Ambition
In asset-intensive industries, large capital projects present significant challenges related to documentation and data. Projects can accumulate a million or more documents (including critical engineering to regulatory documents). Strong information management (IM) is crucial for success, as any mismanagement can lead to time and cost overruns.
Shell, a global energy company, sought to transform its approach to IM in the context of an extensive North American chemical project to ensure successful asset handover and operations. The project would require processing an estimated 600,000 documents from numerous data sources throughout the capital project. Shell sought to automate manual processes (reviews/approvals, distribution, control procedures, etc.), improve process and control standardization across documents and data, better manage document and data sources originating from third parties like Engineering Procurement Companies, reduce unsustainable resource and knowledge retention risks, and gain better visibility and performance insights. These IM transformations would enhance Shell’s ability to make informed decisions about the progress of the capital project, avoiding potential timelines and cost overruns while reducing regulatory and knowledge retention risks.
Action
Wipro, a trusted partner, joined forces with Shell to provide managed information services over an 8-year period. The project unfolded in two phases. Initially, Wipro collaborated with Shell to establish a service model that drove standardization, process controls, procedures/guidelines, MDM alignment, performance reports, continuous improvement, and knowledge sharing/reuse. The Wipro team, comprising engineering domain practitioners and document control specialists, applied consistent document and data processes across the entire capital project lifecycle. The service model was designed to be scalable across Shell’s extensive capital project portfolio.
With the service model in place, the Wipro team leveraged Engineering Data Digitization (EDD) through Wipro’s AI-based Digital Chrysalis Service, which automates the digitization of engineering documents such as PFDs (Process Flow Diagrams). Digital Chrysalis developed purpose-built information for process owners and decision-makers. It also significantly lowered processing costs, provided strong quality assurance, and was scalable across numerous processes and document types.
Ambitions Realized
By partnering with Wipro on a new approach to information management, Shell achieved efficient and reliable information management throughout the capital project. Automation reduced manual efforts in document processing by over 70%. Thanks to Wipro’s end-to-end support, Shell also reduced staff turnover and associated knowledge leakage. The cost of processing documents plummeted by more than 85% while productivity increased: Wipro could process 100,000 documents per quarter at the height of the engagement while simultaneously reducing the number of required document controllers from 20 to 3.
Wipro increased the reliance on quality checks and decreased the number of data elimination efforts and unnecessarily repetitive work. Wipro’s KPI monitoring capabilities enabled improvement initiatives that resulted in a 75% reduction in errors, rejections, and rework. Shell’s evolved IM capabilities can now be leveraged across its capital projects portfolio. Furthermore, this approach to IM established a strong foundation for operations and maintenance optimization programs. It will contribute to technology capabilities like digital twins that can improve asset visibility and predictive/prescriptive maintenance capabilities.
Most importantly, by shortening revision/approval cycles, Shell’s IM transformation supported and enhanced supply and demand planning, contributing to data-driven capital project execution decisions that decrease the risk of project overruns.
