Case Study:

National Power Corporation

Case Overview

Customer Profile: National Power Corporation is committed to generate, transmit, distribute and supply electricity in the most safe, reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly manner as possible.

Industry: Utility/Power Supply

Business Unit: Advisor for the development of an Integrated Management Information Technology Strategy Services – Power Supply.

Program/project objective:
As the IT Strategy Advisor we advised the National Power Corporation on all matters relating to the future strategy for the next 5 years relating to the development of its ICT and MIS systems. Specific attention however was to be given to the integration of the information systems and centralisation of the total organisational database in order to provide an efficient online real-time system from which meaningful and timely management information could be accessed and produced in informative management reports. More detailed objectives to be achieved through the revised and fully integrated information system were:

a) Expand the customer base but reduce the cost base.

b) Improve the capabilities and efficiency of staff through enhancing and building the staff computer literacy levels.

c) Be capable of monitoring, measuring and improving overall staff productivity levels.

d) Be able to measure and optimise the infrastructure and asset performance and related productivity levels, including power plant, transmission and distribution infrastructure and fleet management.

e) Improve the customer service quality and supply as well as the service response times.

f) Operate and manage an accurate and timely billing and collection system, including the secure management and monitoring of prepaid meters and sales.

g) Have detailed and easy real time access to all customer data from any service centre.

h) Monitor and ensure that sound financial and commercial policies and practices are in place and operating.

i) Streamline, automate and integrate the administration and business processes throughout the Corporation.

j) Provide timeous and accurate information, accessible by and produced for management, to enable prompt decisions and corrective action to be taken where necessary.

k) Produce meaningful and useful reports that can be used as decision making tools in the various areas of business operations and not only Finance and top management.

l) Identify all components of the cost structures in the value chain through to the final cost of electricity delivered to the customer/consumer.

m) Move towards management by exception, instead of management by detail.

n) All Corporation data and information including the real time business operations should be centralised and accessible from any of the Corporations centres e.g. Customer Database, Supplier Database, Fixed Assets Database, stocks and Materials Database and The Human Resource Database.

o) Optimise and manage the scheduling of maintenance at the Power Station and on the Transmission and Distribution networks.

p) Manage a comprehensive supplier data base and optimise the cost of supplies.

q) Accurate monitoring and comparison of actual power produced and electricity sales made (actual electricity consumption) for comparative purposes and accurate system loss calculations.

r) Improved efficiency of documentation and seamless data flows from one area to another throughout the Corporation as well as the internal communications and information dissemination.

s) Maximise management planning capabilities and potential through enhanced ability to analyse business processes in detail, especially through online analytical processing and access to a structured document management registry.