Optimized Process Performance and Organizational Structure for Wien Energie

Three years ago, Wien Energie employed our Operational Support Team as consultants. The large Austrian energy company sought our advice because it wanted to restructure its organization. "Can we as Uniper offer the same processes we've developed and optimized for ourselves as a service for others? 'Yes' came the quick answer. Unlike conventional consultants, our colleagues have many years of experience with power plants and know first-hand what doesn't work efficiently and why," says Torsten Dederichs, Operation and Maintenance Expert at Uniper. Proposals are implemented by the Operational Support Team. "Once we'd visited the site in Vienna, looked at the premises, and talked over and discussed things with the power plant's managers and employees, we were able to identify relevant weak points and problems. We then worked together to devise a concept that will enable Wien Energie both to cope with demographic change and to make use of modern technologies," said Torsten Dederichs.

After taking stock of the situation, we developed a vision of the future for Wien Energie in which performance management plays a key role too. With optimized coordination, for example, unnecessarily long power plant failures are reduced and meetings are more efficient. Since the beginning of 2020, our Operational Excellence (OE) Team has been raising awareness of the issue among interested employees at Wien Energie and training them. "We've also given Wien Energie some workshops that we offer our own colleagues internally. We have experience in the field and we know how successful educational seminars are. At our power plant in Grain, England, we showed what operational excellence looks like at the facility itself. Colleagues from Vienna and Grain were able to exchange ideas and inspire each other," says Melanie Käfer, Operational Excellence Expert at Uniper, explaining the approach. Lockdown meant that the original plan to work through each of Wien Energie's three biggest facilities together with colleagues at each site had to be shelved. But the regular online coaching sessions, feedback rounds and preliminary discussions are already paying off after just a year: Efficient reorganization of meeting formats is leading to faster results. Furthermore, we are training employees to become "navigators" who are now responsible for organizing and coordinating the plant in addition to their traditional tasks. "Meetings are now getting straight to the point in 15 minutes instead of an hour. Good chairing ensures that the team can achieve efficient results and make decisions," says Florian Schmidt, Operational Excellence Expert at Uniper.

"The collaboration between Uniper's different departments was seamless and trusting — both in terms of content and organization. What's noticeable in this context in particular is that we're all guided by the same culture: the Uniper Way. We act as project managers, bridging the gap between our colleagues in Operational Excellence and our customers. This enabled the customer to derive maximum benefit from our Operational Excellence Team's expertise," explains Torsten Dederichs. "The fact that our collaboration has been extended demonstrates that the customer is happy too and recognizes the success we have achieved." The team is currently reflecting over the past year, as well as defining milestones, standards and quality criteria for the future. "Receiving advice from an external customer also helps you readjust your compass. This experience will help us learn new perspectives and approaches too," says Torsten Dederichs.