Transparency and accuracy in project planning made easy – thanks to customized Fiori app
The objective of the “Key Resource Planning IU” project of BLS Netz AG was to ensure that the economic deployment of all key resources (personnel, rail vehicles and machines) in the “Construction & Maintenance” area could be ensured and evaluated by means of expedient medium- and long-term planning in SAP ERP by means of modified planning processes and higher-level control concepts.
In this context, a uniform, clear and easy-to-use planning tool was to be designed and implemented that would enable the control of fleet, personnel and resource deployments in project-based plans through SAP Fiori and reliably show medium (up to 12 months) to long-term (up to 8 years) requirements for BLS-IU key resources.
THE CHALLENGES
Accurate project planning of internal resources over a long-term period is central to BLS Netz AG's optimal use of resources.
The approach previously used for this purpose had shortcomings:
- In the master districts, personnel resource planning was carried out decentrally in Excel and was limited to the current and the following year.
- The resources managed by the planning and control departments were maintained holistically with a time horizon of only 12 to 18 months.
Thus, there was no integrated planning across all time horizons, disciplines and key resources. However, this was necessary to ensure order execution and to align the organization with the expected orders, both in the medium and long term (18 months to approx. 8 years).
The new solution was to provide a structured overview of the key resource requirements triggered by projects, thus allowing bottlenecks to be identified at an early stage and providing a reliable basis for smoothing utilization or procuring additional resources. Requirements for the implementation were a web-based, central administration with connection to the BI platform, a coherent and well thought-out UI design guidance for the users as well as the increase of data quality.
ABOUT BLS NETZ AG
With its 420-kilometer railroad network, BLS Netz AG is the second-largest rail transport company in Switzerland. With its 3,000 employees, BLS connects people by rail, bus, ship, car transport and freight transport right across the country.
As infrastructure operator, BLS Netz AG is responsible for the entire railroad network consisting of stations, tracks, contact lines, tunnels and bridges.
“With key resource planning, BLS Netz AG is taking another significant step towards digitalization.”
Dusko Kovacevic, Project Manager Business Applications, BLS Netz AG
OUR APPROACH
To facilitate the planning and coordination of projects, we designed and implemented an individual tool for the project managers - a customized app in the SAP Fiori, ABAP OO and SAP Gateway environment.
The data basis for the project information is provided by SAP ERP PS and customer-specific tables. The key resources are displayed and processed with the modern SAPUI5 component SmartTable in a three-level hierarchy. Data is retrieved using CDS technology. The user is supported throughout the data entry process. In the event of project data manipulation, automated checks are carried out and, if necessary, the project manager is informed of conflicts by e-mail.
Furthermore, the new solution closes the gap between planning data and project data in the SAP PS module. This results in additional positive synergy effects, such as easier exchange of data, as this is now linked to the PS module and access is available in real time.
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THE RESULT
With the launch of the Fiori App – on-time and in-budget - the subproject managers can now plan project resources directly via the Fiori App and always have a clearly visualized overview of the workload. In case of changes in the project milestones, they are immediately informed in case of discrepancies.
This provides more transparency and overview and thus contributes significantly to the optimization of availability, better utilization and higher profitability.
