CenterPoint Energy QA/QC Program: 41% Quality Improvement

Customer

CenterPoint Energy

Location

Texas

Highlights

  • 41% Improvement in Panel Quality
  • 32% Reduction in Per-Unit Panel Costs
  • Real-Time QA/QC Visibility Across Projects

How CenterPoint Energy Improved Field Quality and Reduced Costs Through QA/QC Innovation

The Challenge

By 2016, CenterPoint Energy was facing the convergence of three major pressures:
  • A rapidly increasing transmission and substation project workload
  • An aging workforce with growing retirements
  • The evolution of design standards that demanded higher precision and agility
These pressures exposed gaps in design feedback, error reporting, and consistent quality control. Most notably, subjective debates around design changes and construction feedback were slowing progress. There was a need for a system that could:
  • Deliver objective, real-time QA/QC data
  • Establish measurable performance standards
  • Close the loop between engineering and field teams
  • Support continuous improvement through insights, not opinions

The Solution

CenterPoint Energy partnered with Think Power Solutions to develop and implement a comprehensive QA/QC reporting and analytics platform, with a pilot focus on protective relay and SCADA design. Key features included:
  • Mobile Field Data Collection: Substation inspectors from Think Power Solutions collected issues on-site using iPads, reporting them immediately via email and web-based dashboards.
  • Objective Performance Criteria: Developed rating systems for drawing quality, fabrication accuracy, and materials handling based on historical trends and root cause analysis.
  • Automated Reporting & Dashboards: Real-time visibility into field issues, trending reports, and engineer-specific feedback loops. Stakeholders could view metrics instantly and adjust designs accordingly.
  • Polling & Constructability Input: Structured polling questions helped quantify field preferences and construction concerns. This reduced subjective friction and expedited the design change process.

Key Benefits

  • Accelerated Design Feedback Loop: QA/QC data enabled engineers to react to field issues faster, reducing delay from back-and-forth debates.
  • Increased Quality Confidence: Real-time scoring and trend tracking built accountability with vendors and field crews.
  • Continuous Improvement Culture: Quarterly lessons-learned meetings and dashboards helped share what worked, what didn’t, and where to adapt.
  • Vendor & Training Optimization: Aggregated data was used in vendor discussions and internal training, helping align performance to real-world results.

The Results

  • 32% reduction in per-unit panel cost
  • 41% increase in per-unit quality score over time
  • QA/QC program scaled beyond the pilot to support broader project scopes
  • Standardized reporting and trend analysis still influence CenterPoint Energy’s design and construction workflows.

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