Enerjisa Üretim revolutionizes operations and maintenance with asset management add-in for end-to-end lifecycle management system in Dynamics 365

Istanbul-based Enerjisa Üretim is Türkiye’s largest private electricity generation company, and the only one generating electricity with five different technologies (wind, solar, natural gas, coal, and hydroelectric). Its 29 power plants provide nearly 5% of the country’s energy resources with the goal of 5000MW in the near future. As part of its commitment to using technology and business processes to produce energy sustainably, the company embarked on a digital transformation to revolutionize power plant operations and maintenance with a state-of-the-art, end-to-end asset life cycle management system powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Sparking a search for more modern tools 

Enerjisa Üretim commissioned or acquired 29 power plants in the decade between 2015 and 2024. The rapid growth in the number and variety of assets the company acquired sparked a search for a more modern and user-friendly asset management solution than its legacy system which was heavily customized and had a complicated interface. The lack of a mobile solution for field workers kept user adoption low. Most importantly for a company with such a diverse energy generating ecosystem, the legacy system didn’t offer end-to-end asset life cycle management on a single platform. 

After considering other options, Enerjisa Üretim selected the Asset Management Add-in for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management to replace its legacy system. The company already runs its operations on the Microsoft Azure platform, but that wasn’t the only reason Dynamics 365 beat out other competitors. Microsoft shares Enerjisa Üretim’s vision of a sustainable future and offers and supports cutting-edge technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, augmented reality, AI, and RPA (robotic process automation). 

The company launched a complete overhaul of its plant maintenance and operations systems infrastructure in September 2022. Three power plants were live with Asset Management by March 2024, and by the end of 2024 all Enerjisa Üretim’s 312,500 assets were managed by the new system. 

Employees have embraced the Dynamics 365 solution. A handful of employees worked in the legacy system—now, nearly everyone, almost 1,000 people, are using Dynamics 365, managing up to 130 work orders per day in some power plants. The company attributes the high adoption rate to the system’s intuitive, user-friendly interface and the easy integrations with the company’s external enterprise resource planning solutions, which allow employees to continue to use the systems they’re familiar with.  

Replacing manual data collection with IoT and digital twins 

The hundreds of thousands of assets managed by the system require extensive maintenance and operational efforts to continue to run smoothly. Because Enerjisa Üretim takes a proactive approach to maintaining its assets, about 70% of work orders are for preventive maintenance. 

The company also employs advanced predictive maintenance techniques with the help of Asset Management. For instance, IoT devices monitor asset conditions in real time, enabling preemptive maintenance actions and data-driven decision-making. Enerjisa Üretim also uses digital twin technology in Microsoft Azure to create virtual replicas of physical assets, allowing engineers to simulate field conditions and predict potential issues before they occur, optimizing maintenance schedules and reducing downtime. Serkan Ozek, Senior Maintenance Manager at Enerjisa Üretim, foresees the company’s predictive maintenance ratio increasing while its breakdown rate decreases steadily with Asset Management. 

Before Dynamics 365, equipment data was limited, collected manually, and recorded on paper, inhibiting meaningful planning. Information such as which pieces of equipment had the most work orders, for example, wasn’t easily accessible. Pairing the power of Asset Management with IoT and digital twin technology gives Enerjisa Üretim more comprehensive data, updated in real time, that it can use to better prepare for regularly scheduled maintenance, ensuring the right materials are on hand and the resources with the right skills are available. Predictive analysis also allows for more reliable forecasting of an asset’s value over time. 

“Our equipment data is the key to operational efficiency. The Asset Management add-on in Dynamics 365 extends the lifespan of critical infrastructure. By leveraging real-time data and advanced analytics, we can predict equipment failures before they happen,” says Alper Serçe, Deputy General Manager, Enerjisa Üretim. 

A sustainable approach to work orders and permits 

When an issue is identified, the user, either the person reviewing the fault and creating the work order, or the technician who does the work, selects fault data that triggers a list of troubleshooting steps to take. After review, a work order that typically includes skills, labor, equipment, and materials is generated. Upon finalization and approval in Dynamics 365, the work order flows to legacy system to record material consumption.

Before work can begin, however, permits must be acquired to ensure that safety risks have been assessed, and workers’ qualifications match the job requirements. In the legacy system, acquiring a work permit meant standing in line, sometimes for up to two hours, to receive a physical piece of paper. Now, Asset Management in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management gets technicians into the field immediately, with digital work orders and work permits sent and signed directly on their phones or tablets. Not only does the new system save the company time, it saves paper, too. “With digital work orders and permits, we have been able to reduce our printing output by 70% (50K USD), making a significant contribution to the company’s sustainability efforts,” says Şerife Zilelioğlu, New Technologies Leader, Enerjisa Üretim. 

Empowering maintenance workers 

One of the most significant effects of the company’s digital transformation is how it has empowered maintenance workers. Previously, they didn't see the results of their work and how it connects to operations. The Asset Management mobile app is their window into Dynamics 365, giving them a more robust view of their work than they had in the past. Built using Power Apps, it’s designed to work both online and offline, ensuring that maintenance operations can continue smoothly even in areas with limited connectivity. In the field, the mobile app has transformed Enerjisa Üretim’s maintenance operations with more accurate and accessible information updated in real time, such as: 

Digital maintenance requests and work orders: Maintenance workers can create work orders directly in the mobile app, making it easier to report issues and initiate maintenance tasks promptly. 

Easy access to assigned work orders and jobs: Field technicians can view their assigned work orders and jobs in the mobile app, helping them manage their workload. 

Updates to asset counters and maintenance checklists: Technicians can view and update asset counters and check off maintenance tasks in the mobile app, even when offline, ensuring that necessary information is recorded accurately in the moment. 

Attachments to jobs: Maintenance workers and field technicians can attach images and other files to jobs to document an incident or provide needed information.

Work Order updates: Field technicians can record their time and item consumption for work orders to track the resources used during maintenance activities. 

Enerjisa Üretim eagerly embraces new technologies to better equip its technicians and was an early adopter of augmented reality/mixed reality headset (AR/MR). Now, the energy innovator is finding ways to use AR/MR capabilities to make its Dynamics 365 solution even more powerful. AR/MR-equipped technicians can connect with subject matter experts for remote instruction and real-time problem-solving in the field, and subject matter experts can offer guidance in multiple locations, even thousands of miles apart, in one day. 

"Standardizing asset management across 29 power plants was a complex challenge that required both flexibility and precision,” says Yücel Bozbaş, Engineering and Reliability Lead at Enerjisa Üretim and Technical Lead of the project. “With Dynamics 365, we not only built a scalable system architecture, but also harmonized our maintenance processes and procedures across all sites. This unified structure enables faster decision-making, consistent data quality, and a stronger foundation for innovation."

Converting a fragmented environment 

Implementing Asset Management for Dynamics 365 has also allowed Enerjisa Üretim to simplify and standardize its processes and classifications for better collaboration. With the range of solutions in use before Dynamics 365, most plants used their own equipment classifications, because what standards were in place were difficult to adhere to in a fragmented environment. 

Now that Asset Management handles the work permit process at all 29 plants, everyone is using the same classifications which enables greater collaboration among functional and technical architects, development leads, and project managers to ensure that all potential risks are addressed and mitigated. The lockout tagout procedure is another vital safety protocol which is essential for preventing accidental energization of equipment during maintenance. Safety standardization plays a crucial role in minimizing risks for technicians and extending the life of the asset by ensuring that all safety procedures and protocols are consistently applied across various tasks and environments.  

Fusing multiple systems into one 

The hallmark flexibility of Dynamics 365 ensures seamless integrations with Enerjisa Üretim’s external finance, warehouse management, and human resource systems for streamlined operations and enhanced efficiency. 

For example, because inventory information flows from SAP to Dynamics 365 and back, when a work order is created, Dynamics 365 displays the real-time availability of the required materials in inventory, and users can reserve the required quantity before pick-up. The reservation flows back to SAP, which updates the warehouse management system to show the reserved materials as unavailable. When the technician arrives at the warehouse, the work order displaying the required materials is electronically verified with the reservation in the system. Digital confirmation facilitates quick collection of the materials. The legacy system updates the inventory, and an accurate stock count flows back to Dynamics 365. If the required materials aren’t available, a purchase order can be created in the procurement system to replenish the stock. 

Integration with HRweb and YES, Enerjisa Üretim’s subcontractor management system, is a key component of resource allocation in Dynamics 365. The external systems maintain up-to-date rosters with current certifications and training records. Dynamics 365 checks the rosters to ensure that resources with the right skills and qualifications are assigned to work orders. Agreements for subcontractor time, labor, and materials are displayed on the work order.  

Lighting up the future 

Enerjisa Üretim plans to leverage AI for an automated procurement process. This system will automatically order spare parts and equipment when inventory levels are low, eliminating the need for manual entry and ensuring timely replenishment.  It is also exploring the use of electronic signature procedures for secure and efficient approval processes, particularly in high-risk or secure areas. 

The integration of Enerjisa Üretim’s archive and document management system with Dynamics 365 links each asset with its corresponding documentation so that technicians can quickly and easily access pertinent information for maintenance and repairs. The company plans to use Copilot in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management to store documentation and make it a shareable resource in hopes of supporting clean energy worldwide. With Dynamics 365, Enerjisa Üretim continues to set a new standard for innovation and drive the clean energy revolution forward.