UAE's NPCC accelerates five-year digital transformation plan

This follows a two-year assessment conducted by NPCC with the support of Deloitte to assess its future technology needs and prepare it for the smart world envisaged by Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.

The digital transformation plan of NPCC was announced at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) held at the Abu Dhabi Exhibition Centre, where NPCC had a dedicated pavilion. NPCC also showcased its digital transformation roadmap and enhanced tech competencies at the event. NPCC has activated two streams of digitisation: The first focuses on corporate affairs, with a focus on system and procedure enhancements, and the second aims at strengthening manufacturing capability through advanced automation.

As part of the digital transformation, NPCC has marked a strategic $40 million investment partnership with Microsoft and Aveva to enhance the company's internal and customer-facing systems while a dedicated in-house innovation team has been established that will work across the board to implement increased manufacturing automation that will enhance operational efficiency and add value for the company's customers.

The impact of the digital transformation at NPCC will be higher efficiency levels across all aspects of its operations that will position it as the most competitive, effective and productive EPC partner for customers. It also reflects on NPCC's commitment to be at the forefront in leveraging next-generation technology, establishing it as the most agile, lean and flexible entity that embraces changes in the technology landscape to lead the market.

NPCC's partnership with Microsoft and Aveva aims to transform its internal enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. This will enhance the operational systems resulting in a greater flow of information across departments and greater convenience for employees and customers alike.

Eng Ahmed Al Dhaheri, CEO of NPCC, said: "With technology redefining the energy landscape, it is a strategic imperative to invest in next-generation digital tools to add value to our customers by enhancing the efficiency of our operations across every touch-point. Our digital transformation marks a substantial investment that will position us as the most flexible and agile EPC major for the energy sector, meeting the need of our customers, and adding more value to our operations. This reflects our commitment to meeting the goals of Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 to build a vibrant domestic manufacturing ecosystem that is highly efficient and productive."

He added: "The close links between digital and technology revolution have brought a new era of innovation to the energy sector, which has typically been static to changes. We are seizing the opportunity to be a digital-first entity through the digital transformation plan, which will enable us to offer cutting edge solutions to meet the diverse needs of our customers, which too are moving ahead in the digital curve. Since 1973, our industry leadership has been underpinned by a forward-looking mindset that proactively identifies the needs of our clients, employees and the sectors we operate in. Our new digitisation strategy will ensure that we will have access to the most innovative solutions - both developed in-house and through our partnership with majors such as Microsoft and Aveva."

The digital transformation by NPCC is supported by a close evaluation and adaptation of the latest technological manufacturing solutions as well as factory management systems that will lead to the upgrade of NPCC's manufacturing facility both in Abu Dhabi and its new yard in Saudi Arabia.

NPCC's digital transformation plan builds on a number of innovation-based initiatives rolled out in recent years. These include the launch of an innovation centre to generate state-of-the-art solutions for the industrial oil and gas sector and continue NPCC's proud tradition of leadership in new technologies.

"The energy sector is witnessing a change as organisations in the region see a massive opportunity to gain business insights, accelerate innovation and improve service levels, and this change and transformation will no doubt be fuelled by digital technology. This enhances business productivity, collaboration, innovation and helps organisations make data-driven decisions," said Ihsan Anabtawi, chief operating officer of Microsoft Gulf.

"We are proud to support NPCC's journey in driving digital transformation by partnering with them as they invest in their own unique digital capability, and become fast adopters of best-in-class digital technology which they view as a key differentiator and core to their long-term vision and business outcomes."

Microsoft recently announced it will make available its secure, flexible and intelligent cloud to the regional customers through two dedicated cloud data centres, one in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi. Organisations in the region's energy sector can make the most out of the Microsoft cloud by accessing enterprise-grade reliability and performance, combined with data residency and broadest compliance.

Steen Lomholt-Thomsen, chief revenue officer at Aveva, said: "Digitalisation is a hot topic, especially in the global refining and petrochemicals industry - in a short space of time the discussion has moved on from 'why digitalisation?' to 'how quickly can we transform?'. Working alongside Microsoft, we're excited to be building on our long-term relationship with NPCC to help them accelerate its digital journey across engineering, procurement and construction core business processes. Advances in technology mean there will be phenomenal change in the digital downstream landscape in the coming years and Aveva, with its market-leading portfolio of solutions, will be right at the centre of it."

- business@khaleejtimes.com