Project handovers pose a major risk for large-scale infrastructure projects. If documentation is not properly catalogued to be usable by the receiving party then this can result in information loss, additional work to recover the knowledge and knock-on delays and costs to the programme.
This challenge becomes even more acute in highly regulated sectors like nuclear energy, where data integrity and traceability are paramount, and where the volume of historical documentation can span hundreds of thousands to millions of files accumulated over multi-year design phases. In these environments, hosting legacy data to modern information management standards is not just essential for operational efficiency, but critical for risk management, regulatory compliance, and ensuring that decades of operational knowledge can be safely and effectively applied to complex decommissioning decisions well into the future.
The challenge
A Tier 1 engineering consultancy was contracted to support a major nuclear decommissioning project with migrating a design dataset of 250,000 documents into a common data environment (CDE). The design contract was due to be re-tendered, and the client needed to ensure an accurate record of the partially completed design. The legacy documentation varied significantly in format, quality, and metadata completeness, creating substantial challenges for standardisation and migration.
The project was already underway using a traditional approach: an offshore team of ten specialists working manually to process, classify, and standardise the documentation. However, the scale and complexity of the task meant work was likely to take many months, constrained by the staff headcount. Additionally, several valuable data enhancement requirements had been descoped from the original project due to the prohibitive manual effort required, including extracting latest revision information, author details, and other critical metadata.
Hoppa's solution
Hoppa was brought into the project mid-flight as a data processor to accelerate the migration process using our automated classification and data extraction capabilities. Our approach combined advanced natural language processing with domain-specific knowledge to rapidly process and standardise the documentation while maintaining the rigorous quality standards required for nuclear decommissioning work.
Working alongside the Tier 1 consultancy, Hoppa deployed our automated systems to classify documents, extract metadata, and prepare files for ISO 19650 compliance. Our solution was designed to handle the diverse range of document types, formats, and quality levels present in the historic dataset, from technical drawings and specifications to correspondence and regulatory submissions.
Deployment and performance
Hoppa's approach delivered transformational results, processing documentation 28 times faster (on average per document) than the manual offshore team. The automated approach also enabled the client to reinstate previously descoped requirements without budget impact. Tasks such as extracting latest revision information, author details, and comprehensive metadata – which had become cost-prohibitive for manual processing – could be delivered at minimal additional cost.
During deployment, it was discovered that a significant portion of the customer's information was held in Autodesk Inventor format. Hoppa rapidly developed and deployed support for this format to re-establish model-part lineage, demonstrating the agility and adaptability of our automated processing capabilities compared to traditional manual approaches.
Quality assurance and accuracy
Recognising the critical importance of data quality in nuclear decommissioning work, Hoppa implemented a comprehensive QA/QC service to ensure AI accuracy met project requirements. Our transparent approach included detailed performance monitoring and human oversight to validate automated outputs.
Performance varied significantly based on document quality and information completeness. For documents containing sufficient classifiable information, Hoppa achieved 97% accuracy out-the-box. However, for documents with incomplete or unclear information, accuracy dropped to as low as 75% for some work packages. This variation highlighted the importance of our human QA/QC service, which brought all outputs up to acceptable accuracy levels regardless of source document quality. Overall, the end-to-end document analysis and QA/QC process was faster than human processing alone.
Transparent reporting and benchmarking
Hoppa provided detailed performance reports outlining exactly how results were achieved, including transparent benchmarking of model performance across different work packages and information types. This reporting approach gave the client and their nuclear decommissioning stakeholders confidence in the process and clear visibility into Hoppa’s approach.
The detailed performance analytics also enabled continuous improvement throughout the project, allowing Hoppa to refine processing approaches for specific document types and work packages where initial accuracy was lower.
Project impact
By combining automated processing with rigorous quality assurance, Hoppa enabled the Tier 1 consultancy to transform how they deliver traditional information management services. With Hoppa handling data processing, a single team member can accomplish 12 times more work than manual approaches, creating new business opportunities such as Value Added Reseller arrangements where the consultancy provides wraparound advisory services while leveraging Hoppa's automated capabilities. This model allows consultancies to deliver significantly expanded project scope at better value for their clients while simultaneously improving their own margins.
Looking ahead
Large-scale data migration and standardisation projects are increasingly common as organisations modernise their information management systems. Hoppa's automated approach, combined with domain expertise and transparent quality assurance, offers a proven pathway to accelerate these critical projects while maintaining the accuracy and compliance standards required in highly regulated environments.
If your organisation is facing similar challenges with legacy data migration, standardisation, or compliance requirements, Hoppa can help you achieve faster, more cost-effective results while maintaining the quality and traceability your projects demand.
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