Business Process Solutions and SharePoint Intranet
WEBCON Business Process Solutions and SharePoint Intranet
Introduction
Exolum is a leading international company specialising in the transport and storage of petroleum products and is recognised as one of the world’s foremost organisations within the energy logistics sector. The company operates Europe’s largest network for refined petroleum products and ranks among the leading organisations globally for storage capacity.
With more than 1,700 employees and operations spanning five countries, Exolum manages a highly complex logistics infrastructure consisting of over 6,000 kilometres of pipelines, 54 storage facilities, and 34 airport facilities, with capacity exceeding nine million cubic metres.
Managing operations at this scale requires robust processes, consistent governance, and efficient information management. As operational requirements evolved, Exolum recognised the need for a more modern and integrated digital platform capable of supporting business-critical processes across the organisation.
Challenges
Exolum and several associated businesses were operating with multiple independent management systems that had become increasingly outdated and no longer aligned with the organisation’s operational and compliance requirements.
The fragmented nature of these systems created inefficiencies, duplicated effort, and inconsistent ways of recording and managing business information. Important processes often relied on disconnected tools and manual administration, making it more difficult to maintain visibility and governance across departments.
The organisation required a single, digital, and centralised data management platform capable of supporting several critical operational functions, including:
- Recording actions and operational activities across the business
- Logging and reporting incidents, accidents, and near misses
- Managing controlled documents and company procedures
- Producing analytical and operational reports
- Supporting structured approval and governance processes
Beyond addressing immediate operational requirements, Exolum also needed a solution that could evolve alongside the business. Flexibility and scalability were therefore key priorities, ensuring that new workflows, reporting requirements, and business processes could be introduced as organisational needs changed over time.
Our Solution
Having already committed to Microsoft 365 and deployed SharePoint across the organisation, Exolum provided a strong foundation for a modern workplace and process management solution.
Dolphin IT Solutions designed and implemented a centralised document management and workflow platform built around Microsoft 365 and SharePoint technologies.
At the heart of the solution was a structured document and form template process designed to drive information through controlled approval workflows. These workflows enabled documents and requests to progress through multiple stages of review and sign-off involving personnel, managers, and business stakeholders.
Through process automation, approvals and rejections triggered automated notifications, helping reduce delays and ensuring users remained informed throughout the lifecycle of each document or request.
Document Control and Workflow Automation
To ensure consistency and professional presentation, Dolphin IT Solutions developed a formal document framework using Microsoft Word templates and Outlook email templates.
This enabled Exolum to standardise communications and procedural documentation across the organisation while maintaining strong corporate branding and governance controls.
The solution incorporated:
- Automated approval and rejection notifications
- Escalation procedures for delayed actions or approvals
- Controlled document workflows and procedural management
- Standardised templates and branded communications
- Defined approval stages for stakeholders and management
By automating these processes within Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, Exolum gained a significantly more efficient and transparent approach to document management and business process control.
Business Intelligence and Reporting
Beyond document management, Exolum required improved operational reporting and easier access to key information.
Dolphin IT Solutions therefore developed a dedicated Business Intelligence dashboard that enabled users to manage and monitor operational activity more effectively.
The dashboard provided a streamlined interface through which users could:
- Log and report incidents, accidents, and near misses
- Track and manage assigned tasks
- Monitor process progress and completion status
- Access operational and analytical reporting
Once completed, reports were automatically routed to the appropriate departmental SharePoint document libraries for distribution and long-term management.
At the same time, automated notifications ensured that relevant business stakeholders and decision-makers were informed without requiring manual intervention.
To further strengthen operational visibility, Dolphin IT Solutions developed KPI reporting focused on document lifecycle performance, including metrics measuring the time taken to create, review, and approve documents.
This provided Exolum with measurable insight into process efficiency and highlighted opportunities for continual improvement.
Results
The completed solution provided Exolum with a centralised digital platform capable of supporting operational reporting, document management, and business process automation across a complex international organisation.
By consolidating outdated systems into a Microsoft 365 and SharePoint-based environment, Exolum gained improved governance, more consistent workflows, and greater visibility across critical business processes.
Automated approvals, intelligent notifications, and integrated reporting reduced manual administration while improving accountability and operational efficiency.
The addition of Business Intelligence dashboards and KPI reporting gave management clearer insight into process performance and enabled faster, more informed decision-making.
With a scalable and flexible platform now in place, Exolum gained not only a solution for current operational needs but also a foundation capable of evolving alongside future business requirements.
