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CASE STUDY

Contact us +49 (0)911 277 88 0 • [email protected]

Hitachi Solutions developed a customized Microsoft SharePoint solution that MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik of Munich has been using since July 2014.

MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik contracted Hitachi Solutions as a competent provider of SharePoint services to optimize its work processes and facilitate new ways of working.

Perfect data organization for MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik

For almost 90 years, MARTIN GmbH

für Umweltund Energietechnik has

been active successfully as a general

contractor, consortium partner, supplier of

components and/or engineering partner in

the field of combusting problematic fuels

such as low grade coal and waste.


CASE STUDY


The situation

Every day the project managers of the company – which is active in the environmental and energy

technology sectors – receive close to 150 e-mails as well as a large number of documents and images

relating to each current project. These materials must be allocated appropriately among the large number

of ongoing projects with diverse themes. For this task, MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik

had been using a project portal that did not provide clear and quick overviews. This is why the company

was looking for a solution to meet its needs, that is, a clearly structured portal that facilitates organizing

projects, prevents e-mails from accumulating in Microsoft Outlook by automatically allocating incoming

messages, images and documents to the relevant project areas in the portal, and makes them available

to all project team members. The company’s goal was to create a “Workplace of the Future” where staff

members could choose the system (Outlook or the portal) with which they prefer to work.

At the same time, the new solution had to provide staff members with the opportunity to access key

information across systems, advance teamwork, and ensure a higher level of automation to simplify work

processes.

Criteria

MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik looked for a reliable, competent provider of Microsoft

SharePoint services to develop a suitable portal for it and to provide professional training for its staff.

Such provider also had to have specifi c de-escalation skills because the less-than-optimal portal had

to be transferred to the new solution, the staff had to be motivated to work with the new system and

seamless processes had to be guaranteed. Since Hitachi Solutions excels at implementing SharePoint

solutions as well as a number of other technologies and offered various options to improve the solution

MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik was working with at the time, the management decided

to contract the Nuremberg-based IT specialist.

The solution

The challenge of developing a solution for clear project administration and dealing with the fl ood of

e-mails, documents and project images using a cross-technology solution has been mastered with a

SharePoint farm comprised of elements of Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft .NET, Microsoft Exchange and

Microsoft Offi ce 2013.


CASE STUDY


The portal is designed to make information on themes and departments visible only to staff members

who are working on those key sections (Internal and Departments) and who are authorized to access

such information. Themes in the Internal section include applicable norms, staff pictures and the QM

system. The Departments section is made up of the departments’ individual pages in the form of team

sites, all of which have identical navigation menus. MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik

placed the greatest emphasis on the third section – Projects – as this is the section in which all project-

relevant e-mails, images and documents are administered. For each project, a dedicated portal has been

implemented for which all staff members have read-only rights by default.

A special feature of the landing page of the Projects section is the search function: Users can drag

information on project names, project numbers, project countries and project sites to the dark blue bar

at the top (see Graphic 1 on the next page). This option facilitates several filter and search functions for

faster results.

Every time a new project portal is added to the Projects section the system automatically grants the

relevant access rights, creates libraries (some of them with files) and lists, and predefines the navigation.

This way, users do not have to adapt any structures or create any libraries or lists in the portal. What

makes the new solution stand out is that it facilitates a new form of working:

Staff members are free to decide whether they want to work in Outlook or directly in the portal. The

project managers who are defined when a new project portal is set up can integrate Outlook into the

project portal by creating Site Mailboxes that incorporate the same files as the projects in the portal (see

Graphic 2).

Graphic 1

The landing page of the Projects section

(overview of all the projects) includes

options to search for project names,

project numbers, project countries and

project sites. The top segment shows the

other two key sections – Departments

and Internal


CASE STUDY


With these Site Mailboxes MARTIN GmbH für

Umwelt- und Energietechnik staff easily can drag

’n‘ drop important e-mails, images and documents

into a separate Outlook folder. This folder then is

synchronized with the relevant project automatically.

This way, the fi les that have been moved are

accessible to all other staff members in the portal

and in the Site Mailboxes. This method of integration

enables staff members to work without depending

on specifi c systems and yet have access to the same

basic data, that is, to all important e-mails, project images and documents that have been allocated

automatically to project themes in the portal.

This makes it demonstrably easier for users to search for relevant information. In addition, automatic

e-mail indexing has been incorporated into this “Workplace of the Future. ”When e-mails are dragged to a

folder or a library in the portal, e-mail-specifi c metadata including senders, addressees, times of sending,

subjects or attachments are saved automatically (see Graphic 3). Additional metadata can be added

manually. Another special characteristic is that the local fi le structure automatically is broken down into

metadata. Documents and fi les can be moved to libraries in the portal using the drag’n’drop function. If

documents have been saved in local fi les and the entire fi le structure is dragged to a portal library, the

local fi le structure automatically is saved in the form of metadata for the document and does not have to

be completed manually in the portal.

At the same time, the following metadata is completed automatically when documents are moved: titles,

names, project numbers, project countries, project sites, and project segments. The automatic breakdown

of the fi le structure into metadata in the Projects section was developed by the Hitachi Solutions experts

specifi cally for MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik.

Graphic 2

Comparison of the portal and Outlook

Graphic 3

Automatic indexing when e-mails

are moved


CASE STUDY


Implementation

After its launch in late 2013, the project went live as planned in July 2014. Successful implementation

required continuous project-related communication among all the involved team members. Hitachi

Solutions specialists trained the approximately 180 staff members of MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und

Energietechnik to familiarize them with the SharePoint farm and its operation.

By explaining how the new portal helps simplify work processes and walking them through the detailed

manual, the Hitachi Solutions staff was able to motivate the employees to use the new solution, accept

the implementation, and build up trust in the reliable project partner.

MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik started operating the new project portal in July 2014.

To support the seamless introduction of the Share-Point farm, 16 very useful film clips were developed

by Hitachi Solutions in addition to a comprehensive manual. The structuring of the clips and the manual

into themes is identical to facilitate selection of the appropriate film for the staff. To complement its IT

services, since August 2014 Hitachi Solutions also has delivered business and operational services to

MARTIN GmbH für Umweltund Energietechnik to support the organization in the best possible way.

Advantages for Martin GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik

One substantial advantage for the staff members is that they are able to access identical data in Outlook

and in the portal. This way they can choose which system they want to use in their daily work routines.

This option has increased acceptance of the new solution without requiring extensive training.

Other advantages include the centralized, clear, and most notably, quick and user-friendly data storage

options. The high level of transparency, easy-to-use user interface, and read-only rights for every project

portal – set by default for all employees – make it easy for project team members to retrieve data.

Version management makes it possible to view changes made to documents immediately and new

additions made to libraries make it possible to have e-mails, images or documents displayed in the form

of previews for a comprehensive overview. Furthermore, usability for staff members has been optimized

to accommodate people in all departments.

„With Hitachi Solutions as our

provider of SharePoint services,

we are in expert hands at all

times“,

says Dr. Fleck, Managing Director

of MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und

Energietechnik, to express his

organization’s full confidence in Hitachi

Solutions.


CASE STUDY


Thanks to the automated processes in the portal, the SharePoint farm helps users save a great deal of

time and effort, for example, the indexing function which is the prerequisite for fast searches, the ability

to upload local documents to the portal easily with drag’n’drop, the e-mail synchronizing function, and the

ability to measure image sizes automatically.

In addition, the new solution makes integrating partners much more convenient. Global and centralized

searches have become much more efficient, due to the indexing. Thanks to refiners that incorporate

metadata contained in the libraries, users can delimit their searches for much faster results; the preview

window also helps with this. Users can move e-mails or images they receive to the Site Mailboxes for

automated synchronization with SharePoint. This way, as well as all documents, all project-specific

e-mails including attachments are accessible in the portal to all project team members and attachments

are saved automatically to the relevant libraries when moved to the Site Mailboxes.

The new cross-technology solution allows for technical optimization including outsourcing large files

(> 40GB) or making preparations to implement long-term archives or a low-maintenance system

environment.

About MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik

For almost 90 years, MARTIN GmbH für Umweltund Energietechnik has been active successfully as

a general contractor, consortium partner, supplier of components and/or engineering partner in the

field of combusting problematic fuels such as low grade coal and waste. The Munich-based company

concentrates on the construction of waste-toenergy plants and all related areas – from erecting plants

and providing support and consultation services to providing customer service and supplying spare parts.

The core component of these plants, the combustion grate, is designed in detail and constructed by

MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt- und Energietechnik. The company has a sound knowledge of heat recovery

boilers, flue gas cleaning systems, and other essential components and related systems. New findings

continuously benefit the company’s projects. In cooperation with competent partners and licensees,

more than 780 waste combustion lines worldwide have been equipped with grates of MARTIN GmbH für

Umwelt- und Energietechnik.

“This is my idea of working

in the 21st century – a great

foundation“,

says Martin, Managing Director of

MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt und

Energietechnik, about the new solution’s

many advantages

Why Hitachi Solutions

Hitachi Solutions is one of the largest, most qualified and highly experienced Microsoft Dynamics

consulting firms across the globe, capable of handling complex tier-one displacement projects.

Our company’s calibre of expertise and commitment to customers is evidenced through our

consistent recognition from both Microsoft and industry analysts.

Contact a Hitachi Solutions expert to discuss how our Microsoft Dynamics Solutions can help

improve your productivity.

Contact

Hitachi Solutions Germany GmbH

Deutschherrnstraße 15-19

90429 Nürnberg, Germany

P: +49 (0)911 277 88 0

E: [email protected]

www.hitachi-solutions.de