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.
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.
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