PBMR gets back to business with IFS Applications

The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project, a joint venture between Eskom, the Industrial Development Corporation and British Nuclear Fuels, has been running its business on IFS Applications, the component-based business application from IFS South Africa, since the beginning of January 2004. Already the company is reaping the benefits of consistent and easily accessible information, faster turnaround times and better financial control, and according to PBMR`s ERP manager Nico Scholtz, this is merely the beginning.

PBMR intends building a 110 Mwe-class demonstration reactor at Koeberg near Cape Town, where Africa`s only nuclear power plant is situated, and an associated fuel plant at Pelindaba near Pretoria, where fuel for Koeberg was previously manufactured. The commercial reactors would be sized to produce about 165 MWe each. To maximise the sharing of support systems, however, the PBMR has been configured into a variety of options, such as 2, 4 and 8-pack layouts. These are the most cost effective layouts and allow the plants to be brought on line as they are completed.

PBMR was using three standalone information systems to capture and retrieve information. A contract management system managed the contracts placed on suppliers, while a separate accounting system saw to it that they were paid timeously. Yet another solution - a cost management system - recorded transactions and allocated costs to projects. Additionally, an HR application, which was also not integrated with the other three systems, was used to manage all the human resource elements of the company.

Clearly an integrated solution was urgently needed and following an extensive tender process in which several offerings were evaluated, PBMR eventually chose to implement IFS Applications.

"As a project-centric company, we wanted a system that could meet both our immediate and long-term needs," says Scholtz. "IFS offered a modular, yet integrated solution with the required functionality, at a competitive price. Additionally, the company boasts an international footprint but its local presence ensures reliable and comprehensive local support. The modularity of the solution enabled us to install the components we needed immediately and add more as the project develops."

"Simplifying the ability to share information within the organisation was a critical issue for PBMR," adds Paul Whalley, managing director at IFS South Africa. "IFS Applications offers a simple and integrated lifecycle management solution that enables PBMR to gain real-time access to information and processes across the entire company and thus share knowledge. When information is easily accessible throughout the same system, users get the right information, at the right time, to make the right decisions - which is exactly what PBMR wanted."

PBMR initially invested in the financial, HR, procurement and project management components of IFS Applications. Because the company is an advanced IT user, its existing hardware infrastructure supported the new applications. Only two servers were added to provide the platform for IFS.

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The implementation began in July 2003.

"We were under considerable pressure to complete the rollout before the start of PBMR`s new financial year the following January," says Whalley. "To facilitate a smooth rollout, PBMR opted for a standard implementation with no special customisations, except for a few minor modifications to ensure compatibility with the hardware."

PBMR ran its old systems in parallel with IFS Applications while migrating supplier information, cleaning up the data as much as possible as it went along. The implementation was completed successfully and within the allotted timescales.

"All the information users need is now available online and in real-time. With one integrated source of information, we only receive one answer to queries, which has significantly improved the accuracy of our data. This has also given us better financial control."

"IFS component-based architecture enabled quick, step-by-step implementation, resulting in streamlined business processes through its graphical business modeler, and easy-to-use personal and corporate performance management portals. PBMR will achieve rapid payback by adding new functionality when it needs to do so without having to go through a major overhaul."

PBMR next plans to implement the document management, product data management and project delivery components from IFS Applications. More components may be added later, depending on users` requirements, Scholtz concludes.