Client Overview
REC Power Development and Consultancy Limited (RECPDCL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of REC Limited under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. RECPDCL provides consultancy and project implementation services in power distribution, renewable energy, and infrastructure. With projects spread across multiple states and large-scale workforce operations, RECPDCL required a centralized ERPNext implementation to streamline HR, payroll, finance, procurement, and stock management.
To address these needs, RECPDCL partnered with Indictrans for a customized ERPNext implementation to digitize its workflows, reduce manual processes, and ensure compliance with public sector standards.
Read our previous case study to see ERPNext in action: ERP System Stabilization For Intech Fire
Client Challenges
Before ERPNext, RECPDCL faced multiple operational roadblocks:
- Payroll & Attendance Inefficiencies
- Payroll processing was highly time-consuming.
- Attendance reconciliation across locations lacked automation.
- Allowances like arrears, increments, and seasonal allowances were managed outside the system
- Finance Disconnected from Operations
- The finance function operated in silos with limited integration to HR, procurement, and project data.
- Approvals in finance were delayed, leading to bottlenecks in vendor and employee payments.
- Procurement & Workflow Bottlenecks
- Procurement processes (POs, PRs, invoices) required manual approvals.
- Workflow tracking lacked visibility, resulting in delays and compliance risks.
- Stock & Project Tracking Issues
- Admin struggled to track stock at different sites.
- Project costs were not mapped effectively with finance, leading to poor cost visibility.
- User Adoption Resistance
- Initial resistance from employees to use ERP during the rollout.
- Users were accustomed to legacy processes and hesitant to shift to a structured ERP-driven workflow.
Goals & Requirements
RECPDCL’s leadership defined clear goals for ERPNext implementation:
- Streamline Payroll: Automate salary processing and handle arrears, increments, and allowances seamlessly.
- Strengthen Finance Integration: Ensure all operational modules HR, procurement, and projects link directly with finance for real-time visibility.
- Enable Compliance & Governance: Introduce workflows for approvals, bank guarantees, and financial transactions.
- Improve Project & Stock Monitoring: Link projects with finance and track stock movements centrally.
- Enhance Efficiency: Reduce manual interventions and shorten processing timelines across departments.
Solutions
Indictrans adopted an Agile methodology to accommodate evolving client needs.
- Requirement Gathering & Blueprinting:
Conducted detailed AS-IS documentation (20 July 2024) and business process mapping with client sign-off (15 August 2024).
- Customization & Development:
Focused on payroll, finance, and procurement workflows first, aligning ERPNext for public sector compliance.
- User Acceptance Testing (UAT):
Phased rollouts were conducted in close collaboration with client teams; however, in some instances, feedback was delayed due to internal decision-making bottlenecks. Consequently, timelines required careful adjustments, and therefore, continuous follow-ups and proactive coordination were essential to keep the project on track.
- Onsite Presence & Collaboration:
Indictrans deployed teams onsite to work closely with RECPDCL staff, ensuring faster bug fixes and smoother adoption.
- Go-Live:
Achieved on 24 December 2024, covering Payroll, Attendance, Finance, Projects, Stock, and Procurement modules. This phased and collaborative approach ensured the project stayed on track despite user resistance and technical hurdles.
Key Customisations
To address RECPDCL’s unique business processes, Indictrans delivered critical customizations, including:
HR & Payroll
- Arrears Record Management: Automated arrear calculations for employees.
- Increment Tracking: Configured workflows for periodic salary hikes.
- Birthday & Winter Allowances: Special allowance configurations specific to RECPDCL policies.
- Attendance Regularization: Automated workflows for attendance requests and corrections.
Finance & Compliance
- RECPDCL Bank Guarantee Module: Customized to handle compliance-heavy bank guarantee processes.
- Direct Bank Integration: Automated vendor and employee payments directly from ERPNext.
- Razorpay Integration: Enabled secure financial transactions.
Procurement & Admin
- Contract-Based Purchase Orders: Automated PO creation directly from contracts.
- Custom Approval Workflows: For PRs, POs, invoices, and attendance-related documents.
Outcomes & Impact
The ERPNext implementation has already delivered transformational benefits to RECPDCL:
Payroll Streamlined:
- Salary processing time has been reduced significantly.
- Complex scenarios like arrears, increments, and allowances are now automated.
Finance Integrated Across Departments:
- Finance is now connected to HR, procurement, projects, and stock.
- Real-time visibility into expenses and revenues supports better decision-making.
Improved Vendor & Employee Payments:
- Direct bank integration enables faster, transparent payments to vendors and employees.
Governance & Compliance Strengthened:
- Custom bank guarantee workflows and structured approvals enhance compliance with public sector standards.
User Adoption on the Rise:
- Initially, despite some resistance, employees were hesitant to adopt the new ERP workflows; however, over time, with structured training and consistent support, they are gradually adapting. As a result, their confidence is increasing, and overall operational efficiency is steadily improving.
Conclusion
The ERPNext implementation at RECPDCL highlights how a government consultancy can modernize its operations with an open-source ERP. Although challenges such as technical complexities, user resistance, and delayed approvals arose during the implementation, nevertheless, through agile execution, proactive problem-solving, consistent onsite support, and carefully tailored customizations, the team was able to stay aligned with business goals.
As a result, the delivered system not only streamlines payroll processing but also seamlessly integrates finance operations, strengthens regulatory compliance, enhances data visibility, and ultimately drives greater efficiency and long-term operational stability across the organization.
With ERPNext implemented as its digital backbone, RECPDCL has been strategically positioned to enable operational scalability, and new modules can be seamlessly adopted to support its future growth.
ERPNext implementation done right makes all the difference.
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