SASOL
INCREASING THE QUALITY OF ESTIMATES
AND WORK PROCESS EFFICIENCY
Sasol is an international integrated
THROUGH CLEOPATRA ENTERPRISE energy and chemical company that
leverages the talent and expertise of
more than 34 000 people working in
37 countries.
Sasol develops and commercialise
technologies, and build, maintain, and
operate world-scale facilities to
produce a range of product streams,
Sasol’s Lake Charles Gas-to-Liquid and Ethane Cracker Complex, USA including liquid fuels (GTL), high-value
chemicals and lowcarbon electricity.
Challenges Facts & Figures
As one the world’s leading energy and chemical companies Sasol faces challenges in cost estimating that • Multi-billion $ projects
are commonly found in global organizations. Sasol’s estimating group generates approximately 50 to 60
estimates a month. Managing this many estimates while guaranteeing quality and effectiveness in a • 34.000 employees
convenient, structured manner is a daunting task.
• Presence in 37 countries
To overcome these and other challenges, Sasol initiated a careful selection process to identify potential
alternatives to their in-house tools. Specifically, there was a need for efficient and accurate estimating, as • South Africa’s second-largest
well as quick benchmarking and bid evaluations. Being able to quickly make high-level estimates based company
on historical data is crucial, and will enable Sasol to challenge their contractors. During the selection
process, Cleopatra Enterprise emerged as the tool that could offer the necessary improvements.
Needs Analysis
In order to determine the key requirements for a cost estimating solution at Sasol, a multi-disciplinary
Needs Analysis workshop was conducted with Sasol’s conceptual estimators, discipline engineers,
process engineers, board and project controls members. This resulted in the identification of several
improvements that could be made in the cost estimating and project analysis processes.
Following this Needs Analysis workshop, Sasol concluded that Cleopatra Enterprise would be able to
effectively meet all requirements, offering not just the right tool for the job, but also the insights of it’s
knowledgeable consultants.
“Cleopatra Enterprise has proved its expertise as a total cost management tool
for Sasol. We use Cleopatra not only for cost estimation but
also for bid evaluations.
As a result, we are happy to see the continued improvements in our overall
work efficiency and the quality of estimates. Moreover, we are delighted with
the insights provided by its knowledgeable consultants.”
- Sasol
Benefits for Sasol:
• High quality centralized databases for (semi)definitive class 3 / 4 estimates
• Feedback loop from final execution to factorized cost models
• Support for local and international projects through location factor tables
• Derive accurate parametric equipment models from historical data analysis
• Standardized reports for more insight into the estimate for project managers
• Providing a link between planning, estimating and cost control
Implementing a tailored solution for Sasol Cleopatra Enterprise offers a Total
Project and Turnaround Management
Cleopatra Enterprise’s expertise was leveraged during the implementation process to create a tailored Platform by providing an integrated
solution for Sasol. This included the following activities: project cost management solution for
the entire project lifecycle.
• Benchmarking of Sasol’s estimating data, factor models and maintenance contracts against the
DACE norms and international estimating standards Since 1996, Cleopatra has enabled
• Comprehensive knowledgebases were developed together with Sasol’s data team for definitive over 500 industry-leading companies
estimates (unit-rates), semi-definitive estimates (assemblies) and order of magnitude estimates in 75 countries to control complex
(capacity factoring, parametric models) projects and turnarounds, improve
• Setup of factor tables for productivity and location factors to allow for accurate estimating in varying their project performance, and stay
locations and circumstances ahead of the competition.
• Custom made dashboard reporting for the board which gives instant insight and interfaces with
IPA, so the numbers can be directly fed into the IPA evaluation sheet It is the only tool integrating
• Setup of additional breakdown structures for more detailed calculations and comparisons to cost estimating, work package
support bid evaluations, benchmarks and to provide input for cost control and planning management, BIM, scheduling,
cost control, form tracking, cost
Cleopatra Enterprise assigned a core implementation team who performed the bulk of the implementa- management, benchmarking, and
tion activities on-site at Sasol’s offices in South Africa. This ensured more direct communication and more - which helps you build project
colaboration with Sasol’s estimating and project management teams. controls capabilities on time and
within budget.
Full-Scale Deployment From cutting-edge technology to a
team of experienced professionals,
Following on the first implementation phase and training of the users in Cleopatra Enterprise, Cleopatra aims to help companies
the deployment was soon finalized. Cleopatra Enterprise is now fully operational and integrated confidently achieve their project
into Sasol’s projects. objectives.
Since the implementation of Cleopatra Enterprise, Sasol has experienced dramatic time savings. Visit us at
In addition, the consistency and quality of the estimates has significantly improved due to the www.CleopatraEnterprise.com
standardization of reporting structures and the use of templates. With the new work process in place,
the required man-hours per estimate were significantly reduced so more attention can be invested into
the feedback loop and analysis of project results.
Looking back at the implementation of Cleopatra Enterprise, Sasol is especially pleased with the
continuous support that was provided throughout the process. Cost engineers and implementation
engineers were always directly available to provide accurate guidance and support, both on-site and
from Cleopatra Enterprise’s home office.
Future Steps
With the implementation completed and the main objectives achieved, the roadmap for the near future
is now being refined. Future focus areas include, for example, the continued development of additional
cost models derived from project actuals. The integration of cost management and project controls will
be offer many potential benefits in the future, with the Cleopatra Enterprise Cost Management module
providing ample opportunity to further integrate the cost estimating and project controls
functionalities into one tool.
Read More Success Stories Request a Demo
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