Sinal

Cost management and progress monitoring for utility companies

Fiber companies have undergone significant development in recent years. Customer ownership belongs to the fiber company that is first to deploy fiber infrastructure in a given area. As a result, fiber rollouts across competing fiber companies accelerated rapidly. On the positive side, this made high-speed internet available in most parts of Denmark. However, the intensive rollout also created a greater need for progress monitoring and cost management, which in many projects could be improved.

Branche:

Energy & Utility

Vi leverede:

Softwarekonsulenter, Digitaliseringsrådgivning, End-to-end projekter

Teknologi:

Data insights, Interface design, User experience, Eventstorming, DevOps, Cloud, Design thinking workshop

When Sinal approached Mjølner, they had a clear need for accurate progress monitoring to ensure aa project infrastructure that stays on schedule and eliminates financial uncertainty. At the same time, it was crucial for Sinal to replace an existing application responsible for these measurements in order to fully comply with GDPR and all mandatory security requirements.

Mjølner assembled a strong, cross-functional team with expertise in project management, User Experience, User Interface, Scrum mastery, backend and frontend development, and Quality Assurance to develop a robust system for cost management and contractor billing.

“As a project manager, my goals are to deliver on the agreed timeline, budget, and quality. That is exactly what ENTA provides – you deliver on time, at the required quality, and with far greater financial accuracy.”

Lars Johannsen, Project Manager at Sinal

A Robust, Field-Driven System – Putting an End to Manual Joint Trenching Calculations

To build a practical and user-friendly system, Mjølner’s consultants put on their work boots and went into the field to observe real-world processes first-hand. The key measurement parameters were mapped, including ground conditions, trench depth and width, and hours worked per day. These parameters needed to be consolidated into an intuitive system that would be easy to use for contractors, project managers, and site managers alike.

At the same time, Sinal wanted to use reporting data directly in their financial system in order to gain a better project overview and ensure that schedules and budgets were followed at a higher level.

Another key requirement was support for joint trenching calculations. The need for joint trenching arises when a contractor excavates the same trench on behalf of multiple utility companies at the same time. Previously, these calculations were as error-prone as they were complex. Joint trenching practices had been highly manual, cumbersome, and inefficient, requiring the same details to be entered repeatedly across multiple involved projects.

A system was developed with integration to the customer’s financial system, enabling the reuse of existing data and making it easy for site managers to create new projects and assign them to contractors. The system supports cost management and quality assurance across projects and performs joint trenching calculations, ensuring that contractors only invoice for the portion of work attributable to the customer’s share of a joint trenching project.

Only pay for your share with ENTA

“Only pay for your own share” became the new motto for ENTA – a message that resonates clearly with project managers, site managers, and contractors who have adopted the system.

“The fact that the system can handle joint trenching is a huge relief, as it saves both time and money – and ultimately simplifies the project as a whole.”

Gitte Jensen, Senior Manager for Fiber connection Planning at Sinal

Clients and contractors also wanted better control and visibility across projects, a need that was met with the introduction of ENTA. As a result, the system has been received with a high level of positivity and curiosity. And for good reason – Mjølner’s specialized developers have delivered a system that integrates seamlessly with existing platforms, ensuring accurate data flow and continuous updates to the financial system.

“Our previous system could no longer meet compliance requirements, so we needed a future-proof solution that could support our delivery processes and the settlement of accounts with our contractors.”

Adds Gitte Jensen.

About the system

ENTA is a system used for cost management. Sinal is responsible for executing numerous excavation projects in which contractors carry out the work required to install fiber cables underground. In ENTA, these projects are managed from initial creation, through monitoring the status of ongoing work, to final settlement.

ENTA is used both by Sinal’s administrative staff and by the contractors performing the work.

The Client

With more than 900,000 addresses, Sinal owns Denmark’s largest fiber network. They cover 40 percent of the country – primarily in Jutland – with energy-efficient and future-proof fiber connections.

Sinal is part of the Norlys Group, and their 670 employees in Silkeborg, Kolding, Aalborg, and Sønderborg work every day to ensure that digitalization benefits everyone – not just a few.

The company provides access to 14 different internet, TV, and streaming service providers for both private and business customers across its fiber network.

Sinal plays a key role in the development and maintenance of Denmark’s digital infrastructure.