Oryx Energies

Oryx Energies is one of Africa's largest independent energy suppliers. Through its integrated platform, Oryx Energies controls the supply chain from product purchase to point of sale. Founded in 1987, Oryx Energies has expanded across 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa over its 30-year history, building a strong reputation for quality, reliability and operational excellence. Oryx Energies continually adapts to the region's evolving fuel needs, while continuing to reliably serve its consumers, businesses and maritime operations.

Managing strategic success

Planning, implementing and executing strategic growth initiatives is always a challenging process. As part of a three-year business plan - called ORYZON22 and implemented by CEO Moussa Diao - Oryx Energies sought to streamline operations, increase profits, reallocate revenues across its portfolio of assets and chart a path to success. This operating model was called ENERGIZE, and given its size and complexity, Oryx Energies needed a comprehensive collaboration platform that would provide visibility into the status of projects, as well as the ability to assign tasks and manage resource priorities. Previously, Oryx Energies' employees managed their work using multiple Excel spreadsheets, which could sometimes lead to unwieldy situations. The need for a more powerful tool was clear. And when Legal and Compliance Manager Fateme Weyeneth was tasked with setting up and running the ENERGIZE PMO (Project Management Office) to communicate progress across all business units to ensure alignment across countries, she knew that any new tool used at Oryx Energies had to be intuitive and easy to use for all employees.

An intuitive platform for collaboration

Oryx Energies chose Smartsheet to enable the initial planning stages of ENERGIZE, its new business strategy project management tool. Smartsheet was used to provide insight into how projects were progressing, highlighting project performance and team achievements at any given time, with automated dashboards to ensure managers and staff alike could track their progress.

This early deployment quickly demonstrated the wider value of Smartsheet. Guillaume Desenne, Lubricants Business Line Manager, agreed: "Smartsheet allowed us to set up a centralised and easy-to-use reporting system to identify delays and communicate successes through a clear project performance dashboard".

With the help of Agile Management Experts (AMX) - a Smartsheet Platinum Partner based in Europe - Oryx Energies used Smartsheet to overhaul some key internal project management processes.

Working with project managers and sponsors, Fateme Weyeneth oversaw the rollout and found that Smartsheet's intuitive look and feel helped to drive employee adoption and avoid complications, while dashboards provided visibility and alignment across teams and locations.

Improved business visibility

Tracking business decisions and action plans promptly and accurately was crucial for ENERGIZE's success. Smartsheet has enabled Oryx Energies to gain transparent insight into the performance of strategic projects within ORYZON22 across different markets at any given time. Real-time dashboards ensure executives and employees have access to essential metrics for measuring business success. This improved clarity has proven invaluable during the lockdown, as noted by the Group's HR Manager Haja Rajaonarivo: "we have been able to work more efficiently with remote colleagues, while maintaining an excellent level of coordination."

Measuring success against established objectives has also witnessed a significant improvement. To date, Oryx Energies has successfully concluded over 25 ENERGIZE projects, all of which have been standardised. Workplans and dashboards featuring traffic lights, tasks and owner dates can be effectively managed in 14-day intervals, specifically crafted to accommodate the project structure of Oryx Group.

Streamlining operations

By implementing Smartsheet, Oryx Energies has simplified its operations and anticipates issues more easily, whilst KPIs and timelines are now far simpler to visualise.

Despite having been implemented from the Geneva headquarters, the solution's flexibility has successfully enhanced alignment and communication across all Oryx Energies' offices, both in Switzerland and Africa, ensuring that everyone is on the same page. Furthermore, conducting bi-weekly meetings to address potential issues and receive feedback has fostered cohesion between the main headquarters and subsidiaries, resulting in a significant enhancement of operations and teamwork.

Meeting strategic goals

Oryx Energies aims to meet the energy demands of consumers and businesses throughout sub-Saharan Africa. With a customer base that continues to grow, Oryx Energies is ready to take on the challenge of increased demand. Strategic initiatives such as ORYZON22 and ENERGIZE are more important than ever. Thankfully, Smartsheet allows for a clear view of progress, enabling us to identify and address any potential issues that may arise during major projects.