Matrix develops a 'single source of truth' for technical changes and drawings, resulting in undeniable user engagement
The Company
Contact Energy employs over 1,000 staff and is one of New Zealand's largest energy businesses, serving up electricity, natural gas and LPG products to around 550,000 customers. Through the 11 power stations they own and operate, they generate enough electricity to power around a quarter of New Zealand. Their generation portfolio includes 2 hydro stations on the Clutha River, 5 geothermal stations north of Taupo and 3 thermal stations - one in Hamilton, one in Hawkes Bay, and the other in Taranaki.
The Challenge
One of Contact Energy's challenges was capturing reliable data relating to its Management of Change process across all sites. From relatively low-risk replacements of existing equipment to high-risk circuit board protection works, accurate data is key to ensuring day-to-day safety. Also important was making sure every change followed the appropriate process, with all necessary steps executed, such as safety-related updates to equipment drawings to reflect an in-field change
The Solution
Matrix was contracted to develop and maintain an integration between SAI Global's Cintellate Management of Change application and three BlueCielo Meridian Engineering Document Management vaults. This allowed Cintellate Change Requests to be created and mapped to new Meridian Draughting Requests, with property synchronisation being maintained between the two systems. Two major integration capabilities were provided. The first allows Cintellate to create new Draughting Requests, with selected properties in Meridian (www.bluecieloecm.com); the second allows Cintellate (www.saiglobal.com) to request updates for the properties of selected Meridian Draughting Requests.
The Result
Since implementing the new system in December 2016, all technical plant changes are documented in the new Management of Change process, and drawings updated in BlueCielo Meridian. Multiple workflows have been implemented, providing the necessary flexibility, while maintaining consistency throughout the process. And for the first time, there exists a central, web-based source of truth that provides crucial insights into safety across the entire business. User engagement is undeniable; by September 2017, more than 600 new changes had been initiated; and unique daily users increased from approximately 20 in the previous systems to more than 100, showing no evidence of the user-resistance traditionally expected when launching new software platforms.
