McDermott Technology Boosts Energy With Sage PFW
Wise use of energy supplies is a global concern. Engineers at McDermott Technology are playing a key role in conservation efforts, working on advances that either support new concepts for energy use or enhance efficiencies in existing technologies.
McDermott Technology engineers excel in many areas including combustion processes, emission controls, corrosion and mechanical metallurgy, fuels characterization, thermal hydraulics, water treatment, and structural mechanics. They are currently focusing on innovations in fuel-cell power generation systems, advanced low-emission burners, and gas/oil separation equipment.
Wasted Manual Energy
McDermott Technology (MTI) is a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc., a multi-faceted firm serving energy producers around the world. On any given day an MTI engineer might spend an hour working on an underwater pipeline project, three hours on a government contract, and the balance on environmental equipment for fossil-fueled steam plants. Allocating time to each job is essential for accurate project costing and profitability calculations.
Ten years ago, most of MTI’s tracking was done manually. Reports took so long that they were only produced at month-end. So the company went looking for a PC-based financial application. Its main criteria were the ability to automate job costing processes and integrate project information with standard accounting functions. The strongest package by far turned out to be Sage PFW ERP.
Conserving Energy by Maximizing Efficiency
Sage PFW has provided MTI with a seamless solution, managing everything from purchasing, payroll, and time collection data to project costing. MTI staff members can create ad hoc reports any time they want, and query the system for detailed information on virtually any aspect of the R&D cycle.
“We can collate costs in a variety of ways,” explains Robin Hindel, financial analyst at MTI. “A project manager can find out how his group is doing by week without waiting until the end of the month, and compare actual costs against the budget. This allows us to oversee our work much more closely and provide even better levels of service to our internal customers.”
“We’re unaware of any other program in this price range that can rival the Sage PFW project costing abilities. And the application has been incredibly reliable.”
Costs are also integrated on the purchasing side. The Sage PFW Purchase Order module is used to issue orders for materials, whether it’s a new computer or 20 tons of coal needed for research. When goods come in, they are received using Sage PFW and a voucher is created for Accounts Payable. Invoices are then charged to individual jobs through the Sage PFW Purchase Order and Project Costing modules.
MTI uses Microsoft FRx for financial reporting purposes. FRx ties directly to the general ledger, and lets Hindel design financial statements without the bother of duplicate entries. “We like the flexibility that Sage PFW and FRx give us,” comments Hindel.
Over the past decade, McDermott Technology has never been seriously tempted to switch accounting packages. “We’re unaware of any other program in this price range that can rival the Sage PFW project costing abilities,” explains Hindel. “And the application has been incredibly reliable. Given our size in the $40 million range, we’re processing a large volume of transactions. The system handles everything without a glitch. We also feel reassured using a product that has been on the market for a while. We can assume that, like us, Sage PFW is here to stay.”
Printable version