(openPR) - Extended Microsoft Project Server solution boosts product development efficiency at Bosch and Siemens Household Appliances Group

BSH (Bosch and Siemens Household Appliances) has been able to increase project management efficiency in its product development with solutions from TPG The Project Group. These have been implemented as an extension to their existing Microsoft Project Server 2003 installation.
TPG MilestoneLink ensures that the department managers’ capacity planning is aligned with the project managers’ individual project planning. TPG ToolbarCustomizer shortens the ramp-up period for subassembly managers and increases acceptance of Microsoft Project Client by shortening its menus and reducing complexity. TPG MTA Server improves the transparency of how important project milestones are progressing, facilitating enterprise-wide project reporting.

As the European market leader and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of household appliances, BSH (Bosch and Siemens Household Appliances Group) has very comprehensive product development capacity. Building a new appliance often involves several different production sites, and each machine may comprise well over 100 subassemblies that have their own project plans. These are interdependent and are consolidated into one overall project with Microsoft Project Server. BSH uses this solution to plan capacity in the various departments and create schedules for each project. It is utilized in the same way for management reporting.

“Our project planning processes have become so complex that we really needed effective support from specialized software tools,” says Uwe Tontsch, Department Manager for Information Technology Product Development & Industrial Engineering Solutions. “And this is where TPG MilestoneLink, TPG ToolbarCustomizer and TPG MTA Server significantly streamlined our processes,” adds Monika Keller, project manager for the overall Project Server implementation. She continues: “But we shouldn’t forget to mention the great collaboration with TPG. We’re supported by a competent and reliable partner who has assisted us in embedding project management tools into BSH’s business process environment.”

TPG MilestoneLink enables companies to set up links in schedules across different projects. Milestones and tasks from other projects are copied into a project manager’s own project. The project manager can then decide whether or not to link the deadlines to the tasks in his/her own plan, or to just use them as a reference. If a deadline in a different project is delayed, he/she sees immediately which of the external linked tasks is causing the problem. The time-consuming search for the cause of a delay outside their own project is eliminated.

At BSH, user acceptance of Microsoft Project has been enhanced with the add-in product TPG ToolbarCustomizer. “New staff who need to work with Microsoft Project plans can be trained on this tool much faster now,” says Monika Keller. “This is because they only see the menu items they really need for their role in the project planning process. The fact that TPG ToolbarCustomizer makes Microsoft Project less complex boosts acceptance as well as efficiency.” As a result, BSH has purchased an enterprise-wide license for the product.

The TPG MTA Server product supports the way project managers in BSH’s development department report to financial controlling about their projects. The progress of BSH’s enterprise-wide milestones throughout the project lifecycle is displayed as easy-to-read milestone diagrams that can be copied and pasted into web-based reporting documents.

Product pages on the web:
www.theprojectgroup.com/E/milestonelink
www.theprojectgroup.com/E/toolbarcustomizer
www.theprojectgroup.com/E/mtaserver

About BSH Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
BSH Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH is a corporate group operating worldwide, which posts annual sales 2007 in excess of 8.8 billion euros. It stemmed from a joint venture set up in 1967 between Robert Bosch GmbH (Stuttgart) and Siemens AG (Munich). With a workforce of about 40,000, BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH is currently the world’s third-largest company in the home appliance sector. BSH manufactures its products in 43 factories, and has a presence in more than 40 countries with about 70 companies.

About The Project Group – your project experts –
TPG The Project Group GmbH, based in Munich, Germany, with a US office in Jamison, PA is a team of internationally recognized experts in IT solutions for enterprise-wide project management. TPG is the leading developer of Microsoft Project add-ins and offers implementation services for Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solutions to large and mid-sized enterprises. TPG places particular emphasis on the integration of EPM in the financial controlling area as well as on IT support for Project Management Offices (PMO). TPG’s range of services is complemented by seminars for Microsoft Project users and developers as well as preparation for PMI’s Project Management Professional certification exam.

The Project Group is a Microsoft Gold Partner and one of the top Microsoft Premier Project Partners in Europe. The company has significant experience with Microsoft Project dating back to Version 1 Beta in 1989. We have a close relationship with Microsoft – they receive important market information from TPG, and in return they give us early insight into future versions of Microsoft Project.

The Project Group’s customer base includes global enterprises like Agip, AOL, ATLAS, Audi, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Bentley Systems, Bosch, British Aerospace, Cognis, Daimler, EON, General Electric, Harman International, Infineon, Irish Rail, Israel Aircraft Industries, Keiper-Recaro, LFA Förderbank Bayern, LSI, MAN, MBDA, Microsoft, Miele, SAP, Schukra, Siemens, Texas Instruments and many others.

The Project Group GmbH
Neherstr. 9, D-81675 Munich

Achim Schmidt-Sibeth
Director Marketing & CRM
achims@theprojectgroup.de
tel: +49 89 61559351