The Challenge: Decentralized Data and Disconnected Processes

Utility Services—a collaborative alliance between South East Water, Thiess Services, and Siemens—was tasked with managing water infrastructure serving over 1.3 million people across Melbourne’s South East. Though powerful in size, the alliance was bogged down by complexity. Multiple corporate systems, differing reporting standards, and fragmented data made it nearly impossible to track job costs with accuracy or manage performance holistically.

Operational reports were manually compiled and inconsistent. Financial data was dispersed across the three partners’ systems, and key departments weren’t fully adopting the centralized works management platform, Montage. Without clear ownership or standardized workflows, governance was strained and valuable business insights were out of reach.

To move forward, the alliance needed not just better tools, but a unified process strategy that could align all partners under a common operational framework.

The Solution: A Process-Centric Transformation with Interfacing

In response, Utility Services launched a Business Process Management (BPM) Center of Excellence and selected Interfacing’s Enterprise Process Center® (EPC) to power its transformation. EPC enabled the organization to visualize, standardize, and manage its end-to-end business processes using BPMN modeling within a shared environment.

This move brought more than just structure—it redefined how Utility Services operated. The EPC platform allowed project teams to:

• Model processes at every level, from strategic value streams to detailed task flows

• Assign clear RACI roles for accountability

• Embed compliance and change management into each phase

• Provide stakeholders with self-service access to up-to-date process documentation

Through the EPC’s collaborative interface, business groups could now review, validate, and continuously improve processes without the traditional barriers between departments or partner organizations.

Results That Exceeded Expectations

The implementation of EPC led to immediate operational and cultural improvements across Utility Services.

• Job costing accuracy skyrocketed: What was once manual and error-prone became standardized and reliable. Field crews, now trained and aligned, achieved 95% accuracy in job expense reporting.

• Operating costs dropped significantly: Previously, 25% of monthly costs were lumped under “Operating Costs.” That figure was reduced to 8%, with clearer attribution to actual activities—empowering better decisions around subcontracting and resource allocation.

• Cost recovery for chargeable work rose by 36%, thanks to standardized workflows that ensured all eligible work was properly classified and followed up on.

• Process ownership was embraced: Process actors and business unit leads took responsibility for maintaining documentation and driving improvement, supported by clear visuals and structure via EPC.

These results didn’t go unnoticed. The initiative earned Utility Services the Global Excellence in BPM and Workflow Award (Pacific Rim) in 2010.

A Culture of Continuous Improvement

What began as a project to streamline job costing became the catalyst for a broader culture shift. EPC’s real-time visibility and standardized process architecture enabled Utility Services to:

• Break down silos across three distinct corporate entities

• Improve supplier oversight and billing accuracy

• Eliminate redundant systems and manual data entry roles

• Drive better governance in a highly regulated industry

With the EPC platform at its core, Utility Services transitioned from reactive operations to proactive, insight-driven management, building a foundation for scalable, cross-company collaboration.

How Interfacing Can Help

Interfacing’s Enterprise Process Center® offers more than just BPM software—it delivers the structure, visibility, and governance needed to align teams, ensure compliance, and continuously improve performance. Whether you’re navigating complex partner ecosystems or struggling with fragmented processes, our platform and experts can help you build a culture of operational excellence.