Scottish Water Improves Operational Efficiency and Streamlines Workflow for US$3 Billion Capital Investment Program
 
 

Scottish Water Improves Operational Efficiency and Streamlines Workflow for US$3 Billion Capital Investment Program

  • Oracle Customer:  Scottish Water
    Location:  Dunfermline, Scotland
    Industry:  Utilities
    Employees:  3,400
    Annual Revenue:  $1 to $5 Billion

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Scottish Water provides water and wastewater services to approximately 5 million customers in 2.4 million households across Scotland. The organization serves a dispersed population living in an area covering approximately 79,000 square kilometers, requiring a large number of small water and waste water treatment works. Scottish Water is the fourth largest water company in the United Kingdom.

Scottish Water manages more than 47,000 kilometers of water pipes, 50,000 kilometers of sewer pipes, 1,837 wastewater treatment works, and 297 water treatment works, plus pumping stations, sludge treatment centers, and reservoirs. The organization has a capital delivery program worth US$3 billion over a five-year regulatory period, which involves complex financial processes, multiple delivery partners, and regulatory stakeholders.

The company managed this complex and high-value capital delivery program using a number of different software products, manual spreadsheets, and paper-based processes. There was little integration between systems, no continuity between regulatory periods, a difficult reporting environment, and limited audit trail.

Scottish Water worked with Tata Consultancy Services to implement a new enterprise project and portfolio management solution, Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management and Oracle Business Process Management, for all Scottish Water employees and partner organizations working on the capital delivery programs. The systems are fully integrated with existing back office systems, including Oracle's PeopleSoft Financials.

Since implementation of the capital investment systems and processes (CISP) program, Scottish Water has achieved operational savings equivalent to 19.5 full time employees, streamlined the data and reporting processes to improve regulatory compliance, and it has realized annual tax savings of US$456,000 with a transparent audit trail.

 
 

 
 

Challenges

A word from Scottish Water

  • "With Oracle's Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management and Oracle Business Process Management in place, we now have a fully compliant and consistent approach to our capital investments, resulting in clear visibility of progress across all of our programs." – Cathie Bankier, Business Change Manager, Asset Management Directorate, Scottish Water

  • Streamline capital investment project processes and workflow to meet the efficiencies and regulatory requirements set out by the water industry commissioner
  • Eliminate reliance on paper-based capital expenditure forms, remove manual-based systems, and replace with one integrated project management and workflow system
  • Improve reporting, control, transparency, and auditability throughout all capital investment projects
  • Enable control and management over hundreds of concurrent projects ranging from the replacement of a pumping station to the construction of a new water treatment works
  • Integrate project management and workflow with back-office systems including Oracle's PeopleSoft Financials to enable straightforward financial control and reporting

Solutions

Oracle Product and Services

  • Worked with Oracle Partner Tata Consultancy Services to implement Oracle's Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management to enable management of multiple projects under one program, ranging from small projects lasting a few months to larger scale projects running to years and over multiple regulatory periods
  • Built a new workflow using Oracle Business Process Management to drive efficiency throughout the capital delivery programs
  • Achieved a total of 19.5 full time employees in operational savings, resulting from improved processes and more efficient working practices
  • Ensured compliance with regulatory requirements to become more efficient and achieved an annual tax savings of US$456,000 with a transparent audit trail
  • Trained 500 staff and partners to improve knowledge and understanding of both the new systems and also the capital investment process, resulting in more knowledgeable and able employees and partners
  • Enabled partner organizations—such as construction and engineering companies—to access the project management and workflow system, ensuring that all data and information is reliably held in one place and can be quickly and easily accessed
  • Integrated system components using service-oriented architecture (SOA) principles aligned with business services

Why Oracle

Oracle was already at the core of Scottish Water’s back office systems. The organization already had a number of Oracle systems in place and previous consolidations led to the purchase of an unlimited license agreement.

“Oracle’s Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management enables us to simultaneously manage hundreds of projects of varying scale and duration. We have tightened up our processes and improved reporting and control of all our capital investment projects,” said Cathie Bankier, business change manager, asset management directorate for Scottish Water.

Partner

Scottish Water chose Tata Consultancy Services following a competitive tender process as it was able to demonstrate significant experience in the capital investment sector. It also had experience in working with Oracle’s Primavera modules and Oracle Business Process Management and demonstrated the ability to integrate with Scottish Water’s existing Oracle systems.

“During the project, we built up a strong working relationship with Tata Consultancy Services employees. Our Tata account manager was on the steering group and attended regular weekly meetings at Scottish Water. With a strong project manager in place, the project went very smoothly and we met all our timescales and deadlines,” said Cathie Bankier, business change manager, asset management directorate for Scottish Water.

“We would definitely work with Tata Consultancy Services again if we could put in place a similar working structure and also if Tata was able to provide the excellent people we know from their team,” she added.