On its website, A.Hakpark describes itself as ‘a world of connections. From man-sized pipelines through the desert to the water pipes in your house. From transport and distribution of oil and gas to the generation of sustainable energy. From the construction of high voltage cables to the connection in your meter box. And from robust equipment for the petrochemical industry to elegant masts for public lighting and data traffic and telecommunications.’ A.Hakpark, a leader in its field at the national and international level, in particular in the field of large pipelines, has approximately 3,000 employees, 2,250 of which in full-time employment, has branches throughout the Netherlands, and also in Europe, North and South America, Africa, and the Middle and Far East. 4PS Construct went live at A.Hak Infranet on 1 January of this year. Infranet can be considered the most complex offshoot of the A.Hakpark business family due to the large variety of work processes. Naturally, this impacts the ERP implementation. The implementation of 4PS Construct was part of a broader change project intended to optimise processes. At the A.Hakpark headquarters surrounded by orchards in Tricht in the Betuwe, we asked three prominent members of the responsible steering committee about their experiences: Catrinus van der Leest, ICT manager at A.Hak, Wessel Klompsma, Senior Application Manager/ICT Project Manager at A.Hak Infranet, and, last but not least, Piet Vermeule, Finance Director of A.Hak Infranet.

‘4PS CONSTRuCT IS AN IDEAL PRELuDE TO CHANgE MANAgEMENT’

A.HAk InfrAnet Implements erp solutIon 4ps

Laying water mains

New water mains network for Vitens in Wierden

Combined installation of cables and pipes

Laying of cables and pipes for water, gas, electricity, cable television, and telecom

you should not use it as a way to change

processes. That would be a back-to-front

world!’

ROADSHOW

The steering committee took on change

management in a broad way. A number

of roadshows were organised where the

Infranet management travelled the country

during the implementation to clearly

inform all branches once again about

what changes would be made and why.

Van der Leest: ‘We used a presentation

that communicated the same message

at all locations in which we explained

clearly what the different layers were in

the Infranet organisation, what would

change in the work methodology of their

organisation, and its goal for us.’

The rest of the employees were kept up

to date about the progress of the change

project via a newsletter. The last edition

was recently distributed.

How did staff receive the announced

changes? Klompsma: ‘We really showed

how we would set up our processes in the

future, so people were truly able to

picture this. This often led to enthusiastic

responses such as: “We should have done

that 15 years ago!”’

When there were questions, these were

mostly about plant management.

Vermeule: ‘This is probably because a

large change was introduced. From

now on, plant will be charged through

weekly whereas these were previously

processed in the general costs.’ Van der

Leest clarifies: ‘This is because of the new

desired

situation. Previously, each branch had

its own plant service. Plant management

is now handled by an umbrella plant

service for all of the Infranet group.’

HAND IN gLOVE

Although the ERP solution of 4PS and

Microsoft was favoured as the preferred

solution, it still had to be prove itself by

means of a pilot. The automatisation

steering committee of A.Hakpark saw

the ideal case in A.Hak Drillcon for a

pilot study using 4PS Construct. Drillcon

is a subsidiary that specialises in the

design and construction of all types of

drills for ‘underground’ infrastructure.

An accelerated pilot study was carried

out at Drillcon in October 2012 using

the IST-SOLL model and succeeded

with flying colours. Van der Leest: ‘The

implementation at Drillcon highlighted

its complexity, certainly as a pilot study,

but was relatively simple with respect to

Infranet. After all, it is only one company.

In any case, during the pilot it was clear

that the branch solution that 4PS provided

with Microsoft Dynamics NAV aligned

perfectly with our business. In other words:

it fit hand in glove.’

Based on the positive outcome of the

pilot study, the A.Hakpark automatisation

steering committee decided to roll out the

4PS solution through the entire enterprise

where this was possible. The first company

was A.Hak Infranet because, as we said,

it is the most complex part of A.Hakpark.

Klompsma explains: ‘Infranet consists of

Infranet has a specific place in the large

A.Hakpark group, says Piet Vermeule:

‘We work on the “smaller diameters”

and cables. In particular, we carry out

work for network companies and public

utilities throughout the entire country at

unit prices. For example, connections for

homes and installation of water meters.

We make sure that everyone has gas,

water, and light in their homes. We carry

out all kinds of reconstruction work, e.g.

the laying of pipes at new roundabouts.

We also handle all possible forms of

cable work such as the laying of wires

for public lighting, e.g. at sports fields

and along footpaths. We also install and

manage district heating. Regardless of

whether we install these resources, once

put into commission, we will take care of

certain fault-clearing services to safeguard

continuity.’

TRANSPARENT, EFFICIENT,

AND MANAgEABLE

What internal process preceded the

implementation of 4PS Construct?

Catrinus van der Leest: ‘Our old ERP

software was excellent and from a

financial perspective it was reliable for us

to work with. However, as the years went

on, so much customisation was added

that upgrading to newer versions was no

longer possible. The continued absence of

these essential upgrades meant that the

continuity of the package was increasingly

in danger and with it a significant part of

our business operations.

On the other hand, we wanted our choice

of new ERP solution to also implement

changes in our work processes. So, we

made our central goal clear: we wanted

the primary process to be transparent,

efficient, and manageable. For example, if

you look at the Infranet work activities that

Piet just mentioned, it is crucial to rigidly

manage our costs. Because where do you

easily slide off track? It’s when you deploy

your staff, your materials, and especially

your plant! This is why we wanted more

uniformity at A.Hak Infranet. That is,

uniformity of work method and reporting

as well as respect for the autonomy of the

five different companies within Infranet.’

4PS CONSTRuCT AS STEPPINg STONE FOR

CHANgE MANAgEMENT

The necessary change process was

undertaken seriously and energetically.

Wessel Klompsma: ‘We commissioned a

consultancy to map out the existing and

desired business aspects using the IST-SOLL

model (i.e. “existing-desired” model). We

began with interview sessions to inventory

the existing work processes within the

different parts of the Infranet company

(i.e. the existing situation). Then, in one-

day strategy sessions in February of 2013,

with the different regional and company

managers and Infranet management,

we arrived at an unambiguous, uniform

standard work process for all companies

within Infranet (i.e. the desired situation).

Obviously, our new ERP solution had to

align with this vision.’

In the first stage, people at the company

level had already expressed their

preference for 4PS’s ERP solution.

This is why 4PS was involved in the entire

IST-SOLL project.

In addition, 4PS Construct was also used

as a sort of underlying template. Or, as

Wessel Klompsma put it: ‘4PS Construct

on the one hand served to illustrate the

ERP concept, and, on the other hand,

functioned as a sort of stepping stone to

align everyone on the same path. Because

if you really embrace the ERP concept

then it can’t be the case that everyone

continues to work in their own fashion.’

Van der Leest: ‘That’s it exactly. You first

have to level up all of your processes

before you can even start to think about

implementation! This is why the entire

path, “existing-situation to desired-

situation and then implementation”, will

be carried out after we have rolled out

4PS Construct across the group. Why?

We want people to first be aware of what

they do each day and then think about

possible improvements before we deploy

the ERP. Because although ERP can be a

useful guideline in change management,

ThaT WouLd be a baCk-To-froNT WorLd!

We haNdLe The ‘smaLLer diameTers’ aNd CabLes

Laying gas mains

Traffic control system

Catrinus van der Leest

Wessel klompsma

Piet Vermeule

multiple companies that work on short-

term repeating projects and long-running

projects that can sometimes last for

months. This makes the Infranet situation

quite complex.’

‘There was also the utmost urgency at

Infranet,’ adds Piet Vermeule. ‘A great

deal of information was being maintained

in Excel lists and that situation was

increasingly inconvenient. And there were

all sorts of different work methods. It really

was necessary to introduce uniformity to

our work practices.’

FINE-TuNINg AND IRONINg OuT

WRINKLES

In the months of April and May last year,

different work groups, assisted by 4PS,

drew up work instructions and then the

actual implementation was initiated at the

end of May. At Infranet’s request, some

modifications were made to 4PS Construct,

says Piet Vermeule: ‘Certain aspects of

Infranet activities could not be handled

by any ERP package in any way and that

included the 4PS solution. For example,

Infranet works for about 80 percent of the

time with unit prices where amounts are

charged against units. We looked for and

found a solution together with 4PS.’

We went live on 1 January 2014, which

was just a few weeks ago. Is there

anything to say yet about how it is

working out? Klompsma: ‘We started out

cold. We’ve experienced some start-up

problems, which was to be expected,

but nothing crucial. We also had to get

used to each other. We are sober

pragmatists, solution-oriented, and

very direct. “Keep going” is our motto.

We don’t need the change protocols

as such; well, yes, for the really drastic

modifications. But we got through it all

right. 4PS staff are now working on fine-

tuning and ironing out the wrinkles.’

‘There’s nothing else to say at the

moment,’ explains Piet Vermeule: ‘We still

working on closing 2013’s administration.

It’s only after we’re finished with this task

that we will be able to seriously get going

with 4PS Construct. We are currently in

a sort of transitional phase, a preliminary

project where everyone is getting started,

inputting projects, running projects, and

so on.’

At the same time as the implementation

for A.Hak Infranet, there was also an

implementation of 4PS Construct at

A.Hak materials exploitation in Veendam.

This is the plant service of A.Hak Leiding-

bouw (Pipeline Construction) and A.Hak

International.

FACTS IN A NuTSHELL

COMPANY

A.Hak Infranet

ACTIVITIES

Design, construction, management, and

maintenance of infrastructure, in parti-

cular for Dutch utility companies.

MODuLES

ERP

NuMBER OF SIMuLTANEOuS uSERS

125

OPERATINg SYSTEM

Windows Server 2012

COMPANY PROFILE

A.Hak is part of A.Hakpark, a business

family that provides total solutions

for transport and distribution of

oil, gas, water, electricity, data and

telecommunication traffic, lighting,

and sustainable energy. The companies

operate nationally and internationally

in different sectors: engineering,

construction, commissioning,

management, inspection, maintenance

and dismantling of underground and

above-ground pipe and cable networks.

Other activities include all types of drills,

well-point drainage and coating of

conduits, as well as supplying complete

systems for heat and cold storage.

For this purpose, A.Hakpark also

manufactures the required installations,

machinery, masts, and portals. The

group is an international leader in the

field of large pipelines (up to 2m ø),

has 3,000 employees of which 2,250

are in full-time employment, and has

branches across the globe. Subsidiary

A.Hak Infranet handles the ‘smaller

diameters’ and cable work, in particular

for the Dutch network and utility

companies.

This company also went live with

4PS Construct on 6 January and the

implementation went well without any

problems worth mentioning. The big

difference with A.Hak Infranet was that

the processes were already in place

and change management was limited

to having a different application with

different screens.

PHASED ExPANSION

In addition to the 4PS Construct

implementation, many more improvements

were carried out in the ICT area,

including the optimisation of the entire

ICT infrastructure. According to Catrinus

van der Leest, one thing is clear as day:

‘Incorporating change management

throughout the entire process was an

excellent move. We repeatedly asked the

same questions: What is the situation

now? Why do we do it this way? Can

it be improved? This worked out really

positively. Not least because of how

unbelievably well we were supported in

this task by all of management.’

What are the next steps? Van der Leest:

‘Once we have implemented Infranet, we

will actually have covered all aspects of our

construction process: unit prices, contract

price, work preparation, and purchasing.

I’m not saying that the rest doesn’t matter,

just that it will be a lot simpler. In any

case, the A.Hak companies Electron and

Tjaden will be rolled out in 2014. And

this year we will upgrade the 4PS Projects

Portal to include Document Management

and Invoice Scanning. I’m convinced this

last item especially will bring about an

enormous efficiency win.’

Piet Vermeule also mentioned the

implementation of 4PS Mobile, for which

the entire infrastructure is now in place

and which will be up and running in the

coming months. But it will not be hurried:

‘Of course it has to be manageable, so we

will upgrade in phases and at a sensible

pace.’

We Looked for aNd fouNd soLuTioNs TogeTher WiTh 4Ps

WhaT are The NexT sTePs?

underground cables – maasvlakte

Welding on the district heating