HEADLINES
JOBS
COM:PORT
POLICY POLICE
ARCHIVES

SAP eyes India's power companies

Lee Kwai Seng, senior consultant, SAP South Asia-Pacific, has been quoted as saying that with the power sector in India undergoing a transformation, there is a lot of opportunity for implementing SAP R/3 ERP solution for utilities.

T O D A Y

• Time to spend • HP for warehousing • Blue Star bags Jap job • SAP eyes power firms

The awareness of the importance of implementing ERP solutions is high among the top management in power generation companies and there are several companies such as the National Thermal Power Corporation, Power Grid Corporation and the Orissa State Electricity Board which have shown interest in implementing SAP solutions.

SAP has given these companies a description of the capabilities of the R/3 package and its expertise in implementing solutions for utilities all over the world.

Though some companies have expressed interest in the solutions, none of them have agreed to begin implementation.

Seng feels that power utilities can leapfrog technologies by implementing SAP solutions despite the fact that they are traditionally low users of IT.

Most State power utilities do not realise the high costs that have to be borne if there are varying levels of computerisation and proper integration of systems across various functional levels are not present.

The cost of training and upgradation of systems is very high if there is no integration of systems.

Moreover, with an ERP implementation a power utility can bring down the internal cost of operation by using its resources more effectively and increasing the plant availability.

If a power utility is able to improve its billing and invoicing and reduce the collection time for bills it will have a direct impact on the bottom line and improve profitability.

The power utility business all over the world is undergoing a change and it is important that flexibility is maintained in all the processes within an organisation to meet these changes.

The strategic objective of any power utility planning to go for implementation of an ERP solution should be threefold: Flexibility in operations, customer focus and reduction of the total cost of ownership of IT infrastructure, Seng explained.

If the strategic objectives are clear then the quantitative improvements are bound to follow, according to Seng.

The major bottleneck in restructuring of state electricity boards is the large employee strength, which is blocking all moves to restructure.

- Compiled from the Indian media

Tell us what you think of this story