Introduction

When we started working with China Petroleum Engineering, Beijing, I had no idea they’d one day help us engineer a partnership with a local technology reseller  to deliver Wrench SmartProject (WrenchSP) in China.  

I did expect positive feedback like “reduced delays” and “lowered costs”, which is what all clients tell us sooner or later, but I didn’t expect it to manifest quite so soon, or in such a practical way! 

China Petroleum Engineering (CPE) 

CPE  is a major Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) and project management company, headquartered in Beijing with eight branches in China, as well as 12 main overseas branches and subsidiaries. It has a workforce of more than 7300 employees, with expertise covering all aspects of project execution. 

We recently had an informal conversation with CPE’s team about their experience with Wrench SmartProject. Here are the highlights: 

Problems with paper-based engineering document review cycle 

Wrench: What were your challenges before working with WrenchSP ? 

CPE: All our processes were completely manual, which led to a chain reaction of inefficiencies. Our project team kept losing track of client submissions which in turn led to deliverables getting delayed which in turn delayed project progress. Trying to manually manage all these inefficiencies was hugely time-consuming and affected overall delivery. We were also following a paper-based process for stamping, signing and documenting everything, from scratch, which added a lot of manhour and printing-related costs, so we started looking for a solution that could optimise the whole process and that’s how we found WrenchSP. 

Since implementing WrenchSP, these challenges have been resolved. We’re very pleased with the outcome of the implementation. 

Biggest benefit of WrenchSP for CPE 

Wrench: What features did you find most useful? 

CPE: The centralizing our engineering data and customize all our processes, with custom workflows for each deliverable gives us visibility in every step of every process, which helps us deliver faster to the client. 

In terms of project management, our deliverables are now monitored efficiently through the WrenchSP master document list which lets us track each stage  down to the micro levels of schedule and progress. 

Impact on CPE’s business 

Wrench: How did your business improve after WrenchSP? 

CPE: The biggest benefit is: we were able to reduce delays to such an extent that our projects are now ahead of schedule, which is amazing. 

We saw Project Management efficiency jump to about 85% efficiency and were able to achieve 100% quality. (Thanks to WrenchSP we managed 58 projects with just 13 people in project controls.) 

We saw tremendous improvements in document and data management including correspondence, and with respect to communications and collaboration, our clients now work directly with us in WRENCH so we are all on the same page.   

Overall productivity and efficiency across all our teams and processes across all disciplines has also improved significantly. 

Improvement in multiple areas 

Wrench: Can you give metrics for these improvements?  

CPE: Yes, here are a few key ones: 

• Before WrenchSP we had only 100 Submissions per week, after WrenchSP we achieved 400 to 800 submissions per week. 
• Our review cycle went from 7 days to 1 day 
• Timespend for reporting reduced by 75 % 

• Deliverable management time cut by 80%  
• 100 % savings on print cost as we are now completely paperless.  
• Now we have 100 MR approvals in 2 months and are ahead of schedule. 

Wrench: Any new features you’d like to see added? 

CPE: Enterprise-leveI integration with SPF would be great, also reporting templates that fit CPE requirements and parameters. 

Wrench: Any suggestions on how we can improve support? 

CPE: Local Technical Support which, thanks this recent deal, is almost there. 

Wrench: Team CPE, thanks very much!