MATRIX PMO is a service disabled veteran-owned business that provides project management, project controls, and project oversight services to renewable energy, electric utility and manufacturing companies across the nation. MATRIX clients must keep the constantly shifting supply and demand of energy in balance to maintain the power grid. Proving that they use reliable, cost-efficient project management solutions to drive the public’s trust and goodwill is vital for these ratepayer entities.
Building efficiencies into scheduling
Utilities must plan complex plant operations, from managing resource requirements to scheduling plant shutdowns for maintenance. MATRIX witnessed its clients needlessly spend valuable time and resources relying on email or multiple in-person meetings to approve and integrate basic project schedule changes.
To expedite the process, MATRIX introduced Oracle Primavera Cloud Service project management. Through the implementation of Oracle Primavera Cloud, clients discovered a secure, simple way to cut the same process to just a day—or even less.
Oracle Primavera Cloud, a fully integrated planning, scheduling, resource and risk management solution, eliminates wasted time by uniting all parties whether they’re in an office or out in the field during the planning, execution, and delivery of a project. With Oracle construction scheduling software, time-sensitive schedule changes can be quickly and easily addressed and updated.
The scheduler and the maintenance manager immediately can see the update and know what needs to be done; even if they’re in different locations.
“In the past you would have to be together, with marked-up whiteboards all around the room, paper everywhere, then jam it together and try to figure out a fairly complex schedule network. It was overwhelming,” says Brian Roach, vice president of business development for Concord, New Hampshire-based MATRIX, which leverages and introduces Oracle’s collaborative project solutions to its energy industry clients.
“With Oracle Primavera Cloud, all parties are working together. All the stress and headache go away.”
No room for error as the power grid grows smarter
Considering that scheduling changes may hamper a shutdown that potentially affects the lives of millions of people, urgency is of the utmost importance. As renewable energy sources proliferate and the power grid grows smarter, MATRIX will support its customers with project management teams of up to 250-300 people in the field at peak times. They understand the increasingly remote deployment models and the need for cloud solutions like Oracle Primavera Cloud as the pivot is strategic for short and long-term sustainability. Implementing Oracle Primavera Cloud provides shared planning and scheduling information to cut risk and boost the predictive performance of any project.
Collaboration grows through Oracle Primavera Cloud
Oracle Primavera Cloud’s one-stop shop approach assures enhanced collaboration. During a client's large power-plant maintenance program, they found it immensely challenging to develop and implement a very complex schedule.
Oracle Primavera Cloud was introduced to create tasks for all the necessary repetitive cleaning, inspection, and repairs for over 10,000 boiler tubes. The risk of missed maintenance, failures, outages, and costly emergency repairs was virtually eliminated.
“It was a night and day difference for them,” Matt Currid, PMP, managing partner of MATRIX says. “Once we had the tasks built, Oracle Primavera Cloud would show them that, out of the 10,000 tubes, this many had been opened, this many had been cleaned, this many had been inspected, and this many needed repairs.” The project manager finally had clear insight into the entire maintenance program, knowing where to focus his attention, and more importantly, where to point his resources. “He looked at it and said, ‘Wow, I’ve never been able to see it like this before.’ ” Utilities rank among the nation’s most critical infrastructure and industrial assets. But maintaining legacy systems and manual processes are susceptible to risk and errors. Owners are assured that Oracle Primavera Cloud is an important specification upgrade worth adding to current contract language that incentivizes other industry leaders to implement.
Oracle Primavera Cloud makes mobility a reality
MATRIX also discovered an added benefit of Oracle Primavera Cloud: Recruiting is no longer limited to the talent residing within the vicinity of a particular plant or project.
Previously, because of outdated legacy systems and cumbersome manual processes, employees were required to be onsite. But employees can now work remotely with access to cloud project management through Oracle Primavera Cloud.
MATRIX hires and retains top talent, and they don’t have to search based on project location or only hire people willing to travel or move. As an example, by taking advantage of cloud-based functionality, MATRIX has a scheduler who is living in Florida while scheduling a project in Wisconsin.
“People live where they want to live,” Matt Currid says. “We get the best talent because they don’t have to move. That cuts down on travel and saves the client money.”
Mobility isn’t limited to MATRIX employees, either. Utilities outage coordinators use Oracle Primavera Cloud to make mobile schedule updates on the go—something unheard of with previous systems. Once they discovered the functionality and ease of use, “People love it,” Currid says. MATRIX also can easily teach its clients how to use Oracle Primavera Cloud so they can learn “how to fish themselves.”