Customer stories

Toshiba America Energy Systems

Toshiba boosts agility, efficiency and collaboration with cloud-powered content management. Empowering control and project execution with OpenText Core for Capital Projects

Challenges

  • Reduce the risk of project cost overruns and schedule delays
  • Accelerate deployment schedules and eliminate costly customizations
  • Reduce set-up, configuration, and maintenance complexity and cost
  • Limit capital expense exposure
  • Drive rapid product adoption and simplified collaboration

Results

  • Better control of documents critical to project execution

  • Ability to easily and securely share project content with workers in the field

  • Automated, streamlined transmittal processes and workflows

Story

Mergers bring new IT challenges—and opportunities. The merger gave Toshiba the opportunity to address shortcomings with its legacy document management system. “We received feedback that our legacy system wasn’t up to snuff for everything that was now expected of us,” said Paul Archer, Document Management Administrator and member of the company’s IT team. “It was not user-friendly, it was costly to maintain, it had a lot of gaps and it was far from innovative.”

Group working together

We needed to hit the ground running and rapidly deploy a solution that could meet the project’s needs quickly and cleanly.

Paul Archer
Document Management Administrator, Toshiba America Energy Systems

What Toshiba sought was a modern system that would allow it to respond rapidly to an increasing cadence of new projects, while satisfying stringent customer contractual obligations and assuring good records governance. With OpenText™ Core for Capital Projects, Toshiba had an optimal solution. 

Secure, compliant document management and sharing

Core for Capital Projects is a cloud-based industry solution that permits companies like Toshiba to gain better control of documents that are critical to project execution. Purpose-designed to manage large industrial projects that involve hundreds of people, rigorous standards and stringent industry regulations, the solution is helping Toshiba reduce friction wherever possible. And that is an important part of keeping capital projects on track and within budget, which are both big challenges in the industry.

With Core for Capital Projects, Toshiba deployed a solution that allowed everyone to: 

  • Share and manage vital project content, including secure mobile access for workers in the field
  • Automate and streamline transmittal processes and workflows that speed document interactions while reducing errors
  • Reuse proven templates for rapidly initiating new projects and eliminating costly customizations
  • Reduce project set-up times from weeks to days

In addition, the solution is enabling increased accountability. “Documentum for OpenText Core for Capital Projects allows us to continue to form good habits. Our users can track different versions, renditions and approvals, leading to a high level of document integrity,” said Archer. Such integrity is essential in fostering inspection readiness and compliance with various regulations, including Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) standards. 

Accelerated deployment to meet compressed schedules 

The capabilities, specific to these industry challenges, combined with the simplicity of a cloud-based solution, mean that everyone who participates in a project can use and receive value from the solution immediately. The Wells Dam project, based on the Columbia River in Washington State, was the first Toshiba project to use the new solution. “We needed to hit the ground running and rapidly deploy a solution that could meet the project’s needs quickly and cleanly,” Archer said.

With Core for Capital Projects, Toshiba was able to “go live” in just three weeks. All 30 members of the Wells Project team were using it on day one. Being able to rapidly deploy the solution, no matter what stage the project was in, contributed to project success.

As a SaaS solution, Core for Capital Projects offers a subscription model that eliminates the upfront capital expense of a traditional enterprise software system and delivers predictable operating expenses. In addition, deploying the solution in the cloud is another benefit that helps minimize Toshiba’s IT investment. “We don’t have a large pool of IT resources who could maintain 24x7 operations for a solution of this caliber,” said Archer. “We have a small IT department and an even smaller document management department.” 

“We can grow with it” 

All of those capabilities have been instrumental in building trust between Toshiba and its clients. Archer predicts that Core for Capital Projects will continue to grow in importance as Toshiba continues to take on more customers and larger projects. With the flexibility of the subscription model, Toshiba can acquire more licenses when new projects are added or scale down as projects are completed.

“Toshiba has a trajectory that is aligned with the path forward for Core for Capital Projects. We are looking to implement OpenText™ LEAP Supplier Exchange soon, which will help us improve communications with our network of suppliers, vendors and partners,” Archer explained. “With both solutions, we can more rapidly and efficiently implement a content management system for each project we undertake, make access to the content instantaneous for everyone and feel assured of the documents’ accuracy and integrity.”

It is that type of document management, control and collaboration that helps power successful project outcomes.

OpenText Core for Capital Projects allows us to continue to form good habits. Our users can track different versions renditions, and approvals, leading to a high level of document integrity.

Paul Archer
Document Management Administrator, Toshiba America Energy Systems

About Toshiba America Energy Systems

Toshiba America Energy Systems is the result of a merger between several existing Toshiba businesses and a services group from Westinghouse. The organization offers a one-stop shop for a broad portfolio of energy solutions in the thermal hydro, nuclear and renewable markets. For more information, visit: https://www.toshiba.com/taes/