How "Light Technologies" automated the development of new products using the "First Form"

How "Light Technologies" automated the development of new products using the "First Form"

The international group of companies Light Technologies"" is the largest manufacturer and supplier of modern energy-efficient lighting solutions Russia in and. countries CIS The company also operates in the markets, and Europe. of the Middle East Asia

The company has been using the First Form system since 2011, it has automated more than 60 processes, including Service Desk, the development of new types of products, handling complaints, production processes, procurement, legal processes for harmonizing documents and an electronic archive, HR processes - personnel processes for vacation and employee admission.

In the "First Form" system, all the main communications between employees are built in a single information environment - the company's internal portal. It is used by all employees up to top management, in the central office and regions. Automated document flow for the legal unit. The system records the documents and monitors the status of the document. The document approval process has been built, an electronic archive of documents of the entire group of companies has been created.

On the basis of the "First Form," the process of fixing complaints from customers on the quality of products is automated. A work center and a process are organized that allows you to make complaints and record a complaint in the system from anywhere in the world, track its track and make a decision on the complaint.

The purchasing department has its own business processes in the "First Form" system - loading supplier prices, creating a purchase requisition for a material or part, requesting supplier prices.

New types of lighting products appear in the company constantly. The development cycle - from market research and design to the production of an experimental batch - is led by a project office.

The management of new product development projects is automated in the "First Form."

All projects for the development of new types of products in the company go through four standard stages - research, development, manufacture of samples and pilot production. These large stages are divided into hierarchies of smaller tasks, their composition may vary depending on the type of product and the country where production is carried out. In order not to plan from scratch each project, a project template guide has been created - it stores the project task tree along with the planned executors and dates (the dates are calculated relative to the start date).

As a rule, a project template contains a hierarchy of tasks from three levels:

• The first level is the checkpoints that mark the completion of the four main stages.
• The second level is the key ("anchor") tasks for each of the business processes. Most of these processes are already automated in the "First Form" and are carried out within the framework of their routes and regulations.
• The third level and below are sub-tasks within the framework of business processes and atypical tasks that are issued as instructions.

When a product development decision is made, the manager selects the appropriate template from the guide and immediately receives the project outlines. In the Gantt diagram, he can add tasks, remove excess tasks, move deadlines (while related tasks are automatically synchronized).

When the last task of the next stage is completed, the signature of the project manager is requested - he checks the readiness of key tasks and documents and transfers the project to the next stage.

One of the main achievements of project management automation is the control of key tasks. For each process, there are anchor tasks that the project manager pays special attention to, and if the deadlines are violated, he will receive a notification.

In addition, the project template contains critical dependency control - until one task is completed, the system will not allow you to take the following related to it based on the results.

In addition to the Gantt chart, project managers use reports on postponements, frozen projects, and deviations from original plans. When analyzing variances, the manager can assess how the postponement of a single task will affect the project - which related tasks are shifting and how much, whether these tasks are on a "critical path," that is, whether the forecasts for the project as a whole will change.

2013: Creation of an enterprise intranet portal

As part of the first stage, the following are automated:

• Setting and monitoring the execution of individual tasks and instructions based on the results of meetings,
• agreement of contracts,
• Create and process requests for enterprise and IT services. The interaction between the corporate site and the "First Form" has been implemented.

A corporate intranet portal was created, bringing together the Group's employees in 20 cities in six countries.

The introduction of the "First Form" helped to increase executive discipline by ensuring effective control over the execution of instructions. As a result, Light Technologies expects an increase in the productivity of employees involved in the use of the First Form by 15-20%.

Mikhail Kudinov, Director of Development and Business Technologies of Light Technologies Group of Companies, noted that increasing labor productivity is one of the company's strategic goals, and the introduction of the First Form management system is one of the most important steps towards it. "The introduction of the" First Form "allowed us not only to reduce unnecessary document flow and increase the transparency and responsibility of all employees of the company, but also to take a fresh look at many internal processes and related communications. We fully use this view in further development to increase the efficiency of the company, "he added.