With increasing project complexity and growing order volumes, ATP 's existing project management system was reaching its limits. It was complicated to use and the user interface was not very intuitive - the manual transfer of Excel data in particular caused unnecessary friction in day-to-day business. Project managers spent a large part of their time on administrative tasks instead of concentrating on planning, control and implementation.
Although resource planning was technically possible, it was hardly used in practice. The reason: the existing system was too complicated, not user-friendly and not sufficiently integrated into everyday project work. The result: over 250 teams were planning independently of each other - sometimes in Excel, sometimes in OneNote, sometimes just in a team lead file. There were no uniform standards and no systematic overview.
What was missing was a system that not only supports project planning, but actively facilitates it - with clear processes, standardized structures and seamless integration.
The Solution - further development instead of migration
Together with INKUBIT , ATP opted for a further development of the existing system based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations - with the advantage that all project data was retained. The focus: efficiency, transparency and user-friendliness.
The most important new features at a glance:
Central project overview: Instead of complex navigation structures, there is now a clear, filterable list that clearly displays all projects - and thus considerably simplifies planning and control.
Role clarity in the project: The clear separation between project management and team management means that responsibilities are clearly assigned - this reduces queries and coordination efforts in day-to-day operations.
Resource planning for over 250 teams: All teams now plan in a central system - with a uniform structure, transparent availability display and clearly traceable responsibilities. Decentralized work with individual files is a thing of the past.
Accurate cost and capacity planning: Instead of calculating purely on an hourly basis, actual costs per employee are now calculated - differentiated by seniority level and planned effort. The system automatically calculates both planned and actual project costs, providing a sound basis for budgets and forecasts.
Significantly increased system performance: The new planning logic makes it possible to minimize system resources and thus increases technical performance by at least 10 times. System costs are also reduced as a result.
Automated Excel import: Project plans can be imported directly from existing Excel templates - without manual transfer, without sources of error, without loss of time.
"Working with Dynamics 365 Project Operations has fundamentally changed our project planning. Instead of manually transferring project plans from Excel into the system, we can now enter them directly. This change alone saves us a lot of time per project. At the same time, with the new interface we can finally plan resources correctly and have a much better overview of schedules and responsibilities. Overall, the system enables us to work more efficiently and with more foresight - a real step forward for our entire organization. A real step into the future for us."
The result: a measurable increase in productivity
The introduction of the new system had a profound impact on day-to-day project work at ATP:
- 400 hours less manual work per year: The automated Excel import replaces error-prone copy-paste processes and saves the project teams over 1,400 working hours per year - this step alone provides noticeable relief in day-to-day business.
- Planning with less effort, more precision: project managers can now plan faster, assign responsibilities more easily and calculate budgets more reliably. The new overview not only simplifies day-to-day work, but also improves coordination between roles.
- Resource deployment on a new level: resource planning now automatically takes real hourly rates and availability into account - differentiated according to seniority levels. This not only makes project planning more precise, but also makes cost estimates more realistic than ever before.
- 10-20× faster system processes: By switching to a month-by-month planning logic, employee assignment runs much more efficiently - the system responds faster, loading times are reduced and the entire planning process is smoother. Technically measurable. Clearly noticeable in everyday life.
- Better results through better control: With clear roles, transparent data and well-founded decisions, project teams today not only work more efficiently, but also more effectively - from project initiation to utilization control.