Implementing the business management system in progress
The process of bringing a new business management system is in full motion as software companies and implementers for several portions of the program are at the Synfuels Plant.
Dakota Gasification Company - March 11, 2010
The process of bringing a new business management system is in full motion as software companies and implementers for several portions of the program are at the Synfuels Plant.
Dave Sauer, process operations manager and consolidated project lead, says the new system is being designed to provide visual cost data for real-time decision making.
The goal is to incorporate software solutions to better understand plant cost breakdowns. Sauer said the system is designed to incorporate a plant-wide management control structure, common various reporting and plant key performance indicators that were identified through the efficiency improvement programs. "In the end," Sauer said, "we will have a daily strategic report on how we have done for the day as well as dashboards showing employees how their actions affect the bottom line."
Broken into three components - real-time business management/operational income reporting; sales, marketing and production planning; and dashboards - each team has begun to work with vendors and software implementers to bring the information to reality.
The real-time business management/operational income reporting team is working with 3C and Lawson Multi-ledger to bring the real-time reports together.
The team is building a value model to provide information that will be used daily to manage the plant based on product value.
The sales, marketing and production planning team is working with Hitachi in implementing the SAP software. "Over the past two weeks Hitachi and SAP are learning how our business works," Sauer said.
Beginning this week, the team will begin an eight-week process of blue printing sessions which includes detailing how Dakota Gas does business and complete the software setup.
The dashboard team is using Aspen Visualization software to create role-based visualization. "The key here is to provide employees with "dashboards." Similar to the dashboard on your car, it allows a quick scan of the dashboard to tell you how the plant is doing. "These dials will provide information indicating how we are operating the plant. They will help us answer questions like, "Are we operating the plant as efficiently as possible?"
The program is set to be implemented over the next six months for about $5 million. Sauer says the project continues on schedule and within its budget. The go-live date for all systems is set for mid-August.
Headquarters
1600 E. Interstate Ave.
PO Box 5540
Bismarck, ND 58506-5540 USA
701.221.4400
Great Plains Synfuels Plant
420 County Road 26
Beulah, ND 58523-9400 USA
701.873.2100
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