Nobel Biocare, global leader in dental technology, has used Antura Projects since 2006 – making them one of the system’s most long-standing clients. In the past six months, Nobel Biocare has made remarkable progress, improving its project operations at the global level, together with Antura.
Joachim Sällsten, Global IT - Program, Portfolio & PMO (left) and Peter Bodlund, Program Office Manager
For several years Nobel Biocare’s IT function has used Antura Projects, primarily as a time and resource management tool. However considering the size and diversity of Nobel Biocare, its usage of Antura Projects has been limited – both in terms of function and organization.
Major changes at Nobel Biocare in 2011 opened the door for completely new opportunities. The newly appointed executive management could see it clearly: the future success of Nobel Biocare’s operations must be based on a foundation endorsed by the entire company. This foundation has been defined as five strategic targets, or “Must Wins”, as Nobel Biocare calls them.
Antura Projects has excellent support for operations and project management at the strategic level. So Nobel Biocare and Antura realized this was the perfect opportunity to launch Antura Projects globally. An important step was that at this time, Nobel Biocare signed a group-wide contract with Antura, granting Nobel Biocare unlimited use of Antura Projects throughout the organization.
Since early 2012 Antura has worked intensively to launch, train and support the operations at the global level. Parallel with this, Nobel Biocare has held leadership training sessions and has made considerable investments in project management as a profession. For instance, key resources will undergo project management certification. A great deal of work has been done to raise standards across the board.
Six months later, Anders Haglund, Account Manager at Antura, meets up with Joachim Sällsten and Peter Bodlund at Nobel Biocare’s nice new office in central Gothenburg. Joachim’s title is Global IT - Program, Portfolio & PMO, and Peter is Program Office Manager. Because Antura’s and Nobel Biocare’s offices are just 100 yards apart, the two companies actually have monthly administrative meetings, to discuss a range of matters and opportunities in a relaxed setting.
“I’ve been extremely impressed by what we’ve achieved in such a short time together with Nobel Biocare”, explains Anders Haglund. “Your projects have gone so well. Can you identify any success factors?”
”Nobel Biocare chose to give the project tool a key role in our updated global process for portfolio and project methodology, because it’s a success factor for the company and our customers”, Joachim Sällsten responds.
“And have you had any feedback from your users in Switzerland, the United States, or other parts of the world?”
“Absolutely. Antura Projects is now in full production throughout our global arena. And our users are telling us that the system works brilliantly, wherever you are in the organization. It’s all about how you launch the system. As you will have noticed, we’ve really focused all our efforts on it”, says Joachim.
“Still, what really made this possible is that our projects are so business-critical that our executive management demands full visibility into projects, portfolios and program campaigns. Our projects are complex, time-critical and cross-functional. They affect a wide range of professions, at all our global sites. Plus, the projects are highly interdependent”, Peter Bodlund adds.
Nobel Biocare is a medical devices manufacturer and the world leader in innovative esthetic dental solutions based on science. Nobel Biocare is unique in offering dental professionals integrated solutions of dental crowns, dental veneers, dental bridges and dental implants. Nobel Biocare has more than 2,500 employees worldwide and the Company is based in Zurich, Switzerland with headquarters in Zurich and in Gothenburg, Sweden. Production takes place at six production sites located in the USA, Sweden, Japan and Israel. Nobel Biocare has direct sales organizations in 37 countries.