Lahore : Mr. Tahir Basharat Cheema, Managing Director Pakistan Electric Power Company (Private) Limited (PEPCO) emphasized that electricity utility companies need to invest in acquiring new IT technologies and processes, along with increasing the generation capacity, to improve management and curtail operational cost.
Speaking as a keynote speaker at a conference on “SAP-enabled Business Transformation in Pakistan’s Utilities Sector”, organized by SAP & AbacusConsulting, Mr. Cheema said that recourse to new technologies has become urgent for the utilities, particularly when the country is faced with severe power crisis. ‘This power crisis”, he added, “is considered to be the worst of the four such crises the nation has faced since 1974-75”.
The focus of the conference was on how SAP is contributing to the achievement of key business objectives through process enablement and automation in the Utilities Sector in Pakistan.
Mr. Hassan Latif Jamal, Country Head of SAP Pakistan, said “SAP is a leading provider of software to Electricity Generation and Distribution companies globally. SAP empowers over 1,600 utility companies including 275 plus power generation units globally with industry best practices to achieve operational efficiency in every aspect of their businesses, including enterprise asset management, grid maintenance, energy management to name just a few. The conference will demonstrate to Utility Companies in Pakistan on how to become best run business.”
Mr. Asad Ali Khan, President AbacusConsulting explained that with SAP’s comprehensive suite of applications for utilities sector, integrated with global best practices and AbacusConsulting’s diverse experience, major utilities companies can optimize key end-to-end business processes. He maintained that utilities can achieve key business goals like improving employee productivity by optimizing processes for workforce; talent management; maximizing energy efficiency; financial excellence; operational excellence and superior customer value.
Mr. Asad further added, “SAP will enable utilities companies to respond rapidly to changes in this dynamic environment, be flexible enough in supporting a variety of technologies and help utilities companies to offer innovative and personalized customer-focused services in the future.
Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) and AbacusConsulting executives jointly shared the SAP ERP success story. SAP ERP went live at KESC in March 2009 as part of the company’s efforts to achieve business transformation. Mr. Tabish Gauhar, CEO KESC shared his experiences, lessons learned and useful information regarding challenges associated with implementing an integrated top tier solution across the enterprise. KESC is working on several transformation initiatives and one key stream was SAP ERP followed by SAP Business Intelligence, Utilities Billing and Customer Care solutions (currently being implemented).
At the conference, a panel discussion was also held on the latest tools, techniques, and tips to help utilities companies master the SAP solution for transforming their business in the utilities sector. The panelists were Mr. Tahir Basharat Cheema, Managing Director PEPCO; Mr. Asad Ali Khan, President AbacusConsulting; Mr. Phillip Edward Vaughan, Asia Pacific Japan Utility Leader; Mr. Tabish Gauhar, CEO KESC; Mr. Sardar Naufil Mahmud, CIO, KESC; Mr. Inayat Ullah Koreshi, Partner, AbacusConsulting; Mr. Arshad Raza, Chief Operating Officer, CPPA and Mr. Atta ur Rehman, CEO, PITC.