Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) needed an efficient way to print work packages containing numerous document attachments for plant maintenance. Previously, printing each attachment separately and compiling packages manually took employees significant time. NPPD implemented a solution from SEAL Systems to print packages as a single unit. This reduced the assembly time for an average package from 9 minutes to 1.5 minutes, saving substantial time during outages. The SEAL solution also added identification watermarks to ensure correct ordering and retrieval of attachments. The new process improved efficiency and allowed NPPD to focus more on serving customers.

1. www.sealsystems.com 865-380-0005
Nebraska Public Power District
with SEAL Systems:
Plant Maintenance Orders delivered with
Document Attachments in SAP R/3
On January 1, 1970, three
separate utility companies in
Nebraska (the Platte Valley
Public Power and Irrigation
District, the Consumers Public
Power District, and the
Nebraska Public Power System)
merged to become Nebraska
Public Power District. Since
then, people have depended on
the Nebraska Public Power
District (NPPD) to keep
electricity flowing to their
homes. Today, NPPD serves
approximately 1 million
customers throughout 91
counties, utilizing a variety of
generation sources, including
hydro-electric, coal-fire, and
nuclear plants.

2. This public utilities Unfortunately, the In an average month,
company lives by the slogan: massive attachments 550 work packages were
“Always There When You accompanying the work produced. A normal package
Need Us.” This means not only packages proved extremely would take 9 minutes to
keeping the plants and difficult to compile. Different assemble, or 82 hours a month.
distribution networks at high attachments were stored in While that figure sounds
levels of output, but also different servers, rather than substantial on its own, it pales
practicing strict safety standards linked to Document Information in comparison to the workload
at all times. A major part of records in the Document during outages, when the
maintaining this strict safety Management System. This numbers triple: an average 1600
regimen includes scheduled being the case, the cumbersome work packages were produced,
outages every 18 months; printing process required an some with literally thousands of
during these outages, extensive employee to draw up each pages of attachments. This
maintenance is performed, attachment in it’s native translates into 240 hours per
covering all aspects of the application, print it separately, outage!
plants, within a matter of and then compile the entire
weeks. work package by hand. There Though it was common
was no simple way to print the knowledge within the plant that
Of course, when dealing attachments out of SAP. Even the method for printing work
with something as complex and after the attachments were orders was less than ideal, few
powerful as a nuclear power printed, they bore no people knew just how
plant, there is no margin for identification to indicate which overwhelming a challenge it
error. Maintenance or repairs work package they belonged to. could be. That would soon
require extensive, highly- Each Plant Maintenance order change. During a particular
detailed work packages to could have anywhere from 1 to scheduled outage, when the
ensure proper safety protocols 15 attachments, and each demand for work packages
are followed at all times. At individual attachment could intensifies greatly, Kyle Pavel, a
NPPD’s Cooper Nuclear Plant range anywhere from 40 to 200 business analyst for the nuclear
alone, approximately 100 pages long (one even tipped the plant, assisted the employees in
people rely directly on these scales at 1100 pages!). It took assembling the work packages.
work packages for “It was very
maintaining the frustrating, tedious
facility (although, and time-
clearly, the consuming,” she
importance of recalls, “It was just
these documents a mess.”
extends far beyond
those working Clearly,
directly with them, something had to
impacting the be done to improve
safety and quality this process.
of life of the entire
community). An in-
house solution was
These work sought, but proved
order packages are impossible. The
maintained inside massive coding job
SAP’s PM module, would have proved
and each package far too costly to
requires additional document seven employees, and a lot of have been feasible
attachments in order to be grief, to assemble these
complete. packages.

3. Finding no resolution
within the company itself, Kyle
looked for outside assistance.
“At the time, SAP had come out
to conduct an engineering
assessment for [the nuclear
plant],” Kyle notes. Kyle met
with SAP and explained the
“painful, time-consuming”
printing process currently being
used at the plant. The SAP
representative directed Kyle to
look at SEAL Systems as a
potential solution, with whom
SAP already had a respectful,
productive business In addition, every SEAL printing process, the time
relationship. attachment in the package now was slashed to 1.5 minutes.
received a watermark stamp, This means a savings of 69
As mentioned identifying the work order it hours during an average month,
previously, one of the greatest belonged to and its sequence in but a huge savings of 200 hours
flaws in NPPD’s original the package. This assures that, during an outage. In addition,
printing process was the tedious not only will the correct, most the number of people required
process of retrieving each recently updated documents be to produce the packages was
attachment, printing it, and then included in the work order, but reduced to one individual, as
compiling it which took they will appear in the right opposed to the 5 or 7 people
substantial operator succession. Not only that, but it needed prior to the SEAL
intervention. SEAL Systems guarantees that the attachments solution.
worked with Kyle and her can be restored to their correct
Cooper Nuclear Plant order, once they return to the With the help of SEAL
colleagues to address this plant. Often the attachments Systems, Nebraska Public
problem, and several other become split in the field, where Power District was able to
issues as well. The new SEAL a worker can make notations on increase the efficiency of their
Systems process distilled the the document. This information operations. “We’re very
printing of work packages down has to be returned, in its happy,” Kyle reports, “We’ve
to a single step. The entire entirety, to the Work Package gone from a time intensive
work order could now be Center to ensure complete process to a very streamlined
printed as a single unit. documentation of the Work process, where one individual
being done. By utilizing SEAL can handle the entire
The fact that the Systems’ identification workload.” Quite a change
attachments include many types methods, this task has become a from the “painful” experience
of documents was also taken much easier process. during previous outages! By
into account by SEAL Systems. utilizing the benefits of the
Specialized attachments, such The benefits of the SEAL Systems solution,
as graphics or drawings, are SEAL solution are easy to see, Nebraska Public Power District
sent directly to a plotter during and not just from the smile on can spend less time and
the course of the print job, the employee responsible for resources worrying about their
rather than requiring an assembling all those work printing, and more time
employee to print and then packages. Prior to focusing on serving their
retrieve the attachments implementation, an average customers.
separately. work package took 9 minutes to
assemble. After adopting the