TPG and Tietotalo Implement Successful Project Management Solution At Chemicals Firm Kemira

Munich, Germany (PRWEB) July 14, 2011

TPG The Project Group and Tietotalo, its partner in Finland, announced today that they have implemented a project management solution at Kemira Oyj, a global chemicals group based in Finland. The new project management system, based on Microsoft Project Server 2010, saves project managers in the R&D department up to one day a month as it replaces the individual planning solutions they were using previously. In addition, the new system is integrated with Kemiras SAP installation using TPG PSLink, the worlds leading interface between SAP and Microsoft Project that is certified by SAP. The combination of a standardized project management environment and automatic data synchronization with the ERP system enables Kemira staff to produce reports at the click of a mouse, quickly compare project costs, and efficiently manage resources. TPG has also produced a detailed case study on the Kemira implementation that can be viewed on TPGs website http://bit.ly/jyBbYH

In March 2010 Kemira announced its new corporate mission: the Finland-based chemicals group was aiming to become the worlds largest water chemistry firm. With a view to achieving this goal, the company is working on hundreds of research and development projects at 100 locations in 40 countries. It decided that it needed to install an enterprise-wide, standardized project management system to manage all these projects more efficiently.

Each project manager had his or her own way of managing projects, says Jani Saarinen, Senior Manager and Head of Processes and external Relations in R&D at Kemira. And the reporting was horrible! When working on quarterly reports, it often took Saarinen himself several days to find and collate countless pieces of information from multiple departments.

For Jani Saarinen there were two main criteria for the choice of the enterprise-wide project management system. First, it had to help staff save time in their everyday project work; and second, the entire system had to be easy to use.

The solution put in place by TPG The Project Group and its partner Tietotalo, based in Helsinki, Finland, meets both of these criteria. Project managers and staff now work with Microsoft Project Professional and the Microsoft WebApp in a system based on Microsoft SharePoint and Project Server 2010. Im able to use Project Server 2010, even though my background is in economic history, not IT, says Jani Saarinen, clearly pleased with the user-friendly Microsoft solution.

The new solution saves Kemiras R&D project managers a lot of time, especially in the creation of reports. With the TPG PSLink interface running in the background, project-related data are constantly synchronized between SAP and Microsoft Project Server 2010 and kept up to date. Adds Saarinen: The system saves our project managers up to one day a month, because they now have cost control data at their fingertips via TPG PSLink.

In addition, all staff worldwide can now use Microsoft WebApp to enter their actual hours and retrieve relevant project data. That alone saves them about two hours per month, comments Jani Saarinen. Previously, they had to enter the data twice once in an Excel spreadsheet, then again for control purposes in SAP.

The implementation began in June 2010, managed by TPG and Tietotalo, both Microsoft Gold Certified Partners. Kemira had reviewed solution providers by having them respond to a set of scenarios and selected Tietotalo based on its execution during the review. Kemira was also impressed of the solution and references provided by TPG of integrating Microsoft Project Server to SAP.

GfK Hungaria Chooses Dooblo SurveyToGo Solution to Provide Tablet Survey Software

Kfar Saba, Israel (PRWEB) July 20, 2011

In 2011 GfK Hungaria has won long-term tender, and within the frame of this research thousands of people are being surveyed with a new method. For this survey, GfK Hungaria applies a really innovative method by using tablet PC-s, Samsung Galaxy Tabs for the questioning. Dooblo was chosen to provides SurveyToGo survey software which supports the development of questionnaires and follow-up of the fieldwork on the Android tablets.

The advantages of the method which is used at the first time by GfK Hungaria:

The devices are small, easy, the questioning process can be done easily in an uncomfortable standing position, too.

This innovative survey method makes people more interested, and therefore they are more willing to respond.

The program manages easily the different language versions, and also manages quotas, so the interviewers work can be harmonized.

More questionnaires are available at the same time, the interviewer chooses the right one.

The questionnaire can be improved, modified by refreshing the program.

The devices are connected to the server with mobile intenet access.

Questioning doesnt need internet connection all the time, but if the network is available, the whole questionnaire is automatically uploaded. As a result, any data will not be lost.

Both the tool and the software set the GPS coordinates of the places of questioning.

Pictures, videos and text notes can be included and visualised in the questionnaire.

The new version can be easily installed as an Android survey app directly from the Google app market.

click here to learn more about SurveyToGo

About GfK Hungaria

GfK Hungaria Market Research Institute is the member of the GfK Group. The GfK Group is No. 4 market organization worldwide. Its activities cover the three business sectors of Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The Group has 115 operational companies and a current total of approx. 10,000 employees who offer market research services for 100 countries.

GfK Hungaria provides full-scale market research services from collecting and analysing data to consulting which is essential to strategic decision making. GfK Groups aim is to support companies marketing decisions and to bring them closer to consumers through our information services. The GfK does not only provide data, studies, graphs, but also delivers information which are useful in business planning and decision making processes based on market knowledge and reliable research results. We put emphasis on our consultative role, which means that we give answers to the Clients questions on the basis of all available information and knowledge in a frame of personal consultation. GfK Hungaria is your partner in developing and implementing a successful marketing strategy.

Year of foundation: 1989

Number of employees: 100

Director:

ScheduleSoft Adds Finite Scheduling to its Workforce Scheduling Solution

Madison, WI (PRWEB) October 31, 2011

ScheduleSoft today announced the addition of Finite Scheduling to their workforce scheduling software. Along with this years earlier release of Fractional Demands and Advanced Volunteering the new feature strengthens ScheduleSofts unique off-the-shelf capabilities for complex and continuous Food and CPG manufacturing environments.

The Finite Scheduling feature directly leverages production planning data and labor standards to generate an optimized workforce schedule. Organizations like manufacturers, who produce a large number of products, can now quickly and accurately prepare employee schedules based on labor standards while actively managing dynamic production demands. Using the new feature, schedule changes caused by events like seasonal fluctuations or even an occurrence as common as product changeovers, can be easily managed.

ScheduleSoft continues to differentiate itself as a leader in workforce scheduling for manufacturing, said Brian Koniuk, Principal at The Hackett Group, Inc., a leading global strategic business advisory consulting firm. Their workforce scheduling solution is unique in the way it allows organizations to directly apply their core business strategy and practices to their labor deployment. Koniuk continued, The ScheduleSoft solution goes beyond roster management and supports key business metrics like improved asset utilization, inventory reduction and improved product costing.

In the past 12 months, we have met with almost every one of the top 50 food manufacturers. We understand their business drivers and our product differentiation reflects that, said Gregory Flessas, ScheduleSoft CEO. Flessas continued, The pace at which retailers and consumers are driving changes in production schedules is causing these manufacturers to take a more active approach to managing labor. Using ScheduleSoft, customers can be confident they always have the right labor deployed for they are being asked to produced. In a large, complex production facility, thats a huge competitive differentiator that within the next five years I believe will become a standard part of any factory shop floor.

About ScheduleSoft

Founded in 1997, ScheduleSoft is a privately held company based in Madison, Wis. Since its inception, it has focused exclusively on developing workforce scheduling software robust enough to meet the requirements of the most complex work environments, and flexible enough to address changing business needs. With more than 150 customers scheduling for over 50,000 users, leading companies in many industries turn to ScheduleSoft to create an agile workforce that delivers business results.

About The Hackett Group, Inc.

The Hackett Group, a global strategic business advisory and operations improvement consulting firm, is a leader in best practice advisory, benchmarking, and transformation consulting services including strategy and operations, working capital management, and globalization advice. Utilizing best practices and implementation insights from more than 5,000 benchmarking engagements, executives use The Hackett Group's empirically-based approach to quickly define and implement initiatives to enable world-class performance. Through its REL group, The Hackett Group offers working capital solutions focused on delivering significant cash flow improvements. Through its Archstone Consulting group, The Hackett Group offers Strategy & Operations consulting services in the Consumer and Industrial Products, Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing and Financial Services industry sectors. Through its Hackett Technology Solutions group, The Hackett Group offers business application consulting services that help maximize returns on IT investments. The Hackett Group has completed benchmark studies with 2,800 major corporations and government agencies, including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 84% of the Fortune 100, 80% of the DAX 30 and 49% of the FTSE 100.

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