wide variety of asset types including:
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Sub Surface Facilities (Reservoirs, Wells).
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Surface Facilities (Gathering Centers/ Booster Stations, Water treatment, and Injection Plants).
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Export Facilities (Tank Farms, Export Terminals/ Marine Fleet) .
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Infrastructures (Pipe Lines/ Cables, Roads, Office Building, and Staff Accommodation).
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Workshops (Machining/ Fabrication/ Repairs).
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Transports (Heavy Equipment/ Light Vehicles).
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IT (Communication, Computers [Servers, Workstations], Accessories, and Software).
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Medical services for the staff.
All of these asset types and their distinct process for asset management have been covered within the scope of IEAMS project.
TopSystem Background
The company has always been at the forefront in using information technology for business process and productivity improvements. Prior to year 2000, separate applications were used for Supply Chain, Maintenance, Finance, and Human Resources.
A project to transform all of these applications and associated processes was initiated in late 1990s with the aim to implement the best of breed applications to meet growing business requirements and make use of the latest technologies available at that time. The project consisted of the following streams:
- 1.
Maintenance and Inventory Management System (MIMS) had the objective of defining requirements for an integrated MIMS, reviewing the existing business processes and implementation of an application meeting the requirements with minimum changes in the business processes. A leading Asset Management application having best fit to the requirements was selected.
- 2.
The Financial System was aimed at reviewing the existing business processes, selection, and implementation of an application meeting the requirements of General Ledger, Projects, Fixed Assets, and Accounts Payables. Oracle Financials was found to be the best fit for these requirements.
- 3.
The Human Resource System was aimed at reviewing the existing business processes, selection, and implementation of an application meeting the requirements of Human Resources, Training, and Career Development. Oracle Human Resources was found to be the best fit for these requirements.
The implementation of these applications was a major change in the company culture in making use of online applications and associated processes. These applications were commissioned in early 2000, coinciding with Y2K changes.
Since its implementation, all of these applications have gone through a number of minor and major upgrades to make use of additional features and functions in order to meet growing business requirements.
With the increased usage of these applications the users became more experienced and conversant with the usage of computer application technology and process automation which led to the growing business requirements and the need to address these through configuration or customization to the applications.
The product support from MIMS vendor did not live up to the expectations of the company. The vendor was not able to develop local or regional support desk for the provision of timely functional and technical support of the application.
The company support staff was not able to address all of the user requirements due to lack of proper support from the vendor and since a number of the user requirements required customization to the application. Although, certain less complex customizations were carried out by company support staff, certain other customizations could not be implemented as the changes needed were to be carried out/ developed by the product vendor. It forced various users to develop their own standalone and disjointed applications.