ERM Power’s reporting gets fired up

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Published on the 26/05/2014 | Written by SAP

AT A GLANCE

ERM power

INDUSTRY

Utilities

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

Remove manual processes and spreadsheets.
Improve accuracy of financial statements, reports and presentations.
A system that can be leveraged across the organisation

SOLUTION

SAP’s Business All-in-One.
Professional services supplied by NTT DATA Business Solutions.

THE BENEFITS

Increased accuracy, timeliness and clarity in financial reporting.
Reduction in manual processes and fewer errors and omissions.
Enhancement of management reporting capabilities.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

SAP
P: 1800 287 727
E: info.australia@sap.com
E: info.newzealand@sap.com
W: www.sap.com/australia

When the utility company went through a period of sustained organisational growth it looked for a system that would inject increased accuracy and efficiency into its data handling and take the company into the future…

The largest privately-owned energy company in Australia, ERM Power’s businesses operate across the entire energy supply chain, with the company involved in building and financing power stations, natural gas exploration, transporting gas to power stations and electricity retailing to large corporate and industrial customers.

In 2008 ERM Power entered into a sustained growth phase, gaining approximately 100 employees over two years. As the business became larger and its entities more diverse and numerous, ERM Power’s reporting requirements also became more complex.The company had been relying on an internally-developed system that required excessive use of manual processes and spreadsheets. In addition to being an inefficient use of resources within the critical departments of finance and payroll, this system led to considerable inaccuracy in financial statements, reports and presentations.

“After a solid period of sustained growth and business activity, it was evident that we needed to transition to a new business process and reporting platform to sustain our high performance and ensure we continued driving towards our vision,” says Graeme Walker, chief financial officer at ERM Power. “We selected SAP on the basis of its functionality and extensive industry experience in energy and utilities. By choosing to deploy an SAP system, ERM is effectively establishing the basis for sustained levels of growth into the future.”

Implementation
SAP partner NTT DATA Business Solutions (formerly Extend Technologies) assisted ERM Power with the implementation of SAP’s Business All-in-One solution, which was scoped from July to mid-September 2009 and went live in February 2010.

According to Andrew Powell, general manager commercial for NTT DATA Business Solutions: “SAP All-in-One allowed ERM Power to re-engineer its current business processes by implementing best business practice which is inherent in the system.”

“In addition, SAP A1 provided a platform for company growth utilising modern data management techniques and tools,” says Powell. “The solution addressed ERM’s requirements for a common system framework to provide a central standard interface linking all applications; a supporting integration architecture to manage the integration between the various system components; workflow management; accurate and timely consolidated group reporting; business information and reporting; staff management and payroll processing, including timesheet and expenses management.”

The project was managed in three phases:
Phase 1: Management Reporting (Business Intelligence); Finance and Cost Centre Management including Asset Accounting (Finance and Controlling); Consolidations (Business Planning and Consolidations); Project Management (Internal Order Accounting).

Phase 2: Time and Expenses (HR/Payroll, Employee Self Service); Human Resources (HR/Payroll, Organisational Management, Employee Self Service).

Phase 3: Purchasing (Materials Management); BI and Reporting (Business Intelligence/Business Performance and Consolidations).

According to Powell, the key challenge was to deliver the project using minimal resources. “Due to ERM Power’s audit there were minimum resources available,” says Powell. “However, ERM Power’s chief financial officer and project manager were extremely supportive and pivotal to the project’s success.”

Results
Benefits reported by ERM Power since the completion of the project include increased accuracy, timeliness and clarity in financial reporting, a reduction in manual processes and fewer errors and omissions. The software has also enhanced ERM’s management reporting capabilities, enabling them to create a wider variety of reports at different levels of the organisation.

“This is part of our longer-term strategy to leverage SAP solutions across our operations,” says Walker.