 Hanson Building Products, North America, is one of North America's leading producers of pipe and pre-cast concrete, concrete pavers, bricks and concrete roof tiles. This division of Hanson has operations in twenty six US states and Canada. Hanson North America have implemented a Change Management solution with Excelpoint's EIM product.
About Hanson The Business Problem The EIM solution The Feedback About Hanson Hanson is one the world’s largest suppliers of heavy building materials to the construction industry. Hanson products fall into two categories; “Aggregates” and “Building Products”. Employing 26,000 people, operating primarily in North America, the UK, and Australia with further operations in Asia Pacific and Continental Europe. Hanson’s Pipe & Pre-cast unit is a leading US manufacturer of concrete pipes, manholes, drainage products, and pre-cast concrete products. The company's Brick & Tile unit, the largest brick manufacturer in North America, primarily manufactures clay brick and roofing tiles from plants in Florida, California, North Carolina, and Canada. Hanson products form an important part of everyday life and are used to build the world around us in the construction of houses, roads, schools, hospitals, offices and airports. Wherever the name Hanson appears, customers can expect quality. Hanson enjoys a prominent position in all its business sectors, often as market leader, and delivering high quality customer service is the key to continued success. Hanson ranks in the top 25 companies in the FTSE 100 for TSR achieved over the past ten years. The Business Problem The main objective was to replace the existing Change Management system whilst still integrating with the Service Desk product which was not to be replaced until later. The existing solution, designed and marketed for Change Management, was deemed to be over complex and inflexible, Not agile enough for the demanding market in which Hanson has to operate. Enhancements requested were slow to deliver and expensive. Simplify the process enough that users across five time zones in North America would require no special software in order to access the system and require little or no training to adopt the new system. Hanson needed to identify a component that could not only fulfil his requirements but would be in line with Group wide strategy for Information Systems and Information Delivery. Open system and browser delivery were two of the key requirements. Introduce a greater level of automated communication so that inherent delays in CMR progression are mitigated and a better level of service is provided to the internal customer. Although Hanson has corporate goals and vision the current technology was not enabling the vision to be achieved. The EIM solution Having reviewed the variety of purposes that Hanson UK use EIM for Greg Wilson (Acquisition Project Manager, Hanson PLC) realised that the UK had implemented a highly performant and agile Change Management solution. This was reviewed and considered to be an excellent “core” for the North American system although a number of significant changes were envisaged including greater implementation of business rules, accommodation of a Change Management Board (CMB), change of jargon, improved regression handling and a long list of more minor detailed requirements. Excelpoint quickly created a web Browser based solution that was integrated with Active Directory and the existing Helpdesk system. All defined requirements were implemented in an intensive four day period. The route through the Change Management Process (CMP) is automatically controlled according to pre-determined classifications of the CMR. All of the activities appropriate to any stage must be completed before EIM allows the CMR to progress to the next stage. Whilst the technical benefits recognised are numerous the cost efficiency measurement should not be overlooked. The price point of EIM and the licensing model means the ROI equation is measured in months. The Change Management Request (CMR) was split across 10 stages, each of which is assigned by the CMR owner. Assignment and completion of stages automatically notifies the appropriate people by email. It was important that each stage of the process would “be simple” whilst adhering to Hanson’s corporate procedures. Automated notifications and good access to information enquiries were crucial. Enforcing but simplifying the process. On completion of the CMR process the potential for EIM to satisfy other business requirements was immediately apparent. Two further solutions were initiated. The Feedback "From beginning to end the implementation of EIM and our new Change Management system was a pleasure to be a party to. The CMR system was available for senior management review within four days, and subsequently amended and available for use a few days later. When asked to comment I had no hesitation in stating that this project could not have been a more positive experience" Gregory Wilson, Acquisition Project Manager, Hanson PLC |
