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Using a SharePoint 2013-based solution, Hitachi Solutions helped KRONE Group, a manufacturer of farm machinery and commercial vehicles, optimize internal processes, strengthen the community spirit among staff members, and increase its appeal as an employer. Providing all staff members – office and manufacturing workers alike – with quick access to current information, updated files and applications, and options for sharing information interactively with colleagues around the world were KRONE Group’s requirements regarding the new intranet.
KRONE connect – a joint new intranet portal pavesthe way to the future
On March 1st 2017 is gone live successful
the new intranet portal “KRONE connect”,
by the KRONE Group.
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The new intranet portal combines diverse aspects, from central company news and a managers’ blog to a
forum for staff members’ classifieds. From a global objective to personalized benefits.
KRONE Group is a leading fourth-generation manufacturer of farm machinery and commercial vehicles.
The successful family-run business excels in high-quality products, power of innovation, pronounced
service mentality, and customer focus.
The company’s relationships with customers and staff members build on a future-oriented business
model combined with tradition and solid values.
From a global objective to personalized benefits
The first task at hand was to develop a uniform platform for dialog and sharing that would give the
more than 3,000 staff members in the commercial vehicles and the farm machinery business divisions
at two German access to all content. One of the requirements was that every user be able to view the
information relevant to his or her site with the business division’s specific design. The platform also was
to serve as central storage for documents and to facilitate integration into the existing SAP ERP system
and Microsoft Office’s established tools.
Upon recommendation by a friendly company, KRONE Group trusted the SharePoint experts of Hitachi
Solutions of Nuremberg with realizing these requirements. The preliminary project phase started in
September 2015 with the objective of integrating all staff members and tailoring the solution precisely
to their needs. To this end, Hitachi Solutions and KRONE Group’s project team organized workshops,
group discussions and interviews with representatives of all the departments at every company level.
The results were analyzed and the information was converted into requirements regarding processes and
content. The main project phase began in April 2016.
A project with an integrated training course
To implement KRONE connect, Hitachi Solutions first created a joint project platform based on Microsoft
SharePoint.
„We were able to integrate a type of tutorial with a feedback loop into the ongoing process and, thus,
coordinate with KRONE Group’s team closely and easily. This way, all of us were familiar with the status
and progress of the project at all times.” Pedro Marcos, Project Manager at Hitachi Solutions.
By early December 2016, the team had developed an operational prototype of the intranet portal to
conduct trial runs and eliminate errors. By the end of 2016, the solution had evolved into a productive live
system for the company’s editorial teams.
The rigorous design and implementation of the project had KRONE Group convinced.
„We want to practice our values
credibly in and outside our
company. We realized that a
central tool for communication
and collaboration would
help improve collaboration
in the company and among
departments sustainably.”
Guido Ringlin,
Project Manager for KRONE connect.
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Guido Ringling, Project Manager for KRONE connect, highly praised the alliance: “The entire handling was
structured and organized extremely well. The implementation met our time and budget requirements.
I admit we were surprised by how smoothly everything went.“
Consistent standards, individualized customizing
The go-live on March 1, 2017 was the last step in the implementation. KRONE connect includes useful
standard features such as company- and staff-related news, a calendar of events, and the managers’ blog
used by KRONE Group’s 14 managing directors to write individualized messages to staff members. In
addition, Hitachi Solutions implemented diverse modules exceeding the standard Microsoft SharePoint
tool including cafeteria plans and “MyLinks”, a section in which each user can compile a personal list of
links. The classifieds section allows staff members to pass on new, old and/or used items to colleagues
for mutual benefit.
While every user is shown information relevant to his or her site by default, all other information can be
accessed conveniently as well: Each content element has its own menu that can be used to view the
respective information regarding other sites, from cafeteria plans for the Spelle site and the calendar of
events for Werlte to the latest news on all sites.
Integrated company and staff member structures
KRONE connect uses a color scheme to allocate users to their respective business divisions: Staff
members of the commercial vehicles segment navigate the intranet with their typical blue color, their
colleagues in the farm machinery division have been assigned green.
“The high level of recognition has earned us a high level of acceptance with our staff. In particular, the new
intranet portal gives them access to established Microsoft Office products and trusted functions. We use
the resulting synergies and our staff members find what they are looking for quickly and without much
adjustment required.” Rainer Straub, Consultant at Hitachi Solutions.
Another major challenge of the implementation was the staff member structure: Approximately 70
percent of KRONE Group staff work in manufacturing and do not have dedicated workstations or personal
access to the intranet. However, many assignments require that staff members access the in-house
data network regularly. Up to five staff members typically share a computer terminal that includes a
browser with a landing page on which KRONE connect is saved as default. This way, manufacturing staff
members also have access to the latest news.
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More appeal, more efficiency
KRONE Group introduced the SharePoint-based intranet solution to enhance the efficiency of its internal
processes in the long term. Initial successes are visible.
“Feedback we received from our staff has been nothing but positive and the solution is well-accepted,”
says Henning Jansen, Team Manager Marketing at KRONE Commercial Vehicle Group. Bernard Krone,
Managing Director of KRONE Group, highlights one specific aspect: “KRONE connect enhances our appeal
as an employer. To be successful in the long term, we have to attract the best people. To do so, we need
state-of-the-art internal processes.”
For this reason, Bernard Krone sees the new intranet as a “living tool that evolves continuously.” Hitachi
Solutions will continue to provide KRONE Group with technical project support. Plans for integrating an
additional collaboration tool to map KRONE Group’s internal processes are underway.
About Bernard Krone Holding SE & Co. KG
KRONE Group is a leading international manufacturer of farm machinery and commercial vehicles.
Bernard KRONE Holding SE & Co. KG is the umbrella corporation of KRONE Agriculture SE with registered
offices in Spelle and KRONE Commercial Vehicle SE headquartered in Werlte. In 1906, Bernhard and
Anna Krone established a blacksmith and crafts shop at the Spelle site and laid the foundation for a
global company that has been managed by Bernhard Krone in the fourth generation since 2010. In the
2015/2016 financial year, KRONE Group’s approximately 4300 employees generated revenue of close to
1.8 billion euros.
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
www.hitachi-solutions.de
