Boliden Kokkola has enhanced project transparency and efficiency in investment management with Microsoft’s modern project management tools.
Boliden is one of Europe’s leading metal producers. The Boliden Group manages the entire metal production chain, from exploration and mining to smelting operations and metal recycling.
Boliden Kokkola is one of the Boliden Group’s three production facilities in Finland. The world-class zinc factory produces high-quality zinc products for the world’s renewable energy production and society’s needs. Boliden Kokkola employs approximately 550 people.
Transparency in the investment portfolio
According to investment manager Jere Penttinen, Boliden Kokkola carries out approximately 60–100 projects yearly in Kokkola, and the investment portfolio has more than 400 projects. Jere’s responsibilities include managing an extensive investment portfolio together with his team of project engineers.
“We needed a tool to help us choose which projects we would do every year. In addition, the need was to ensure that we got all the ideas from our employees and systematically select what to develop and what not to develop,” says Jere.
The company’s digitization manager, Marko Salmi, the company’s IT manager at the time, began exploring alternatives: “The solution finally culminated in Microsoft tools because we use them extensively in the Group anyway.”
“I turned to Solu Digital because I knew that there was expertise in project management,” Marko explains.
An easy-to-use tool to support project work
Boliden Kokkola’s goal was to find an overall solution that enabled transparency over the entire project’s life cycle in all phases, i.e., when the idea is registered, after which it is selected for implementation through portfolio management and finally progresses to the project’s implementation.
Microsoft’s Project for the Web, now called Planner with premium features, was chosen as the solution. Microsoft’s project management tool offers a clear and intuitive user interface, which has made employees’ everyday lives much easier.
”When we have transparency, it allows the company’s executive management to make choices, guide the company’s operations in line with the strategy, and ensure that the projects we do and we spend our money on align with our strategy.”
Jere Penttinen
Investment manager, Boliden Kokkola
Marko states that predictability has increased: “We have significantly better up-to-date situational information about where we are going all the time. Our planning for the coming years is much better today.”
Efficient and high-quality project management
To Jere’s clear vision and specifications, Solu Digital’s expert configured the investment portfolio management tool to meet Boliden Kokkola’s needs and goals. The new solution provides Boliden Kokkola with effective tools for managing investments, enabling better evaluation, monitoring, and decision-making.
“We can very easily visualize and create a vision for the different stakeholders and open up the discussion about what we are doing and what we should be doing,” says Jere.
According to Marko, the feedback from various stakeholders, including the Boliden Group and the local smelters’ management, has been commendable.
”The heads of the production departments are really satisfied that they have better visibility of what their department is going to do. The project managers are satisfied that they have been given concrete management tools, enabling them to perform their work better.”
Marko Salmi
Digitalization manager, Boliden Kokkola
Communication as the key to cooperation
Solu Digital’s expertise and ability to understand Boliden Kokkola’s needs proved decisive in starting the cooperation. The cooperation started with light concept testing to ensure the tool’s suitability.
”The best thing is the response time and the service we have received. When we have made some change proposals or requests, they have been implemented quickly.”
Jere Penttinen
Investment manager, Boliden Kokkola
Marko thanks Solu Digital’s experts for their expertise and service attitude in solving customers’ problems. “We throw changes back and forth from here and add something new, but none have ever been shot down.”
Jere and Marko also praise open and low-threshold communication on both sides. “We’ve been able to have a really good and constructive conversation, that if something is a bad idea, then yes, we also need to know that we shouldn’t do it,” says Jere.
“Many times, a ticket is created somewhere, the recipient completely misunderstands it, and something other than expected is done. We have not experienced such challenges in this cooperation because communication directly with the software developer has worked effectively,” says Marko.
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