12-01 Dr. Thomas Wölfle, new Vice President of Automotive & Business Development at ACTANO
Dr. Thomas Wölfle was appointed Vice President of Automotive & Business Development at the Munich-based ACTANO company with effect from 1 January 2012. In this role his mission is to extend the leading position of RPLAN e3 in the automobile industry and to increase the market penetration of the pioneering methodology of collaborative cross-company project management. His remit also includes the development and promotion of new fields of business and focal areas across business sectors.
Dr. Thomas Wölfle can look back on more than 10 years of consulting and leadership experience in the automotive sector and in project management. After working as a consultant, the graduate engineer held leadership roles in industry, most recently as Director of Operations / Program Management Europe at MAGNA Exteriors & Interiors Management GmbH.
In his new role Dr. Thomas Wölfle will bring a customer-centric RPLAN e3 solution approach to company-internal and cross-company product development processes. "Our unique solution offering addresses the growing need to integrate suppliers and cooperation partners more closely in cross-company project management. RPLAN e3 focuses not only on synchronizing schedules, for example, but also on maturity, risk, and action management in value-added networks", says Dr. Wölfle.
Dr. Rupert Stuffer, CEO and head of the RPLAN Division at ACTANO: "Our 'collaborative project management' solution approach has its roots in the automotive sector. It is our aim to continue to build on our strong position in the automobile industry and to win new cross-sector RPLAN e3 customers. Professional business development is therefore crucial to the expansion plans of our company. With Dr. Thomas Wölfle on board as Vice President of Automotive & Business Development, we have an outstanding professional who is more than capable of aligning our vision, strategies, and goals to meet customer needs."
11-12 ACTANO moves its RPLAN e3 collaborative project management software into the cloud
- The integration of development partners via RPLAN e3 as a cloud solution supports end-to-end project management throughout the entire value added network.
The new cloud solution is designed primarily to enable manufacturers and suppliers to rapidly launch international and cross-enterprise development partnerships. Hewlett-Packard is the preferred infrastructure partner for market implementation.
Technology mergers between manufacturers, increasing integration of suppliers in development projects, and higher productivity targets all call for the swift establishment of stable and homogeneous development environments.
As one of the very first providers, ACTANO has taken account of the growing need to plan and control complex product development processes and is moving RPLAN e3 into the high availability cloud environment. In this field, ACTANO is working with Hewlett-Packard as a preferred infrastructure partner for market implementation. The common goal of the two companies is to deliver custom cloud solutions that facilitate collaborative project integration between globally distributed manufacturers and suppliers.
Michael Laurim, Managing Director at ACTANO, explains: "Thanks to new technologies, the number of joint ventures and partnerships will continue to grow not only in the automotive sector. We see Hewlett-Packard as an ideal innovation and infrastructure partner to help build international project management environments with much lower barriers to entry. The collaborative RPLAN e3 methodology, end-to-end cross company project management, and cloud-based value added networks represent a solid platform – not only to support partnerships between manufacturers but also to effectively integrate suppliers."
Oliver Bahns, Automotive and Aerospace Director at Hewlett-Packard, confirms this view. "The partnership with ACTANO is set to deliver a cloud-based project management solution that fully satisfies the needs of distributed product development and the associated integration of external partners along the value added chain. Working hand in hand with ACTANO, we are in a position to implement a cloud solution for project management and for the ecosystem of an OEM in which all participants have secure access to the RPLAN e3 software."
11-08 peiker adopts the new RPLAN e3 software for high-performance and audit-proof multiproject management
peiker acustic GmbH & Co. KG is now planning and controlling its development projects with RPLAN e3 from Actano, the leading vendor of cross-department and cross-site project management software. The decision in favor of RPLAN e3 can be attributed primarily to the dynamic growth of business at peiker. The company has seen a significant increase in the number of customers, partners, and development requests. In order to master the growing complexity of project management, peiker – a tradition-rich, mid-size company and specialist in communications and radio technology based in Friedrichsdorf, Germany – has opted for the Actano solution. peiker has chosen RPLAN e3 as an ISO/TS16949-compliant and Automotive SPICE-compliant multiproject management solution that integrates geographically dispersed teams and international locations. The decision to implement RPLAN e3 is in keeping with peiker's quality standards and the company's desire to be the first to develop innovations to full market maturity within budgetary constraints.
By deploying the RPLAN e3 standard software, peiker aims to make scheduling and the management of parallel development projects much more efficient, as Dick Bosch, head of the project department at peiker, explains by reference to an example: "Bluetooth plays a key role in many of our development projects. But it's obvious that our leading experts in this technology cannot attend all meetings of the various project teams. Time and productivity would be lost. With efficient processes in mind, what we need is a project management software solution that's easy to use and supports the synchronization of geographically dispersed teams and experts by means of a uniform database. Fewer meetings, better coordination, and the fastest route to prototypes – that's what we're interested in."
RPLAN e3 replaces MS Project
It was not only the direct contact with Actano and the company's rapid-response support but, above all, the collaborative project management methodology of the Actano solution that clinched the decision to fully replace MS Project with RPLAN e3. The new solution ensures that schedule dates are not shifted by individuals in an uncoordinated way but are maintained jointly by project members and can only be changed with the consent of project management.
In the medium term, peiker plans to migrate its entire project management and controlling activities to RPLAN e3 and, in particular, to replace Excel island solutions. "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. With RPLAN e3, we have a solution that can make a big difference when it comes to audits and winning contracts", is Dick Bosch's view on the deployment of RPLAN e3.
11-07 Actano appoints Markus Gyssler as head of the XPERTS Division
- Markus Gyssler, ACTANO GmbH
Markus Gyssler has been named as head of the XPERTS Division at Actano. The 45-year old graduate engineer and Berkeley MBA graduate has held managerial responsibility within the company since 2005 and has been managing director since 2007. Before that, Markus Gyssler worked on management level in Germany and USA in the digital media and enterprise software sectors. Markus Gyssler sees his main aim as further strengthening XPERTS positioning as a trusted partner in highly qualified project support and driving business development in the XPERTS Division systematically and successfully.
For more than 20 years, XPERTS have been providing customers with project management resources – from management down to execution level. Actano's certified project specialists plan and drive product development processes, advise enterprises on strategic issues, and deliver operational support. They make a significant contribution to swift project ramp-up, cross-department and cross-company project control, and timely project completion.
As regards team and knowledge networking, Markus Gyssler and the XPERTS attach great importance not only to specialized project expertise but also to communication and collaboration skills. With a wealth of experience in people and change management, the seasoned XPERTS consultants are the interface between project planning and project execution.
"Often, developing companies have a very high level of technology expertise but too few experts in actual project management. Our specialists and team workers have received dedicated training to fill this gap and can draw on proven methodology expertise and pragmatic implementation skills gained in more than 500 projects. They tackle issues together with the customers' experts and develop solutions to meet deadlines and achieve budget, quality, and maturity targets. Our focus is always on the sustainability of our work for our customers". According to Markus Gyssler, these are the true benefits and value added of the XPERTS.
11-07 RPLAN e3 – the new project management suite from ACTANO for cross-department and cross-enterprise value added networks
Actano has launched RPLAN e3, a new generation of project management software that helps manufacturers and suppliers to better master the complexity of distributed and parallel product development processes. More demanding productivity targets, the increasing integration of external partners in development projects, and technology mergers among manufacturers call for the establishment of a stable, protected, and homogeneous development environment with a uniform database. To meet this need, Actano is shipping its new version as a complete package – instead of individual modules as in the past. The project management suite gives enterprises full access to all RPLAN functions so that they are able to respond faster and more flexibly to changing demands.
Not only the graphical user interface (GUI) is new. In conjunction with a new licensing model, the suite approach - which bundles all previous RPLAN modules into a complete solution - offers an attractive price/performance ratio. This ensures that the project management software is just as interesting to small- and medium-sized enterprises as it is to big corporations, particularly as it greatly simplifies the intelligent integration of all parties in the product development process. OEMs, distributed suppliers, company locations, and development partners are networked across IT system boundaries to support cross-department, cross-enterprise, international collaboration based on a uniform database that is always up-to-date.
Michael Laurim, Managing Director at Actano: "We are convinced that the new RPLAN e3 version will extend the range of application of our project management software and satisfy the specific and individual needs of our customers. RPLAN has long been in use as a strategic product in many companies. The new version also enables us to provide rapid and reliable support for joint ventures and constellations that emerge in the short term. These give rise to project workspaces that can also be managed across company boundaries. We wish to promote the cross-enterprise deployment of RPLAN e3 by offering, in particular, intelligent licensing and usage models."
> The launch of further innovations is imminent – They are due to be announced shortly and we'll keep you updated on ongoing developments. <
11-05 Georg Störkle will take over the management of the advisory services
New tasks strategic consulting and implementation
Under the guidance of the graduate physicist, qualified specialists will be able to ensure that companies using Actano’s project management software RPLAN e3 achieve measurable effects in terms of time, quality, cost and product maturity. As a member of the management board of Actano, Georg Störkle previously held the position of facilitator between the strategic development of RPLAN e3 and tailoring the solution to the actual project.
Georg Störkle can refer to 15 years of consultancy and management experience in project management. During his 10 years with Actano, as a senior consultant, certified project manager and business executive, he was responsible for the implementation of RPLAN with automotive OEMs (including BMW, Daimler Cars and Trucks, VW) and automotive suppliers, as well as companies from the aerospace sector and machine and plant manufacture.
In his new role, Georg Störkle is now responsible for the seamless integration of RPLAN e3 into in-house and cross-company development processes, specific project set-ups, methodologies of project planning and project management and also existing IT environments. His responsibilities will also include evaluating user experience with regard to the on-going development of software functions.
11-03 BMW opts for ACTANO's project management software RPLAN e3
The BMW Group and Actano are intensifying their 20-year customer relationship. Munich's premium car and motorcycle manufacturer will now use RPLAN e3 with a global corporate license throughout the company for an unlimited period of time. All functions offered by RPLAN are also uniformly available to BMW for planning and controlling development processes, for example.
The corporate license provides more flexibility and security for BMW in their collaboration with suppliers and partners along the value chain. All participants can access relevant web-based RPLAN e3 project data and are integrated in end-to-end value chains in this way.
Wilhelm Kerschbaum, Head of Quality and Management Processes at BMW explains the company's decision in favor of the corporate license: "We have been using RPLAN in our company for planning and implementation of synchronization management of vehicle projects for many years. By opting for the RPlan e3 corporate license we ensure a quick reaction for the required project scope and simple integration of suppliers to ensure our long-term success."
11-02 Increase in professionalization in product development: RPLAN e3
Precise. Clear. To the point. Actano takes off with a new corporate image and project management solutions for development leaders
Munich, 21 February 2011: The establishment of the two divisions, RPLAN and XPERTS, and the introduction of the new RPLAN e3 software generation complete the realignment of Actano. Center stage is given to cross-company project management that permits the integration of distributed and even non-industrial suppliers into end-to-end value chains, and collaborative project management that supports cross-enterprise interaction throughout the product development process. These features give the manufacturing industry a competitive edge that is easily quantified in terms of costs, maturity, and product quality.
Today, the challenges facing professional project management in the product development process are greater than ever. In the quest to implement end-to-end and networked value chains, it is essential to master not only parallel and highly dynamic processes but also to integrate globally dispersed partners and heterogeneous environments.
RPLAN e3 best-practice software – the new generation
To help the manufacturing industry keep full control of complex tasks, Actano has developed its market-leading RPLAN product into a turnkey full solution – RPLAN e3.
Designed to be platform-independent and with a low barrier to use, it supports the rapid setup of cross-border maturity management and synchronization with development partners across IT system boundaries. Companies therefore benefit immediately from the e3 efficiency effect.
- Empower: Mastering complexity
- Enable: Managing value chains efficiently
- Engage: Involving project members as productivity factors in the proactive identification and resolution of problems
Even more customer-centric
The RPLAN Division offers comprehensive implementation support to ensure that Actano customers exploit the full potential of their RPLAN or RPLAN e3 best-practice software. Support ranges from methodology consulting through installation and configuration to end-user training.
In parallel, the XPERTS Division has the manpower needed for concrete project planning and implementation. Actano's specialists take a hands-on approach and compensate for a lack of project resources on different customer levels.
Corporate realignment accurately reflected by content and graphic style
The completely redesigned Web site mirrors the realignment of the company, both in terms of content and graphic style. The fundamentally different corporate design is accompanied by our desire, as a knowledge leader, to communicate in a decisive, convincing, and growth-oriented way. The new Web presence clearly demonstrates to old customers, new customers, and prospects the special benefits that Actano, originator of the RPLAN de-facto industry standard software, has delivered to companies in the automotive, aerospace, and mechanical engineering sectors for more than 20 years.
Michael Laurim strengthens Actano's management board
With immediate effect, Michael Laurim is appointed as Managing Director to strengthen corporate management at Actano, Germany's largest vendor of project management software. In this position, he will assume responsibility for Product and Professional Services.
Michael Laurim can look back on a long career in sales and management at high-profile companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Bentley Systems, CoCreate, Silicon Graphics Inc., and SuSE Linux. In his very successful career as a consultant, he has also been able to extend his comprehensive know-how of business process optimization well beyond the CAD/CAM and PDM/PLM sector.
Michael Laurim's response to the question as to what attracted him to his new role: "The RPlan project management system is an extremely powerful product that has established itself as a de facto standard in the German automotive industry. Actano has now set itself the task of serving further sectors on the basis of the experience it has gathered in the automobile industry. This requires an expansion-oriented strategy that I would like to implement on the operational level. The combination of the RPlan software suite, planned product enhancements and skilled employees in the Professional Services organization will guarantee that Actano's success story is continued in new markets. I am thrilled by the challenge of aligning the company to achieve this goal and look forward to this task."
"In Michael Laurim, Actano has gained a committed and highly skilled managing director, an extremely valuable asset for an expanding company like ours", says Dr. Rupert Stuffer, one of the Actano founders. "His extensive knowledge and experience will be of great assistance in the effective and successful development of our markets. Together we will consolidate and expand Actano's position as a strong and reliable partner for our customers."
Laurim's start in his new role coincides with a further new development at Actano: At the beginning of 2010 the company added to its product portfolio by acquiring the IQweb document management system. Together with the RPlan project management software that builds on the collaborative project management methodology developed in-house, Actano is now able to offer its customers perfect support to enhance the efficiency of their product development processes.
Actano acquires IPEQ’s "IQweb" document management and collaboration software
Munich, 15 March 2010: Actano GmbH, Germany’s largest vendor of project management software, has acquired the "IQweb" document management and collaboration solution of software developer IPEQ. This acquisition enables Actano to add an important new member to its RPlan product and portfolio management suite. In future, schedule management, resource management, project controlling, and all other RPlan functionalities can be organized and controlled using new document management and collaboration functions. Full integration into the RPlan solution suite is scheduled for completion in fall 2010.
Not only the IQweb software but also members of IPEQ's development staff have found a new home at Actano. It is they who designed the software and who will drive its integration into RPlan and contribute to IQweb's ongoing development. New staff members include Thomas Koytek, the founder of IPEQ, who will head Product Development at Actano. Actano has thus succeeded in bringing valuable document management and collaboration know-how to the company.
About IQweb
IQweb supports worldwide collaboration and enables geographically dispersed teams to distribute, edit, comment and file documents in an extremely simple and secure way. IQweb allows all documents – and all technical data – to be processed in such a way that visualization and commenting are possible without the need for additional software. This yields enormous time gains in cross-division and cross-company processes. All document access and editing operations are fully logged. Access rights to confidential documents can be changed at any time – even if documents have already been distributed. Consequently, IQweb is able to protect intellectual property throughout the world.
"By acquiring IQweb and the development team headed by Thomas Koytek, we have scored a major document management and collaboration coup", says Dr. Rupert Stuffer, Actano CEO. "Both the software and the experts behind it will move project management with RPlan an important step forward – that's good for Actano and good for our many RPlan customers who will, in the future, be able to better organize and control their distributed development networks."
Trends in product development management Part 2: Project and Process Management
Key factor in efficient product development: Synchronization of project and process management
In most companies, project management and process management run separate courses. With negative consequences for efficiency. If the two disciplines are not interlinked or are inadequately interlinked, experience gained in project practice does not feed back into standard processes. Valuable knowledge is lost – or remains in the hands of just a few employees and is not available to the company as a whole. Actano, Germany's largest vendor of project management software, has therefore developed a number of solutions to efficiently integrate project work and processes. The requisite platform is Actano's RPlan project management software. Interfaces to process management solutions ("Stages" and "ARIS", for example) ensure the exchange of data between projects and projects.
The role of process management is to harmonize business processes with corporate strategy. The goal is to achieve a uniform, binding, reproducible, and transparent basis for all workflows within the company. By contrast, project management deals with new, concrete, one-off, time-limited undertakings. In other words, process management provides the toolbox which has all the tools needed to bring projects to a successful conclusion – but only in a perfect world. Because anyone who has ever worked on a project knows that nothing goes as originally planned. Projects lead a life of their own. They demand flexibility and the ability to constantly rethink, and to consider different approaches. In practice, process management and project management are therefore very different.
Project knowledge must be fed back into processes
At the same time, every project member appreciates functioning processes that provide a stable framework to combat the imponderables of project management. And no process manager expects strict adherence to standard processes if, in a given situation, they prove to be counterproductive. In practice, the problem is really a very simple one. Both disciplines are, in fact, closely related but they operate totally independently of each other – without interaction, without a system of feedback, and without a functioning form of communication. They just don’t talk to each other enough. The goal of efficient process and project management networking must be to gather practical project experience and to feed the knowledge gained back into the processes. After all, what has proved helpful in one project may be of use in another.
With this in mind, Actano has developed several approaches to improve interaction between project and process management. They are based on the processes stored in a central database. Responsibility lies with the process department that makes the processes available to the various projects. The projects work with this information in Actano's RPlan project management software and make appropriate adjustments where necessary. For example, stored process times are changed, activities are added or deleted. If the changes are successful, the new and proven process knowledge automatically feeds back to process management.
Partially automatic project planning with project models
In the process modeling system the networked processes are modeled and described, starting from an outline and progressing into greater levels of detail. The processes are the platform on which project management builds. For subsequent use in projects, processes can be exported directly into the "RPlan" project management tool. There, they can be modified as needed to suit the particular project in hand. In other words, networked activities are aligned to match the current project, times are changed, and activities are added or deleted. For example, a decision can be made during the course of a project that, contrary to the requirements of the standard processes, additional validation loops are needed. These are then implemented and scheduled in the project management software. Finally, at defined intervals, all process changes documented in the project management system are fed back to the process modeling software. In this way, modifications made in real-world projects are communicated to the process experts who analyze them and, if appropriate, include them in the generic process as "best practices".
Project planning based on process models – including documentation
The process modeling tool enables generic processes to be varied and matched to concrete projects by answering a series of predefined questions. Project members are able to make necessary process adjustments from within the "RPlan" project management software via an appropriate interface. Each variation is stored in both the process management and the project management tool. This provides process management with continuous feedback – also from projects that are running in parallel. For example, if changes to certain release processes lead to an improvement of the overall process in one specific project, the new process knowledge now documented in the process modeling system can be communicated to all current projects where it is of relevance. All that needs to be done is to automatically import the changes into the appropriate RPlan project schedules – including the correspondingly modified release documents. The new release process can now be applied wherever needed. The time taken to move from singular experience in a specific project to standard corporate processes is dramatically shortened.
Further information: Dialog between process and project - Interface RPlan-Stages
Trends in product development management Part 1: PM2PLM
Synchronization of project management (PM) and product lifecycle management (PLM) leads to highly efficient product development
February 2010: In most companies today, project management (PM) and product lifecycle management (PLM) are separate elements although both are key project disciplines. On the one hand, a mature project management methodology is of crucial importance in the planning and control of the development process. On the other, PLM encompasses all the data, methods and processes needed to implement a product.
The current separation of the two system worlds hinders the interchange of information between the project management view and the operative engineering view. However, companies that integrate PM and PLM stand to reap clear benefits. The draft component list maintained in the PDM system is linked logically with the generic process model, and status information on change or release workflows in PLM provides important information for project control. The development process configured for each specific product is the basis for further planning in terms of project deadlines, prices and content.
In turn, project management transfers cost and content goals for each process step or milestone to the PDM system. These goals are in the form of scheduled development or change orders. In this way, it is possible to ensure structured product validation and the timely availability of validation results for subsequent development cycles.
By adopting the PM2PLM idea, ACTANO's aim is to bring together the product view with its function and component structure and the process view with its organizational and process structure. For this purpose, an overall concept is needed to ensure that information to be exchanged can be transformed from a reduced process and goals view into a complete product view and vice-versa. Also required is the holistic control of product development by planning and monitoring project and product goals. And finally, suitable methods and tools must be made available to integrate suppliers and development partners into the planning and control processes of cross-company development networks.
At the heart of this concept is the collaborative project management methodology developed by ACTANO. All project and subproject leaders in a shared project are directly responsible for planning and monitoring activities in their particular areas and are able to network with external subprojects by means of communication components. What makes this concept different is that conflicts are resolved in a dialog between process partners and changes are made manually in the system by the project planner responsible. Only in this way can project planners retain complete control despite the various interdependencies. The increasing use of collaborative project management in the automotive industry is evidence of the success and acceptance of the methodology.