As part of an effort to cut equipment delivery times, Dresser-Rand developed a technologically sophisticated system that simplifies the proposal process, allowing the company to produce a proposal in two to five days in the client's office.

Called the "Pele-System", Dresser-Rand product engineers can compile client needs to devise an engineered solution with drawings ready for manufacture. "We call it 'building what we bid,'" said Allan Kidd, Director, Pele-Sol Engineered Solutions.

"The Pele-System is the starting block in a sprint to faster client solutions," he explained. "It allows us to discuss with clients their exact needs and convert them into manufacturable information on the spot."

The Pele-System is a software package written by Dresser-Rand engineers. It allows the regional business team (the product engineers, application engineers, etc.) to select and configure machinery and services, establish a price, and guarantee that it will build what it has bid. And it can actually be done in the client's office within two to five days, depending on the project scope.

"We can start building our equipment as soon as a contract is signed," said Gary Jacobik, quality assurance manager on the Pele-System development team.

"There are no coordination meetings required, as the project application is developed with the client in the client's office. Normally it would take 10 weeks to complete the first issue of engineering documents, then meet with the client for coordination meetings. The time for preliminary engineering is totally eliminated with the Pele-System. We are able to cut off at least six weeks, reducing lead time before manufacture by as much as 16 to 20 weeks."

Typical industry cycle time from quotation to delivery is 12 to 14 months, but with the Pele-System and other timesaving solutions that Dresser-Rand has developed in recent years, delivery time is reduced by 50 percent.

Highly Engineered Products

Because Dresser-Rand's equipment is highly engineered - individual for not only each client, but also each client application - solutions for clients had been complex and time consuming. The Pele-System, however, allows Dresser-Rand to speed up the process. Informational fields are populated across a series of templates and modules. This allows the product team to quickly define the performance and configuration of Dresser-Rand's entire line of turbo equipment and package services. The Pele-System can delineate all of the turbo machinery features required.

"We automate the creation of an entire project bill of materials and services," Jacobik explained. "They're developed for each part of the compressor. A bill of materials is developed for each component." The end result is that at the close of the initial meeting with a client, the Dresser-Rand product procurement team has a set of drawings, data, and details, coupled with a pricing structure that has all of the information that the client needs to make a decision. "In a matter of a few days in the client's office, he knows everything he needs to know about a Dresser-Rand solution," Jacobik said.

Although the Pele-System is unrelated to the EDS Unigraphics computer aided drafting system Dresser-Rand developed, "we've designed them so they shake hands," Kidd said. "You can type information into the Pele-System and it shows up on CAD."

"Providing remote access was the challenging part," according to David Prince, Project Development Manager, Pele-Sol Engineered Solutions. "Dresser-Rand is one of the first companies ever to do this," Prince said. "This is truly global in scale and that's what's impressive about it. Dresser-Rand is a true leader in developing this technology and deploying it worldwide."

Client Reaction Positive

Initial reactions from the half dozen clients who have witnessed the Pele-System during the first four months of 2000 have been very positive.

"I spent some time with one client recently and I couldn't tell who was more excited, him or us," Kidd recalled.

There are additional benefits to clients other than the cycle time cut from Dresser-Rand's end. "Those clients that understand the principle of cycle time reduction are also interested in reducing their own cycle time," Kidd explained. "We also shorten the client's cycle time - from project concept to completion - by giving them more information sooner that's accurate and reliable upon receipt. We can sit with them while they're going through their concept stage and, as a result, shorten their concept cycle time."

This has a dramatic impact on client satisfaction. "The clock starts ticking when they first start thinking about a project, long before they call us to help them with their energy solutions," Kidd said. "This is significant when you consider some of the time saved from initial concept to plant start-up - say, an LNG plant in Malaysia, 300 to 400 days off. The Pele-System allows our product engineer teams to move with alacrity and accuracy to fulfill client needs."

Kidd concedes that the Pele-System and other efforts by Dresser-Rand to reduce cycle time give a whole new meaning to long-range planning. In fact, the long range just got shorter.

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