A key benefit from the ERP system was the ability to track progress reports against each work order. The entire AD Hydroelectric Project (another Hydroelectric Project of LNJ Bhilwara Group in Manali) was divided into 15 work packages, and within each package there were different work orders issued. For example, infrastructure would be one work package, and in that tunneling a work order. Even within road construction, there were work orders issued for different stages of completion (say every three kilometers that was dug). Microsoft Navision also allowed direct generation of bills for the power supplied to clients, thereby reducing operational cost.

Ability to tracking Project Progress
“With Navision, it was now possible to know exactly where we stand with respect to project progress. We can check how much work has been completed on a day-to-day basis, and if it is ahead or behind schedule, and its linkage to the total project progress,” informs BCP Singh, CEO Power, LNJ Bhilwara Group. The ability to measure progress and check schedule was taken a step further by integrating with Microsoft Project. The progress was measured on different financial and quantity parameters such as material required, material issued and consumed, material recovered, and completed at a work order level.

Ensuring Process Discipline
Another key benefit was the work and process discipline that got instilled because of the ERP package. “We were using Tally earlier, which was just a small accounting package, and cannot compare to an ERP. Tally didn’t have functionalities such as purchase and indent modules, and we had to enter material receipt notes (MRNs) manually. The accounts and store team were using a different process.

“Now with Navision, all master entries are first created, and then transactions, whether in finance, or inventory, flow from this master,” describes Munender Soperna. Consequently, it is no longer possible to have situations where materials are issued without work orders. “We now have a systematic process starting from vendor creation, advance payment to be given, guarantee amount received, work order issued and so on,” clarifies Munender Soperna. If there are any differences in material issued and work orders, an alert is raised, and requires an amendment from a superior officer.

Solving Reconciliation Issues
A major pain area was with respect to inventory reconciliations. Earlier, the inventory was not integrated, and lot of time and effort was spent in reconciliations. Each reconciliation cycle used to last at least three to four months at a stretch. Now all departments whether Design, Engineering, Purchase, Store, Accounts are linked together. All work orders are issued by Design, and Store issues materials only against a purchase order, and Dispatch also links to these work or purchase orders. There is no issue of reconciliation at all now, because all the systems are connected.

“Other reconciliation issues related to sales and distribution where transmission loss from transmission station to injection point was manually compiled. With Navision, this is automatically calculated for both auxillary loss and transmission loss,” mentions BCP Singh. At the same time, the uninterrupted power charges were also calculated automatically based on the differences in the injection plan and actual injection.
Managing recovery is also a simpler process since it is easy to view the balances against each work order. “Earlier, work order invoicing was a cumbersome process leading to lots of duplication, which has been eliminated in Navision. Material recovery is automatically calculated based on consumption,” reveals O.P. Ajmera. “Overall, Navision has easily reduced 50%, the time we used to spend on reconciliation,” he adds

Readymade Reports
With Navision, Malana Power has ready access to a number of project reports such as schedule status, work order reconciliations, project tracker, inventory status and so on. In addition, there are a number of reports related to finance and aspects such as payroll. Certain decision-making reports are automatically generated for the top management.

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