Chips' Goal: Faster and More Effective Reports
The modernisation of the IT system continues at Chips Ab. A new reporting and planning system, designed and project-managed by Affecto, was completed in November.
The headquarters and potato chip plant of Chips Finland, the manufacturer of the Taffel chips, are located about 20 kilometres from the province capital Mariehamn in Åland. But the office of the company's IT Manager Ingegerd Johansson is located in a beautiful stone building on Strandgatan in the centre of Mariehamn.
Johansson is eager to shift the IT philosophy of the company from Excel to Business Intelligence solutions. "A traditional spreadsheet application is too cumbersome and slow a way to generate the information needed. In addition, making forecasts is difficult", says Johansson.
Information for production and financial administration
Collaboration has long been close between Cognos, one of the world's leading Business Intelligence technology suppliers, and Affecto, the largest BI solution supplier in the Nordic countries.
The new Cognos planning tool purchased by Chips is primarily aimed at sales and marketing but it also benefits financial administration and the production plants. For example, the company's financial management becomes more focused when the planning, forecasting and comparing over time of sales and marketing are easier.
"With the help of the new Business Intelligence system we can, for example, forecast with greater accuracy how much of various raw materials need to be ordered for the plants. We are able to run various types of reports daily, if needed", says Johansson.
The most important raw material for Chips is the potato, and the Chips production plants consume well over 100,000 tonnes of them yearly. Seasonings and oil are also needed in large amounts in production: the yearly consumption of oil alone is over 10,000 tonnes.
Proper planning is the key to success
The joint IT project of Affecto and Chips was launched in January. "First of all, we knew exactly what we wanted. Secondly, the IT project run by Affecto progressed smoothly. It was crucial that the project had been planned so meticulously. Planning accounts for over 50 percent of the success of any project", says Johansson.
This way the project costs, schedule and employee contribution stayed under control.
"We cannot designate a large number of staff to IT projects. That is why it is important that the projects progress exactly according to plan."
An open approach to the IT project
The Chips IT Manager thinks it is essential to have end user representation in the IT project teams as well. This is what was done in the project lead by Affecto.
"The project progress must also be communicated regularly within the company so that the staff know what is going on."
Thanks to the regular communication, the psychological threshold to start using the new system does not get too high. "I am sure that everyone will like the new system. It is very user-friendly."
The new system has one administrator but Ingegerd Johansson believes this will benefit the entire organisation. User rights to the system will be distributed very freely.
This article as a whole has been originally published in the Affecto Customer Magazine 2/2008.
[4.12.2008 15:11]
