Project portfolio management between complexity and global control
With more than 20,000 employees and over 200 production sites in 28 countries, project portfolio management at the Wienerberger Group is correspondingly diverse and demanding. The company is a global leader in brick manufacturing and clay roof tiles in Europe. It is also one of Europe's leading suppliers of pipe systems and surface fixings.
In such structures in particular, project management quickly becomes a key strategic competence. Different project methods, international teams and parallel projects must be managed simultaneously – often under considerable time and cost pressure.
The following practical example shows how an international industrial group solved this challenge with pm-smart.
Initial situation at Wienerberger: Many projects – little transparency
A large number of projects are running in parallel in the various divisions of the company – around 100 at the same time in the IT application environment of the Wienerberger headquarters alone. Previously, various tools were used to manage the projects, including MS Project, Excel and a pure documentation management solution. Consolidating relevant information was time-consuming and prone to errors.
The result: project information was scattered, evaluations were time-consuming, and it was difficult to obtain a consistent overview.
Objective: Implementation of a centralised, integrated project management solution
The search for a new solution was initially initiated in the engineering department. The goal was to find integrated project management software that:
- covers single project, multi-project and project portfolio management
- can be integrated into the existing system landscape (interface to SAP)
- is flexible enough (=configurable) to support the different project requirements of the individual departments
- provides an overview and thus transparency and comparability
The ability to map both widely dispersed project landscapes and complex investment projects within a single system was particularly important in this regard.
The introduction of pm-smart at Wienerberger
With the implementation of pm-smart, a central project management system was established that is now used in two key areas at Wienerberger:
- Strategic investment and innovation projects of the central engineering department
- IT application projects at Wienerberger headquarters
The implementation was structured, but – as in many organisational development projects – it involved organisational learning processes. In particular, the clear separation between single-project and multi-project management required new ways of thinking and process definitions.
The greatest added value: transparency and decision-making ability
Today, pm-smart serves as the central system for single-project, multi-project and project portfolio management. Project information is accessible company-wide, creating a uniform basis for decision-making.
We have achieved all of our desired goals and eliminated all of our weak points in terms of transparency, clarity and global visibility with pm-smart as our single source of truth.
Anton Julius Moser
Head of Demand Management & PMO
pm-smart contact person – IT department
The most important effects include:
1. Overview of the entire project landscape
All ongoing projects can be viewed centrally. This reduces coordination effort and prevents parallel data silos.
2. Optimised project management & consistent reporting
Project controlling data and project reports are available consistently and at the click of a button, without the need for manual and time-consuming consolidation of data from different sources. This means that everyone involved across the group can view up-to-date status information on performance progress, costs, resource utilisation and scheduling at any time.
3. Higher process quality
Standardised processes ensure that projects are carried out in a more structured manner and in defined phases.
4. Greater visibility and sensitivity in project management
In addition to measurable effects, the perception of project management within the company has also changed. The transparency created in project management has also increased visibility among top management. In addition, the standardised project management processes automatically increased awareness and acceptance among employees.
Integration into strategic business processes
Another step forward in the collaboration was the linking of project management with budgeting processes. Together with Wienerberger, EVOLOSO developed the CAPEX management tool (CMT), an integrated budgeting system for the entire group. In CMT, investment budgets and operating expenses are approved and, if necessary, transferred directly to specific projects in pm-smart. Forecast data from the projects in pm-smart is then automatically fed back into the budgeting controlling in CMT.
Looking to the future: resource management and international scaling
The next steps for further optimising project management lie in two areas in particular:
- Early detection of resource bottlenecks
- Further dissemination of pm-smart in international organisational units
A holistic view of project portfolios is of strategic importance, especially for globally active companies.
Conclusion: Project transparency as a success factor in company-wide project portfolio management
The experience of Wienerberger AG shows how crucial central control instruments are for complex project landscapes. A consolidated information base reduces risks, accelerates decision-making processes and enables strategic initiatives to be implemented more efficiently.
Read the full customer interview:
In this in-depth interview, Anton Julius Moser, Head of Demand Management & PMO, talks in detail about the challenges, decision-making processes and experiences involved in using pm-smart in practice.
