Project: Building an integrated management information system

Industry: Gas transportation

Brief company profile:

OOO Gazprom transgaz Ufa (previous name: OOO Bashtransgaz) is a subsidiary of OAO Gazprom and one of the biggest fuel and energy companies of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The core business of OOO Gazprom transgaz Ufa is reliable gas supplies to consumers in the Russian Federation and in the Republic of Bashkortostan and ensuring gas supplies to CIS countries and beyond under inter-state and inter-government agreements.

Objectives:

Because of constraints on the development of the existing IT system, the existing IT system had to be replaced and a solution matching the scale of Gazprom transgaz Ufa business had to be implemented for the management of its complex and extensive production and business operations (consisting of 18 branches and divisions).

The core objectives of the project to implement the integrated management information system:

• improving the reliability and reducing the risks of operating gas transportation facilities;
• enhancing company management both through re-engineering and restructuring of key business processes and by providing quality IT support for key business processes;
• strategic and operating business management within the unified integrated system;
• centralised management of production, financial and human resources and processes;
• development of the regulatory and reference information base and regulatory and reference information management system;
• generation of full and objective current data for managerial decision-making;
• use of standards and unified business processes;
• use of state-of-the-art planning, accounting, control and review tools.

The solution

The information system is based on the expertise and proprietary solutions of IBS and vendors’ best practice.

The integrated management information system of OOO Gazprom transgaz Ufa has a broad functional scope that distinguishes it from similar systems. The project involves automation of business processes of bookkeeping and tax accounting, corporate reports generation, fixed assets accounting, cost management, financial management, materials and capital construction management, management of plant maintenance, human resources, organisational and administrative documents and contracts.

The SAP ERP solution is used as the automation platform (EMC Documentum is used as the workflow automation platform).

Result

The project commenced in February 2007. In developing the methodology of business processes IBS consultants fully took into account Gazprom guidelines for planning and cost calculation for the core lines of business.

The following business processes of the company were centralised and standardised: bookkeeping and tax accounting, cost management, financial management and materials management.

The system has been implemented and is operated at three divisions: the administrative division, the materials management division, and Polyanskoe local gas transmission facility (a production branch). Operation of SAP modules that automate production and business processes and of the EMC Documentum documents and contracts management solution commenced in late 2007. This phase delivered about 180 automated workplaces. Data of other branches are entered into the system in a centralised way before rollouts start.

The second phase of the project involves system rollout to all local gas transmission facilities by early 2009. The plant maintenance and human resources management subsystems will be commissioned within the same timeframe. After the rollouts are completed and all the company starts to use the unified information system, the number of users will increase manifold.

More information about the product:

SAP Business Suite is a suite of business applications for state-of-the-art automated business management. This product helps to streamline all business processes and thus substantially enhances overall manageability and efficiency of enterprise resources.

EMC Documentum is a multifunctional flexible application platform for enterprise content management. It includes products and services that can be used together in various combinations depending on the current enterprise content management needs.

IBS MIS practice

The management information systems practice was established at IBS in 1998. Now IBS is the business applications market leader with many years of experience of building information systems for major Russian companies and divisions of multinational companies.

IBS has Russia’s biggest team of management information system consultants, 80 per cent of whom are certified professionals for products of top vendors of business applications such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Cognos, etc.

IBS is a SAP Local Alliance Partner, the top SAP partner status.

The customer's opinion:

S.T. Pashin, General Director, Gazprom transgaz Ufa: “Within a very short timeframe we implemented new methodologies and simultaneously started to use the new management information system. This combination provided us with dual benefits. Now all accounting and materials management functions have been passed to the administrative division and centralised, and accounting units that were previously run within branches and divisions have been discontinued. We expect substantial cost benefits as all key management and accounting processes will be streamlined and supported by the most advanced enterprise resource planning system.”