Success Story: Ocean Breeze Energy

IT Inventory Management with tailwind

Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH & Co. KG manages its hardware and software as well as licenses and contracts with the IT Inventory Management Software PASS System Inventory. As a pilot customer, the company actively participated in the development of the solution.

Around 100 kilometers off the German North Sea coast, 80 wind turbines spiral out of the sea and brave the rough seas. With an output of 400 megawatts, the wind farm is one of the largest in Germany. It supplies more than 400,000 households with electricity. The owner and operator of the nearly 60-square-kilometer field called "BARD Offshore 1" is Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH & Co. KG, based in Bremen, Germany. Built in 2010 and fully commissioned in 2013, it was Germany's first commercial offshore wind farm - and thus a true pioneer.

Keeping an overview even in high waves

Until now, Ocean Breeze managed hardware, software, licenses and contracts in Excel lists. The decisive disadvantage: These become very complex and confusing with increasing scope. In addition, links between assets and users can only be displayed to a limited extent. The company currently employs around 40 people, and also works with freelancers and external service providers. 

In the course of research, Ocean Breeze came across PASS System Inventory at the beginning of 2019. A solution that was still quite new on the market at the time, but already convinced with its clear structure during the first demonstration. "We also looked at competing products, but they seemed too complex. In addition, PASS assured us that we could actively participate in the further development of the product with our wishes and suggestions for improvement," explains Volker Schoon, IT manager at Ocean Breeze.

All in one system

PASS delivered the IT inventory software to Ocean Breeze as a licensed solution in April 2019. Since then, the wind farm operator has benefited from a detailed real-time overview of all assets. Central data storage replaced confusing Excel lists in various storage locations. Manual maintenance efforts are a thing of the past. All inventory can be managed via a convenient web interface - and can be assigned to locations as well as individual employees. Together with the HR department, Ocean Breeze's IT department developed a clear process for onboarding and offboarding on this basis. The bottom line is that this saves time and thus also costs.

"We couldn't have asked for a better first customer for our System Inventory. The well-founded feedback from Ocean Breeze regularly flowed into our releases and gave the solution important tailwind," emphasizes Maria Freund, project manager at PASS. Today, for example, log files and return documents can be customized at Ocean Breeze's suggestion.