Johannesburg, 26 Feb 2007
BP Angola contracted IST Data as a service provider to help with Maximo post-implementation training, consulting, work management systems (WMS) data loading and general Maximo consulting work.
IST Data, among other international services providers, was evaluated for response and technical capability and topped the list. The project in Angola is part of BP's plan to roll-out Maximo to all its global operations.
The Angolan operation is upgrading to Maximo 5.2 as an interim for the MXES upgrade, which should reach Angola by 2010. IBM implemented Maximo 5.2 in Angola, which went live in June 2006.
Francois Marais, IST Data Project Manager, explains that despite the major challenges, such as reliability of the WMS data supplied by BP's outsourced contractor and scheduling workshops, the project has been a success so far.
This was shown by the impressive results from the location tag hierarchy load Test Run on 15 December 2006, for checking the load methodology, time taken to load data, and if the information received was according to specifications.
The complexity of this project can be seen in terms of the numbers (86 000) of locations tag to be loaded and those (90% of physical locations tags) that would require maintenance. This is compounded by the fact that scheduling of maintenance work for a five-year period should be without clashes, no downtime, and very limited shutdown - because of the limited number of beds on the Floating Production Storage & Offloading vessel (FPSO), hence limited maintenance personnel. The project will further incorporate onsite systems support for a period of one year, which starts in March 2007.
The SAM Delivery Manager, Dirk Labuschagne, comments that BP Angola proved to be a very reliable and supportive customer; able to make quick decisions and commit to a firm scope of work. BP Angola has already indicated that, based on the current performance, contracts after 2007 will probably span at least three years. This project has taken IST Data right into a sought-after account where some of the main international system integrators compete for business.
IST Data was able to quickly expand the partnership with BP Angola from the WMS to also include stock and logistics management, purchasing and supply channel management and financial system integration.
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