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Solution Minds Delivers BHP Iron Ore Cognos Solution |
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Tuesday, 28 August 2007 08:00 |
Solution Minds is pleased to announce the completion of phase one of a Cognos Planning project for BHP Billiton.
BHP Billiton is a global leader in the resources industry. Cognos Planning is used for budget and monthly reforecast of the W.A. Iron Ore operations, including profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow. The extensive planning model was built four years ago. It includes 150+ data cubes and 650+ data links. Solution Minds was engaged to automate and optimise the planning process, redesign key modules and document the entire system.
The successful achievements of phase 1 include: Automated the data integration and loading from various sources including SAP and spreadsheets – this has simplified reconciliation and cut the data load time from one week to one day Implemented a method to lock down prior years and versions – the administrator now has complete control of changes to the system, ensuring that budgets and forecasts cannot be altered once they are signed off Automated the carrying forward of opening balances from one year to another Implemented and automated cell protection for linked and calculated cells – cells unavailable for data entry are clearly colour coded, making the system much simpler to navigate Redesigned the model to reflect changed contract arrangements joint venture partners – resulting in the correct treatment of transfer price values Expanded the profit and loss results for loading to SAP – to align with new BHP Billiton reporting requirements Created full user documentation – around 200 pages of diagrams, fact sheets and explanations. These have been put to great use by the users and they have extended the life and value of the planning system Trained users on the Cognos Planning solution – user can now track values through the system, explain results and confidently adjust drivers
Solution Minds is looking forward to commencing phase two of the project which will include the following: Model clean up – to remove redundant objects and simplify the model Efficiency improvement – breaking down large cubes to allow the model to be extended Process review – realigning to fit changed requirements since the implementation four years ago Extending the forecast from one to five years Redesigning the user interface to make it simpler
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