BNI Coal
"WennSoft gives us better access to our data. Reports that used to take a programmer hours can be done in minutes by an employee using WennSoft."
Chuck Curtiss
Computer Systems Manager for BNI Coal
About BNI Coal
BNI Coal Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of ALLETE (NYSE-ALE), owns and operates the Center Mine near Center, North Dakota. This surface mine supplies lignite coal to fuel the nearby Milton R. Young steam electric Generating Station, Units I and II.
Each year BNI Coal mines about 4.5 million tons of lignite, supplying both units of the Young steam electric Generating Station. The Mining process annually disturbs and reclaims approximately 210 acres per year. The electricity made from BNI's lignite lights up farms and businesses in eastern North Dakota and northern Minnesota.
BNI strives to be the lowest-cost producer of lignite coal in North Dakota, which is why a software solution is essential. By supplying the lowest cost lignite coal, they help the local rural electric cooperative generate low-cost power to farms and businesses in the area.
Upgrading to a Better Software Solution
BNI used to rely on a character-based software system that ran off a dumb terminal. The primary problem they had with this system was accessing the data stored within it. In many cases, it required someone with an IT background who could either write a report or knew the appropriate questions to ask the system. After the report was created, there was no way to customize the data. If the end user wanted the data put into a spreadsheet, they had to manually re-enter it.
“It was very time consuming and inefficient,” said Chuck Curtiss, Computer Systems Manager for BNI Coal.
Approximately 7 years ago, BNI realized it needed to make a change so it would be easier for staff to access and customize data quickly. That’s when they discovered WennSoft Job Cost and Service Management Series.
WennSoft Job Cost is a financial solution that enhances organizational accountability by tracking and managing labor, materials, subcontractors, billing, P.O.s, and other related items. WennSoft Service Management Series is a solution that improves organizations’ field service by capturing service calls, dispatching assignments, tracking resolutions and managing contracts.
BNI Coal developed its WennSoft solution with the help of DFC Consultants, Ltd., a turnkey consulting company standing customers apart from the competition. Their unparalleled consulting services provide value to customers by increasing their efficiency, accurate financial planning and budgeting through powerful business software.
Better Reporting
“It was very tough to get information out of our old system. When you were able to access data, it generally wasn’t in a format that would help our employees,” said Curtiss. “The only thing you could get without doing a major amount of work was a printed reported that required a user to pore over it to get any value from the report.”
BNI frequently needs to produce reports to determine how much it costs to run a particular machine for a specific amount of time. Because their old system basically had hundreds of separate files instead of a connected database, it would take a programmer several hours to produce these types of reports. This was often a deterrent to good decision-making processes.
“If someone has to wait hours to get a report, then has to pore over the data to make sense of it, they’re probably going to skip it, or do it as the last part of the process,” said Curtiss. “This can lead to poor decision-making because employees don’t have the necessary information.”
By switching to WennSoft which uses a SQL Server Database and report writer, BNI is able to provide its employees with more capabilities to access and analyze the data. Users can create their own reports, or export the information into Microsoft Excel, allowing them to manipulate the data any way they want.
“WennSoft accelerates our ability to make intelligent business decisions and makes our employees more productive,” said Curtiss. “WennSoft gives us better access to our data. Reports that used to take a programmer 3 to 4 hours can be done in minutes by any employee using WennSoft.”
WennSoft also helps BNI’s employees access data directly from their computers more quickly. It enables the user to pull up a job, drill all the way back to the exact date of a specific transaction and see it on their screen. Information that used to take BNI employees 25 minutes to get, can now be obtained in 2 minutes, which is a 92% decrease.
Managing Equipment Costs
BNI Coal invests significantly in the equipment they use to remove coal from the ground. It’s not uncommon for a single piece of equipment to cost them millions of dollars and have a life span of anywhere between 10 and 20 years. Therefore, it is vital for BNI to pay careful attention to the numerous details relating to maintenance, repair and performance.
WennSoft has been an indispensable tool to help BNI manage its equipment costs. WennSoft gives BNI the ability to obtain an accurate history of maintenance on the machines they use, track preventative maintenances procedures and identify the average cost of a typical repair.
“We can use WennSoft to determine the true cost of production equipment,” said Curtiss. “For instance, we can determine if purchasing a new truck is more cost effective than maintaining a truck we already own. WennSoft enables us to collect the numbers and perform this type of analysis, which helps us run an efficient business.” By placing all of its information into WennSoft Job Cost, they also have the ability to create production-based unit reporting. For example, they can tell that their trucks use x-number gallons of fuel per ton of coal delivered. This enables them to identify the most efficient use and configuration characteristics of the equipment they use.
Satisfied with WennSoft
BNI Coal is satisfied with how WennSoft Job Cost and Service Management Series help them control costs, improve productivity and create better reports.
“WennSoft provides BNI’s management team with more insight into what’s going on in our operations,” said Chuck Curtiss. “WennSoft helps management gain more confidence in the numbers we generate.”
To learn more about how WennSoft Solutions can have a similar impact on your organization, please contact us at 262-821-4100 or info@wennsoft.com.