Case Study Innovative on-board electronic systems with collaborative project management Enterprises increasingly face the challenge of having to coordinate product development in a worldwide network comprising their own locations, suppliers and partners. At the same time, products are growing in complexity and sophistication, while development times are becoming shorter. But how can a global medium-sized enterprise coordinate these processes as smoothly as possible?
Automotive supplier controls globally distributed processes with RPLAN peiker, which is headquartered in Friedrichsdorf, Taunus, designs, develops and produces innovative communications solutions for the automotive industry, ranging from high-volume products down to small series and prototypes, at its globally distributed locations. Founded in 1946, peiker is a technology pioneer that holds numerous patents and a by-name for engineering spirit and innovation. The company initiates trend-setting projects from peiker s special microphone in the helmet of the American balloonist Major David G. Simons, the first person to ascend to the edge of space at over 30,000 m in altitude, to development of the NAD (Net Access Device) model in 2009 as the basis for future e-call applications, for example. In 2011, peiker used the sharp pickup in demand for on-board electronic systems and its surge in revenue to lay the foundation for sustainable growth by hiring 127 new employees, extending its product lines and expanding its research budget. peiker on rollout of RPLAN: In replacing MS Project, we wanted new software that would enhance efficiency in our crosslocation multiproject management and help us be the first to develop innovations to market maturity. At the same time, the new solution was to create greater transparency in synchronization, controlling and documentation of product development processes. After a thorough evaluation of the potential vendors, the two experts we asked advised us independently of each other to go for RPLAN e3. The project management software from ACTANO gives us a homogeneous project platform for fully complying with industry standards such as Automotive SPICE Level 3 and customers requirements for cross-company planning. RPLAN e3 replaces MS Project To ensure end-to-end, transparent processes, peiker decided in the spring of 2011 to replace MS Project with RPLAN e3, the project management software used by many automotive OEMs. One main motivation behind this decision was to strengthen control of parallel pro-cesses across locations: As part of early supplier involvement, innovative system partners like peiker are increasingly integrated in schedule planning jointly agreed with manufacturers and partners what is termed cross-company planning. Implementing automated data exchange with the customers using optimized processes is now a key quality and performance criterion for medium-sized enterprises like peiker. Page 2
Since peiker also integrates its internationally dis-tributed sites for production (Mexico), testing (U.S.) and development (Germany and France) in an end-to-end project management system with the goal of increasing efficiency and productivity, the result is value networks that no longer end at team or company boundaries and that need to be controlled from a central control station. To achieve that, peiker required a clearly structured tool at the master plan level that would enable simple planning and controlling of all processes. For instance, Bluetooth plays a major role in many of peiker s development projects. But it s obvious that the leading experts in this technology cannot attend all meetings of the project team. Time and productivity would be lost. With efficient processes in mind, what peiker therefore needed was a project manage-ment software solution that is easy to use and supports the synchronization of geographically dispersed teams and experts by means of a uniform database. That means: Fewer meetings, better coordination and the fastest route to prototypes. End-to-end processes with collaborative project management Compared with the predecessor solution, ACTANO s project management software has the advantage that postponements are not automatically calculated algorithmically, but that notifi-cation is sent to the affected project members. They then agree actively on the best solution for the situation at hand so that the target schedules can still be met. With RPLAN, projects are broken down into smaller sub-systems which are then assigned to responsible project managers from the relevant departments. Apart from all information on their sub-project, project managers also obtain an overall picture of all dependent sub-projects. As a result, they can directly identify and assess the effects of delays on the overall project and sub-projects and remedy them promptly. Clearly allocated sub-schedules for which defined staff are responsible are linked into a planning network which shares a common database. The result is end-to-end, coordinated project management that is consistent throughout the enterprise. peiker implemented this collaborative approach across its locations throughout the product development cycle (development, testing, production). Direct networking with external part-ners and customers was also important. In this regard, RPLAN e3 permits exact scaling of read and write rights, enabling the supplier to ensure the transparency demanded by major automobile manufacturers, yet protect business secrets and sensitive data. Thanks to widespread use of RPLAN e3 in the automotive sector, peiker is now able to offer customers close synchronization of schedules, especially since there is a raft of further col-laboration options ranging from (rich) client/server models to cloud solutions. As a result, the intensity of collaboration can be defined individually or project by project and close exchange of data and information across locations and company boundaries is ensured. Page 3
Consistent data across all locations With the aid of RPLAN e3, peiker was able to create a uniform database and now avoids the costly extra work caused by data redundancies or obsolete data. Before RPLAN was rolled out, there was a diversity of documents and different formats. That severely impeded prompt identification of risks and problems in the overall system. Now peiker can overcome the heterogeneity of data and information at the interfaces be-tween departments and locations and ensure a binding planning standard with coordinated maturity level, risk and measure management. A further advantage of consistent data is vali-dated archiving of complete and insightful project information. It is the basis for compliance with standards such as ISO 26262 Road vehicles Functional safety and Automotive SPICE. With Automotive SPICE assessments in mind and with a view to winning orders for safety-relevant components and systems, it is essential to guarantee transparency in project management and to ensure that all development steps are documented at all times. With RPLAN e3, peiker can look forward to tackling these requirements with confidence. Automotive SPICE In 2005, the industry-specific standard Automotive SPICE was defined under the aegis of the major automobile manufactur-ers. The objective was to introduce a bind-ing system for evaluating and improving processes at the project and organization level. In line with ISO 15504, Automotive SPICE comprises a process and maturity level dimension with six process maturity levels. The main one of importance for suppliers is Level 3, which demands among other things that all relevant project steps must be carried out and plans, specifications and test descriptions must be available. The processes must be planned and tracked systematically and carried out and documented consistently across location, country and company boundaries. Controlling complex processes successfully Since implementing RPLAN e3, peiker has been able to master the great complexity of to-day s product development cycles even better. These are characterized by a large number of parallel projects resulting from the considerable increase in order volumes and ambitious time-to-market targets with the simultaneous engineering methodology. Moreover, product development processes are carried out at locations distributed around the world and devel-opment, testing and products must be networked across countries. Page 4
As an innovation leader in system-related technologies, peiker is committed to complying with stringent industry stand-ards, in particular in the shape of Automotive SPICE, that demand maximum transparency in controlling and documentation of value chains. peiker meets these requirements with the project management platform from ACTANO far better than with its predecessor solution: Management of all parallel projects is now subject to end-to-end, centrally controlled real-time monitoring. As a control station that is used across locations and projects, RPLAN e3 ensures a high de-gree of transparency with information in real time: That means rapidresponse intervention in an instant, whereas customized, automated reporting provides a review of the overall status of the parallel projects. With a view to the future, the consolidated database offers the foundation for best-practice references for similar projects and enables lasting optimization of practices in projects. ACTANO is Germany s largest provider of solutions to improve efficiency and effectiveness in product development. Companies in the discrete manufacturing industry use the RPLAN software suite and the collaborative project management methodology to plan and control the development of complex products. RPLAN integrates national and international suppliers in end-to-end value networks with a uniform database, thus ensuring highly efficient product development processes. Over 100 high-profile companies with more than 120,000 users worldwide currently deploy RPLAN to master the challenges of distributed product development. ACTANO s customers include Airbus, Audi, BMW, Daimler, EPI Europrop International, General Motors, GETRAG, Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik LMF, Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik, Manz, Mini, Mitsubishi Fuso, Motorenfabrik Hatz, MTU Aero Engines, Rolls-Royce Deutschland, smart, ThyssenKrupp Presta, VW, ZF Getriebe, and many more. ACTANO has entered into partnerships with leading solution providers and consultancies such as SAP, Siemens PLM, PTC, MHP, and Accenture. The company has its head office in Munich and a subsidiary in Detroit/USA. Contact: ACTANO GmbH Paul-Heyse-Str. 26-28 80336 Munich / Germany Tel.: +49 89 206044-0 Fax: +49 89 206044-299 e-mail: info@actano.com www.actano.com