ERP Implementation at BPCL

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IT Intiatives at BPCL

BPCL divided its IT initiatives into a three-pronged strategy, wherein it planned to create a communication network within the organization; to create a basic information network for the entire corporation and to process transactions with customers all over the country. The strategy was devised after the company divided the organization into six SBUs and conducted a detailed evaluation of the company as a whole. The organization was restructured to help focus on specific customer segments and address their individual needs. For this, BPCL needed a system for speedy and effective communication. The company's senior management realized that unless the procedures were streamlined and communication improved, faster decision-making would be very difficult. The communication structure was seen as hampering the integration of its activities. The problem areas included high costs of traditional communications, quick access to executives, and the need to communicate with recipients over multiple locations. To improve communication systems within the organization, BPCL decided to establish an intranet8.

The company chose Microsoft Exchange Server as the platform, because of the level of integration with the desktop environment and MS Windows NT Server.

BPCL conducted feasibility testing of the solution with the help of a pilot implementation. With the help of Windows NT Server and Exchange Server, BPCL connected three locations on a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)-based network⁹ with a bandwidth of 64 kilobytes per second (Kbps) to share Time Division Multiplexing/Time Division Multiple Access (TDM/TDMA)¹⁰ connections. The VSAT network was rated on the criteria of ease of deployment, speed of mail delivery, zero message loss and response times. For a comprehensive implementation of the intranet, BPCL took help from Microsoft Consulting Services.

BPCL connected its corporate office in Mumbai with the various regional offices. Seven web servers¹¹ were deployed at the VSAT hub in Bangalore to provided intranet connectivity to users all over the country. Access was provided with the latest local and international developments through the intranet. This not only helped the company offer better services, but also aided in building employee skills and competencies. Internet gateways¹² were made available at the refinery as well as at all the regional offices. All the employees were thus constantly connected to each other and to the outside world.

BPCL also implemented various applications to facilitate information retrieval from corporate databases, including intranet applications that allowed employees to access and update personnel records such as contact details and salary information on the intranet itself. It also introduced 'Query by Mail' (QBM) by way of which remote users could extract business transactions from corporate databases. This system helped conserve the WAN bandwidth and schedule database queries at night. Communication costs reduced drastically because of the communication infrastructure. According to reports, in 1999, savings on long-distance landline communications were less by 30% as compared to costs in 1998.

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8] An intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the Wide Area Network. Typically, an intranet includes connections through one or more gateway computers to the Internet. The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing resources among employees. An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences.
9] VSAT is an earthbound station used in satellite communications of data, voice and video signals, excluding broadcast television. It consists of two parts, a transceiver that is placed outdoors in direct line of sight to the satellite and a device that is placed indoors to interface the transceiver with the end user's communications device, such as a PC. The transceiver receives or sends a signal to a satellite transponder in the sky and the satellite sends and receives signals from a ground station computer that acts as a hub for the system. For one end user to communicate with another, each transmission has to first go to the hub station, which retransmits it via the satellite to the other end user's VSAT.
10] TDM/TDMA is a proprietary protocol, which operates within a point to multipoint environment and adapts dynamically to traffic conditions on a computer network. This protocol assigns more user time to those computers having higher traffic in order to optimize the response time. The entire process is performed automatically and does not require operator intervention.
11] A web server is a central location or computer that enables a remote 'Client' (system or program) to access the page or site content.
12] Software that can interpret and translate different protocols from two different networks.