Engineering Information Portal Aligns Compliance Across 13 Chemical Plants

Chemicals Industry | United States

Engineering Info Portal: Streamlining Compliance & Efficiency

A chemical manufacturing business unit of a multinational life sciences company procured the services of Access Sciences to build an Engineering Information Portal on its existing SharePoint Online (SPOL) environment. Access Sciences completed an initial assessment of the client’s current technical environment and requirements analysis based on an existing pilot SharePoint site, incorporating desired feature requests.

The client and Access Sciences launched the project with four goals in mind: (1) Align and standardize work processes and compliance across all plant sites, (2) Optimize the findability for information, (3) Enable engineering and maintenance workforce to perform tasks in a safe, timely, and efficient manner, and (4) Use Office 365 best practices and tools.

In just under three months, Access Sciences delivered a central portal SharePoint site collection (Portal Home), plus a “template” to fulfill the need for SharePoint sites for plants in the future. The provided solution not only met the client’s need for an Engineering Information Portal, but also provided a robust base plant template to fulfill their goals for sustainable consistency and compliance as the company grows.

Taking it a step further, the firm also analyzed the client’s current Nintex forms and workflows which required additional licensing costs. Access Sciences recommended replacing Nintex features with Microsoft PowerApps and Power Automate which were included in the client’s existing Office 365 licenses, thus saving the client additional and ongoing licensing costs.

ISSUE

Client needed to align compliance across 13 plants, increase findability for information, and enable engineers to perform their tasks safely and efficiently

SOLUTION

Access Sciences built an Engineering Information Portal in the client’s SharePoint Online environment

BENEFIT

The client received an Engineering Information Portal tailored specifically to the chemical manufacturing process needs

Cost savings from additional licensing fees

Improved the findability for information, enabling engineers and technicians to perform tasks more efficiently

SERVICES DELIVERED

Business Process Automation
Solution Architecture
System Configuration and Implementation

HERE’S HOW

After the client requested the construction of an Engineering Information Portal in its SPOL environment, Access Sciences hosted a stakeholder workshop and end-user interviews to gain a better understanding of functional and technical requirements. Based on this
assessment, the team presented its recommended technical architecture and solution design to the client.
Due to end-users’ limited access to IT resources, Access Sciences advised a technical approach that would fulfill the client’s needs without heavy dependency on the IT team. Using the hybrid SharePoint site design approach (Modern + Classic), the team provided consistent branding for all related sites.
Access Sciences built the enterprise taxonomy in the term store and content type hub, which served to standardize metadata across all site collections.
The team developed a plant site template constructed with keyword custom search, advanced search, document management, custom interfaces, and automated process features.
Access Sciences replaced the current Nintex forms and workflow with Office 365 PowerApps and Power Automate, providing a solution for forms and workflows that leverages the existing capabilities of the client’s Office 365 environment.

3 Ways We Exceeded The Project Goals

Before wrapping up the project, Access Sciences provided hands-on training to the client’s team, drafted an Admin User Guide, and executed testing for overall application, system, integration, and functionality to ensure that all the client’s goals were met.

In the end, Access Sciences not only met the predetermined project goals, but also exceeded them in three ways: (1) Providing an information
governance approach based on both Microsoft and information management best practices, (2) Providing a sustainable change management
approach through hands-on training, and (3) Building a reusable site template to deploy as the company evolves and grows.

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