Eliminate excels from the world — a project experience report

We found a total of just under 20 different Excel files, one per location, to be exact. Although these constellations had worked very well for years, Excel is intended for completely different purposes and therefore also brought with it some stumbling blocks. Our customer now wanted to eliminate this. In this way, we should standardize the procedure for all locations and make it possible to process cases together and simultaneously. After a detailed evaluation and a project based on a “good practice” approach, we were able to help the client digitize their processes with Jira — a powerful process tool from the manufacturer Atlassian.

From order to delivery

In simple terms, the business process looks like this: The warehouse or retailer (depending on where the order is received) creates an order, sends it to the scheduling department, which collects all necessary information and completely organizes the scheduling. The ticket then lands back at the warehouse, where transport can be prepared and the ticket can be completed as soon as the truck has arrived and picked up the goods.

Employees from the different departments and/or locations affected can communicate with each other via the corresponding ticket. It was also important that photos of the truck as well as customs documents and other formalities relating to the relevant case could be uploaded.

Employees have access to the assignments they need for their respective work. Authorization management requires a somewhat more complex approach, as each location may only have access to orders involving it. In addition, head office planning, retailers and management must be able to see everything.

Get rolling with team and tool

In the beginning, the biggest hurdle was the acceptance of employees, who had become accustomed to a procedure for years and some were not exactly enthusiastic about this change. Such a change not only requires flexibility and tolerance, but also requires time for familiarization, during which employees are temporarily unable to work equally efficiently. Experience has shown that this is a point that appears on the surface of almost all projects and should not be neglected.

Through discussions with employees, we tried to get them on board at an early stage, create acceptance and meet their requirements. Teams that are involved in the business process on a daily basis recognize where the problems lie and can point out the points that are important to them. We have supplemented this with training courses. Thanks to their votes, we were able to quickly optimize and further develop the tool so that they can work even better than before. Inclusion and listening are key here. Symbolically, a car only gets rolling when all teams push it on.

The journey continues

The project was such a big success that the IT department with its processes and help desk also switched to Jira. In addition, the scheduling solution is supplemented with a process for government audits on contracts. A strategy board, which management can use to organize and evaluate the corresponding strategy goals for each location, is also currently being developed. We also see the potential to build an interface to the existing ERP tool.

Jira offers all of these options and much more, which is why we were happy to use it for this process optimization.

Yvonne Sutter, Swarmit AG & Eveline Scala, Infometis AG

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