Marchwood Power - Microsoft SharePoint

Client Overview

The power plant opened in 2009 and generates enough electricity to supply the needs of nearly one million homes. The 842 megawatt facility was built using the latest technology for maximum energy efficiency and minimal impact on the environment. The Marchwood plant is one of the most efficient generators of electricity in the UK.

Challenges Faced

Document control, policies, procedures, and manuals are vitally important to the safe working of a power station. Thousands of documents are created; controlling them through change and authorisation procedures whilst ensuring that only the most relevant, up to date version is used is a major challenge for the organisation.

Additionally, when a power station suffers downtime the costs are large and support and maintenance information is required instantly. Marchwood Power therefore set the target that once logged on to the system all documents should be available within 1 minute.

Solution

Taylor Made Computer Solutions approached this challenge through the implementation of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. A phased approach was taken starting with a document management portal consisting of a number of document libraries; this allows staff to collaborate on relevant documents prior to them being authorised and published.

Throughout the phasing, Marchwood Power has achieved:

• Multiple workflows configured to approve documents, review documents automatically and request formal changes.

• Full auditing solution for compliancy requirements.

• Customer metadata and search scope creation which allows documents to be found quickly.

The solution has also been extended to include a bespoke Training Database application to keep a record of all staffs training plans, both present and future.

Results

Efficiencies through effective document management has introduced significant time (manpower cost) savings across the business. Collaboration on documentation and being able to find information quickly were key components in the successful construction of the Marchwood site.

In addition, the introduction of version control and auditing functions has helped fulfil the regulatory requirement of the Marchwood project.

Future

Future plans include:

• Expanding the functionality of the solution to include technical drawings for each component within the power station using laptops and Tablet PCs.

• The introduction of offline support, through Microsoft Groove Collaboration Server, to enable engineers to take information with them as they work around the Power Plant.