TPG Project Management Solution based on Microsoft Project Server 2013 and SharePoint Delivers Big Savings to Emmi Schweiz AG

With improved project management reporting alone, Emmi Schweiz AG – Switzerland’s largest milk processing company and one of Europe’s most innovative premium dairies – has achieved savings of over 100 person-days a year. This is the result of the new IT solution, based on Microsoft SharePoint and Project Server 2013, which was recommended and implemented by TPG The Project Group’s Swiss operation. The streamlined and automated project reporting process has delivered time savings of two days a week along with easier access to up-to-date data – but these are not the only advantages. Emmi also benefits from increased efficiency, fewer resource bottlenecks, more transparency and better knowledge sharing among project teams. The company initially wanted the system to manage a very complex project – the implementation of a new, enterprise-wide ERP system. However, the clear benefits of the project management solution soon prompted other departments to ask if they could use it. Today, Emmi’s marketing, human resources, product development, production planning and other departments are using the popular solution too. A detailed case study about the solution at Emmi is available for download at bit.ly/1Cgcucm

The initial reason for the implementation of the project management system was that Emmi Schweiz AG had made a strategic decision to implement a unified ERP system across all its subsidiaries, and required the solution to help manage the project. The company was already using Microsoft SharePoint enterprise-wide as its document management and collaboration system. “When users are already familiar with SharePoint, they don’t have any problems using Microsoft Project,” comments Stephan Schild, the project manager at Emmi who is responsible for the solution. “I was amazed how far the 2013 version of Microsoft Project Server had come in terms of usability, and the reporting tools were excellent.” As a result, the company decided on the Microsoft-based solution, with consulting and implementation services provided by TPG The Project Group staff in Switzerland.

The reporting component was Emmi’s highest priority, as it would enable staff to check and measure the progress of the ERP project and its sub-projects at any time. Previously, IT and other staff had been using a variety of cumbersome spreadsheet-based tools to compile their reports. The new solution provided customized reports based on OLAP cubes and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, which were integrated into SharePoint business intelligence functionality. This gave Emmi an advanced and almost completely automated solution that reduced the time needed for reporting by about two days per week. Along with the eight extensive sub-projects that make up the ERP project, the solution is also used in 80-90 product-related projects by manufacturing personnel. Additional departments – including marketing, human resources, and product development – are also using it for a variety of different projects.

Stephan Schild is expecting the user base to roughly double to about 700 users in Switzerland by the end of 2015. “We’re completing the deployment in Switzerland first and may consider expanding it to other countries in the future,” he says.

A detailed case study about the solution at Emmi is available for download at bit.ly/1Cgcucm

About Emmi Schweiz AG
Emmi is the largest Swiss milk processor and one of the most innovative premium dairies in Europe. In Switzerland, the company focuses on the development, production and marketing of a full range of dairy and fresh products as well as the production, ageing and trade of primarily Swiss cheeses. Outside Switzerland, Emmi concentrates on brand concepts and specialties in established European and North American markets, and increasingly in emerging markets outside of Europe. The primary focus in fresh products is on lifestyle, convenience and health products. In the cheese business, Emmi positions itself as the leading company worldwide for Swiss cheese. Emmi's customers are the retail trade, the hospitality and food service sector, and the food industry. In 2013, Emmi posted net sales of CHF 3,298 million and a net profit adjusted for one-time effects of CHF 98 million. The company employs some 5,200 people (full-time equivalents) in Switzerland and abroad. www.emmi.ch

TPG The Project Group is an international full service provider of consulting and solutions for enterprise-wide project management. The company focuses on Microsoft technologies and their integration with SAP and other enterprise systems via TPG PSLink®, a world-leading integration product. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, TPG provides international companies with expert advice, flexible implementations, intelligent PM solutions, and guidance to achieve a higher PM maturity level for business performance. The company complements its offerings with seminars on Microsoft Project and project management methodologies.
With several subsidiaries in Europe, the USA and Africa as well as a global network of authorized partners, TPG provides its services to large and mid-sized companies in all industries that work with project management.
TPG® is a registered trademark in the European Union and the United States of America.

For further information, please visit www.theprojectgroup.com

Mr. Achim Schmidt-Sibeth
Email: AchimS@theprojectgroup.de
Phone: +49 (89) 61 55 93 51
Fax: +49 (89) 61 55 93 40
TPG The Project Group
Destouchesstr. 68
80796 Munich, Germany

This release was published on openPR.