Maximal comfort versus minimal space – The challenge of aircraft seating

How are market leaders tackling the challenge of weight reduction while still maintaining passenger comfort? Aircraft seating professionals will converge on IQPC’s 2nd International Conference Innovative Aircraft Seating from 17 – 19 October 2011 in Hamburg, Germany, to discuss current challenges and developments in the industry.

Conference delegates will hear presentations, first-hand experiences and best practices on the following issues:

Seating comfort: Ergonomic parameters and new designs to create maximal comfort in minimal space
Weight reduction: Find out how to optimize the profitability of your aircrafts using lightweight materials and clever designs
Legislation: The latest regulatory framework in aircraft seating

In addition, delegate can participate in the following interactive workshops:

- Composite materials in aircraft seats
- Future trendsetters: How to adapt aircraft seats to accommodate a widening range of passenger segments
- State of the art suspension seating surfaces
- Parameters of seat comfort

Further information, including articles, interviews and the full conference program, is available on the conference website.

Was ist der Mehrwert von einem Shared Service Center?



Klaus Schwind



Klaus Schwind, Group Director Shared Service Center bei der HeidelbergCement AG, spricht exklusiv über die erfolgreiche Migration zum Shared Service Center, die Rolle von Service Level Agreements und Key Perofrmance Indicators, sowie Kostensenkung durch die Implementierung eines SSC.


Das gesamte Interview wurde als Podcast aufgezeichnet und kann hier abgerufen werden.

The Race for the Future of Aircraft Seating

The benefits of reducing the basic empty weight (BEW) of commercial aircrafts are widespread and therefore have become a high priority for airline manufactures. Any design that results in a reduced BEW, or an overall reduction in weight of the aircraft will reduce the amount of fuel required to operate a commercial aircraft and thus the cost of fuel. This benefits the economy, the environment and consumers who will indirectly benefit from reduced ticket prices. Aircraft seating manufacturers are aware that the race for the future is now; the monopoly on aircraft seating production is for the taking. The aircraft industry is struggling. Where there previously no such strong incentive to invest in radically new technology existed, the industry suddenly doesn’t have a choice. With jet fuel prices approaching $130 US dollars/barrel, airlines have to invest in something. They have to invest in whatever viable alternative presents itself in an effort to increase profit in a difficult time. The plan for the future is to decrease the amount of room installed aircraft components take up in order to increase the amount of space available, with intentions of maximizing the payload which means more passengers per flight and thus increased revenue, as well as reduced ticket prices for passengers. It has been estimated that each pound reduction on the aircraft will save $500 in fuel. On the plane, seating has been targeted by manufactures and aircraft seating engineers as a main area where weight and the space passenger seating occupies can significantly be reduced. The aim is not to deprive passengers of comfort or amenities, which would simply be out of the question for commercial aircrafts who need to contend with other airlines, but rather to decrease the weight of already existing amenities on the aircraft. Individual passengers can benefit from potentially more affordable flights, society will reap the benefits of new highly skilled jobs being produced, reduced Carbon and C02 emissions will be as a result of decreased jet fuel consumption and thus also the environment will benefit. Aircrafts today need light, more affordable solutions for their interior components. It is suggested that the efficiency of fuel can be doubled given significant amendments to the weight of the aircraft. Many companies have been experimenting with different materials and designs in an effort to produce lighter seats. The biggest obstacle to reducing the weight of seats and thus the overall weight of the aircraft is that amendments that will affect the load of the aircraft must be reassessed and adhere to the aircraft safety and legal requirements, as well as successfully pass through certification processes.

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Friedrich Geiselmann - Autor und unabhängiger Experte - über Shared Services

IQPC stellte Friedrich Geiselmann, Autor und unabhängiger Experte, ein paar wichtige Fragen zum Thema HR Shared Services. Lesen Sie in der folgenden Zusammenfassung, was der Experte zu sagen hat.

Was sind die Trends und Entwicklungen im Bereich HR Shared Service?
• Von der Abwicklung administrativer Massenprozesse zur Supportfunktion einer arbeitsmarktorientierten HR Organisation
• Aufbau einer umfassenden Prozesskompetenz: Bedarfsgerechte Komplettlösungen für Personalinstrumente wie z.B.Leistungsentlohnung (Operationalisierung Kennzahlen, Einrichten von MSS Prozessen bis zur Auszahlung und Dokumentation)
• Übernahme von Supportfunktionen bei Personalmarketing, -beschaffung und -auswahl, aber auch Personalentwicklung
• Von der Drei-Säulen-Organisation zur Zwei-Säulen-Organisation durch Integration des CoE ins HR SSC und mit der Kompetenz, die HR Prozesse in den HR Systemen abzubilden. Nur dann können komplette Prozesse zur HR Problemlösung in vertretbarer Zeit eingerichtet werden.

Welchen Herausforderungen sehen Sie sich in der Expansion und Weiterentwicklung von SSC gegenübergestellt?
• Die noch hohe Komplexität der IT Instrumente zur Automatisierung von HR Prozessen
• Mangelnde Integration von obligatorischen Tools wie Systemen zur Erstellung und Archivierung von Personaldokumenten oder Organigrammen (bei SAP braucht man dazu Zusatztools wie „Escriba“ oder Org.Manager)
• Die zusätzlichen Supportfunktionen setzen ein sehr umfassendes Know How nicht nur der Fachinhalte, sondern zusätzlich der Prozessanalyse und IT-technischen Modellierung der Prozesse voraus.
• Wie kann die Interaktion innerhalb der HR Governance Strukturen verbessert und Akzeptanz an den Schnittstellen gefördert werden?
• Von der Drei-Säulen-Organisation zur Zwei-Säulen-Organisation durch Integration des CoE ins HR SSC. Nur dann können komplette Prozesse zur HR Problemlösung eingerichtet werden.

Welche Rolle spielt für Sie derzeit das Web 2.0 und Mobiles Internet und welche Bedeutung werden Sie neuen Kommunikationsmitteln im SSC zukünftig zukommen lassen?
• Web 2.0: Z.B. Aktive Nutzung von Twitter und Foren für Imageanalyse der Arbeitgebermarke durch HR SSC als Unterstützer bei Personalmarketing
• Mobiles Internet: Die HR Prozesse, nicht nur ESS und MSS müssen überwiegend internetfähig sein. Mit mobilen Geräten (noch nicht iPhone, aber ab iPad) müssen HR Prozesse vorangetrieben werden können

Was halten Sie von der Zusammenlegung unterschiedlicher Funktionen zu einem Multi Tower?
· Die Reduzierung der Säulen (von Drei zu Zwei-Säulen Organisation ist nichts anderes als der Multi Tower.
Dieser Veränderung beschleunigt die Unterstützung neuer HR Prozesse, die auch nötig ist, um die Veränderung zum Nachfragemarkt von Arbeitskraft zu bewältigen

Wie sichern Sie eine kontinuierliche Qualitäts- und Prozessoptimierung gegenüber dem internen Kunden? Welche Mittel setzen Sie ein?
• Durch diese Zwei-Säulen Organisation kann das HR SSC offensive Angebote zur Problemlösung machen und die reaktive Rolle verlassen. Die Integration des CoE macht das HR SSC zum Think Tank, das z.B. bei gesetzlichen Änderungen auch die Initiative ergreift und HR Umsetzungslösungen anbietet. Mit dem Problem werden gleich Lösungen angeboten, die mit automatisierten HR Prozessen gelöst werden. Bsp. Änderungen bei Dienstwagenbesteuerung.
• Die direkte Zusammenarbeit von HR und HR SSC muss intensiviert werden, damit das HR SSC die Probleme der „HR - Front“ erfassen kann und sehr schnell an die Entwicklung geeigneter Lösungen gehen kann. Das lässt sich nicht über ein Ticketsystem erreichen, sondern nur durch den direkten Kontakt und das Verständnis des HR SSC für die operativen oder auch strategischen Probleme von HR.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC? --> READ MORE HERE

Die Zukunft des HR-Service-Modells: Zwischen Business Partner, SSC und Center of Competence

Dr. Klaus Kindler, Director Business HR,Vodafone D2 GmbH, gibt Einblicke.

Sie vertreten die Sicht des Business Partners. Wie sehen sie die Zukunft dieses Modells – Wie haben sich die Anforderungen an das Profil verändert?
Ich bin fest überzeugt, dass der Personaler der alten administrativen Art keine Zukunft hat. Erfolgreiche Firmen brauchen strategische Partner auf Augenhöhe zur 1. und 2. Ebene,  die als kritische und herausfordernde Berater die Verantwortung für die Performance des jeweiligen Betreuungsbereiches tragen. 

Worin besteht das bevorzugte Persönlichkeits-/Kompetenzprofil des Business Partners?
Der Business Partner muss das operative Geschäft des Unternehmens verstehen, um als Business Partner Akzetanz und Respekt zu finden. Letztenendes klappt das häufig nur, wenn er selbst einmal operative Verantwortung getragen hat und aus dem Business kommt. In den USA ist es schon sehr lange Zeit normal, dass HR-Manager aus dem operativen Business kommen.

Welche inhaltlichen Themen besetzt der Business Partner?
Mir fällt spontan nichts ein, wo er im Vegleich zu seinen Linien-Manager-Kollegen Lücken haben dürfte. Im Gegenteil, er soll ja als strategischer Berater schon etwas weiterdenken.

Was kommt nach dem Business Partner?…der strategische Performance-Berater!

Wo sehen Sie die größten Herausforderungen im Zusammenspiel HR SSC und Business Partner?
Da habe ich eine sehr klare Sichtweise, ich gebe zu, sie ist etwas radikal. Das SSC muss einfach perfekt funktionieren, vergleichbar mit einer Back-Office-Funktion in einer Vertriebsorganisation, absolut zuverlässig mit perfekt gestylten Prozessen und dennoch flexibel um auch mal was außer der Reihe zu machen.

Wie kann man eine klare Aufgabentrennung und transparente Prozesse sicherstellen?Nach meiner Erfahrung ist hier ein 100%-Ansatz nicht machbar. Wenn 80% der Prozesse standardisiert sind, ist alles prima. In 20 % der Interaktionen ist eine individuelle Abstimmung notwendig. Alles andere führt zum Prozess-Optimierungs-Tsunami und zu einer Kosten-Explosion. Und die sind ja für SSCs nun nicht gerade förderlich.

Dr. Klaus Kindler wird an der Shared Services Woche 2011 über "Business Partnerring und SSC – Die effiziente Symbiose im HR-Bereich?" referieren. Das vollständige Programm finden Sie hier.

Prosecuting the unspeakable: how e-discovery aids war crimes trials

A report by projectcounsel 

Uncovering a mass grave near Srebrenica.  Unarmed Bosnian Muslim males were rounded up and murdered and bulldozed into mass graves.

By:  Gregory P. Bufithis, Esq.     Founder/CEO  

Over the last few years the Project Counsel team has been involved in many aspects of war crimes trials and human rights abuse cases, from the e-discovery/staffing side (providing attorneys for special projects, managing the accumulation/organization of evidence, etc.) as well as coverage of the trials themselves through the media division Project Counsel Media.  But they have not seen such a cascade of events such as we have seen in the last two months.

Today marks the 15^th anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica.    The biggest event in the last few months was the capture at the end May of the former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic who engineered that massacre after 16 years on the run.  Extradition was quick:  he was handed to the Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal in The Hague on May 31st to stand trial.  His arrest is good news for the relatives of those killed at Srebrenica and for international justice, which may be slow but doesn’t forget.

Equally important were two court cases:

-  a Dutch court has held the Netherlands responsible for the deaths of three Muslim men executed by Bosnian Serb troops in the massacres at Srebrenica. The unexpected ruling could open the field for new suits against the Netherlands by relatives of other Srebrenica victims.

-  A U.S. federal appeals court reinstated a lawsuit by Indonesian villagers that seeks to hold Exxon Mobil liable for alleged killings and torture committed by Indonesian soldiers guarding a natural-gas plant in the country’s Aceh province.  Among its holdings, the appeals court ruled that corporations can be held liable under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 federal law that allows U.S. suits for violations of international law.

Shortly after the capture of Ratko Mladic Project Counsel wrote a short piece on the political/legal issues surrounding “the G-word”: genocide.  But there is a fascinating e-discovery element to these war crimes proceedings, and how the United Nations faces the need to manage the accumulation, organization, and access to evidence relating to war crimes.  The UN team that is responsible for gathering and handling the information to be used in such trials faces the challenge of making millions of documents in many formats and many languages available to prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and other court stakeholders.  This war crimes evidence originates in multiple formats from disparate sources, for example — TV program tapes, radio broadcasts, news and military photographs, home movies, home photos, recorded telephone communications, and other rich media formats in addition to masses of paper documents and the standard electronic text of emails and other natively electronic documents.

For those of us involved in the commercial sector of e-discovery it can be a most banal experience, having an irredeemable dullness.  But the United Nations war crime tribunals work embody every extreme and special circumstance when it comes to eDiscovery challenges and requirements.  It is thrilling — and gruesome — stuff, with every trial having its own complexities involving data formats, scalability, language support, rules of procedure, and confidentiality.

The tribunals face the daunting task of ensuring full and equitable access to all of this diverse evidentiary information by all parties to the trial. Such access requires that all parties with legitimate “right to know” have to receive complete, accurate, and timely production of requested documents or for topics within documents. The process typically involves multiple professions, such as digital forensics specialists, lawyers, and IT professionals, all with slightly different objectives and requirements, which must ultimately ensure system operations protocols that can be certified by the governing authority, in this case, by the UN tribunal itself.

The e-discovery vendor they chose?  ZyLAB.  And the reasons are simple.  Quoting from a detailed report issued last week by International Data Corporation (IDC) titled ZyLAB: Enabling Prosecution of the Unspeakable:  “ZyLAB’s software also offered a broad range of features and functionality critical to the eDiscovery process. Document capture and sophisticated OCR, for example, had been a foundation capability in developing the company’s business. The ability to recognize documents from different languages and to differentiate and process languages notated in multiple character sets was a system necessity (e.g., evidence in the Milošević trial incorporated over 13 languages, including some written in Cyrillic character sets). The multilanguage query parsing capability supported system users working in one native language to achieve the same results as users working in a different native language. Sophisticated indexing technology was required for the project, which enabled the UN team to use the ZyLAB system to classify documents; exhaustively identify people, features, and entities referenced in documents; and create a text and metadata repository that normalized millions of evidence items while supporting legal review operations that could be executed within the time frames stipulated in the UN tribunal’s procedural guidelines. The software also offered a portal-like interface that provided an intelligent discovery workspace for the set of varied professionals at work on the trial”.

The Office of the Prosecutor had already established a relationship with ZyLAB which has it’s major office located nearby and had done a number of smaller projects with the prosecutor’s office previously, and was willing to commit highly skilled professionals to onsite support. Such support is particularly important because of the complexity of the problems the UN team was facing and because of the foreshortened time frames within which the team needed to make the evidentiary information available to the prosecution and defense teams.

The report addresses key topics for CIO’s and CTO’s to consider in preparation for e-discovery, including connector architecture, disparate system data, recall and search, text analytics, taxonomy, multi-language operations, multimedia operations, etc.   (The link to the report above takes you to the ZyLAB site where you can get a copy for free; the IDC site will charge $500).

NOTE:  ZyLAB software also has a significant presence in Brussels in DG COMP, the European Commission division that monitors and enforces compliance with antitrust and competition laws.

To put it all in perspective what follows is our video interview with Gonzalo de Cesare (political advisor with the European Union Police Mission in Bosnia & Herzegovina) who discusses the UN’s process for managing some of the largest and most complex cases in the world (the Khmer Rouge trials, the criminal tribunals for Rwanda, the trial involving Slobadan Milošević, etc.) with information management and e-discovery management software from ZyLAB.  When you spend time with Mr de Cesare you realize human rights are not a vague or general ideal as far as he is concerned.  Promoting them, pursuing them means defending each individual victim.

At his request Project Counsel interviewed Mr. de Cesare in Spanish but you can watch the interview with subtitles in Arabic, Bosnian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Serbian and Spanish. Just choose from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the screen.

Tip: Interested in learning more about E-Discovery? Check out this website: E-Discovery

Aircraft Seating

Although it has always been in commercial airlines best interests to manufacture the lightest possible aircraft carriers in order to increase the overall efficiency of the aircraft and maximize the aircrafts useful load, as well as the amount of space individual passenger seats take up (a higher useful load means a greater carrying capacity, means more revenue for the industry). Now with increasing fuel prices, what was previously a mere ideal or means of increasing the maximum passenger carrying capacity to maximize the amount of revenue has now become a vital economic and environmental investment. The benefits of having a lighter aircraft are widespread, there’s increased revenue for the aircraft industry as a result of being able to sustain more passengers per flight, decreased fuel consumption, which results in money saved for the industry and also boasts environmental advantages. With slower burning fuel meaning less Carbon und N02 being expelled into the atmosphere, the demand for lighter component designs now couldn’t be stronger. While the solution to the problem of requiring a lighter aircraft on the surface appears to be simple, it isn’t. The innovation in design must adhere to strict comfort and safety regulations to ensure that the passenger’s safety and comfort is not unreasonably infringed upon. While certainly there are other amenities that are ostensibly unnecessary in order to safely accommodate passengers from A to B. The atmosphere of the airplane, the service, and the entertainment provided are mandatory for commercial airlines, who are an enterprise and need to keep up with their competitors in this regard. The challenge becomes the maximization the useful load while reducing the maximum take-off weight, which is done by reducing the basic empty weight or (BEW), obviously in the case of commercial airlines, reducing the amount of passengers and depriving passengers of necessary amenities is simply not an option. Reducing the weight and the amount of space that individual seats take up has been targeted as the prime solution to the problem of needing to maximize payload while maintaining the same level of ergonomics for passengers. Reducing the weight of the aircraft is integral to reducing the amount of carbon emissions as well as the costs of gas. Reducing the weight and width of the seating not only contributes to minimizing the BEW (thus reducing the amount of gas is required to operate the aircraft); it also maximizes the payload and allows the aircraft to carry more passengers, which equals more revenue for the industry. Various aircraft seating companies have already begun experimenting with new light weight materials as well as different designs. The demand for something for more efficient and more functional is no longer just a desirable alternative. 
Commercial airlines have been hit hard with the recent increase in fuel prices. Of course reducing seat weight by itself is not particularly difficult, the challenge for aircraft seating manufacturers and innovators becomes minimizing the weight and the amount of space aircraft seating takes up, while maximizing the comfort level of passengers, and adhering to the strict legal code of safety and comfort laws, ergonomics and safety are of the highest priority and cannot be compromised.

It has been frequently suggested that the weight of the aircraft can be significantly reduced while maintaining the ergonomics and safety of seating by removing unnecessary parts from the aircraft. Aircraft seating carries substantial weight and has been targeted as the primary means to an overall lighter aircraft. Reducing the weight of the seat and reducing its width, which is also imperative for freeing up more space and accommodating a higher payload or more passengers has been collectively deemed the most lucrative area of investment, allowing the potential for the most lucrative results. A lot of additional parts such as the back reclining hydraulic cylinders, brackets and brushings that carry a lot of weight can be made with different materials. The CBM Lap Belt Anchor point can be lowered to lower the SRP, this contributes to weight reduction because a lowered arm and torque will put pressure against the floor. Thus the Leg can be constructed with less weight and still pass test accelerations. There are also many light materials that can be used; some examples are the new aluminum alloys, as well as carbon fibres and composites which are currently being experimented with. Air chamber cushions can also be employed for the seat back and headrest, this would reduce the weight of polyurethane foams. The ultimate goal of commercial aircraft carriers is to maximize revenues; this can be done by maximizing the useful load. Useful load = the difference between maximum takeoff weight and the basic weight of the aircraft without the load.  Useful load in this case is essentially the maximum load your particular aircraft can handle. This is a combination of fuel, pilots, passengers, baggage, as well as cargo. In this regard, useful load, or the weight being carried on the aircraft can only be decreased for example by taking out cabinets and other non-essentials and amenities commercial airplanes have, although in most cases this is out of the question, because the business of commercial aircraft carriers requires those amenities in order to compete with other airlines. 

So the obvious solution is to reduce the weight of the essential aircraft components and perhaps removed some non essentials. Unfortunately it isn’t as simple as this. You can’t just remove whatever items you believe unnecessary without first testing the aircraft and assume the aircraft itself is going to be unaffected by what may appear to be a minor alteration. Taking items out of the aircraft increases the aircrafts useful load and the increase in useful load will naturally affect the aircrafts center of gravity (CG). The safety of passengers will in this case be compromised. Every time an alteration to the BEW is made or installed items are removed or added to the aircraft, the BEW and CG must be reassessed and recalculated in order to ensure that the CG limits are not surpassed. This is a very complicated process. 

Aside from the fact that safety is of the utmost importance when it pertains to seating and anything installed on the aircraft, ergonomics or the level of comfort they provide to passengers, along with their relative suitability for passengers is essential. The comfort of seating vs. the size of the seat can be measured using the terms pitch and width. Pitch of course indicates the amount of legroom passengers have but actually more specifically refers to the space between one point on the seat to the same point on the seat in front of it. This is generally measured in inches, however more pitch doesn’t just equal more legroom: it also directly affects the thickness of the back of the seat. The amount of legroom that passengers get in a commercial aircraft will depend on what class they travel in. Typically, an economy class aircraft provides 30 to 32 inches of legroom or pitch. A reduction in seat pitch which would typically affect the ergonomics or the comfort level of passengers can be compensated for by a thinner seat-back design. The largest seat pitch you’ll find in commercial airlines is in the short haul economy section which boasts a 37 inch seat pitch. In certain airlines, business class seats are 62 inch, this is the largest pitch, US Airways, in their Airbus A330-300’s, have a seat pitch of 94 inches.

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Outsourcing is people's business: Meeting Indescon

Is outsourcing model something new for you? Do you have to deal with it – and think how to influence key employees? Or maybe you have problems with not clearly defined goals and objectives in an outsourcing engagement? Or… Maybe you like Murgh Dansek or Alu Channa Masala and want to extend your network?

If you ask yourself these and similar questions, you should definitely have visited the meeting organized by Indescon and held a few days ago in Frankfurt, Germany. And if you could not attend the meeting, read the story and get the feeling about the meeting, outsourcing, networking possibilities, and Indescon itself.

Hot weather has not deterred us from joining the event which took place in Mayur Restaurant – an Indian restaurant located in Frankfurt (thank you for your hospitality and good food served to us!). Ashant Chalasani, the President of Indescon and Pramod Reddy Atla, Director at Indescon have presented the history of the organisation and its objectives. We could also find out many interesting details about themselves: their coming to Germany a few years ago, their engagement to get the Indians living in Germany together and to establish a community, and their business initiatives, understood as a bridge between Germany and India.

Pramod has also presented the reasons why many outsourcing projects fail. Then we could discuss our experiences regarding critical factors in outsourcing initiatives. The results of this (creative!) brainstorming session are as follows:

How to manage an outsourcing model which is new for you? It is important to be well informed: not only about the advantages but also about possible risks. It makes sense to collect best practice cases and to try to implement them. Learning by doing is crucial as well.

How to influence key employee attrition at the vendor? A very sensitive subject, isn’t it? In fact, people make success happen – and not technology, processes or structures. Therefore it is very important to set objectives, to communicate them (in both: formal and informal way) and to consider the cultural aspects of the undertaking: how different people think, interpret facts (as agreements for instance) and react. Incentives are of big importance, too. In companies with high personnel turnover rate a question can be asked who are the key employees?

How to deal with not clearly defined goals and objectives in an outsourcing engagement? Personal relationship between the vendor and the buyer is very important in this context. It is also possible to have independent party between them both to manage the relation. And once again: communication, communication, communication – as much as possible.

What additional measures can be undertaken to protect intellectual property rights? First, the legal framework is very important here: legal circumstances and system of penalties should help a lot. Many companies ask the question about data security while outsourcing them – in many cases the vendors have even more experience with protection of intellectual property than the buyer. Regarding the question of data security and the way: data – information – knowledge I can recommend you another text: Paper-free office – efficient model for a modern company?

How to deal with a service delivered that does not fulfil the expectations? Our team has come to the conclusion that such parameters as quality, quantity and the delivery conditions should be defined in the service level agreement. However, we cannot precisely define everything and we cannot predict everything. Therefore one thing should be clearly communicated from the first day on: that what is delivered is never a finished product, it makes sense to work in a phase system, where the project in dealt into many phases which are subject of delivery to the client. It also makes sense to express realistic expectations by both sides: the vendor and the buyer. And giving the customer the possibility to manage vendor’s team makes it possible to control the results and the project progress.

Meeting Indescon: Open and creative brainstorming session

The atmosphere of the meeting was very open and interactive and we had a very good networking opportunity. We could exchange our ideas about outsourcing, India, innovative business models as IT flat for instance (that will be for sure a topic of another text I am going to prepare) and many more.

Such meetings will be held every month. And I am really happy to attend the next meeting at the end of September – I will write a small report from this event, too.

Posted by Magdalena Szarafin on August 22, 2009

Shared Services in numbers – Some Benchmarks from Solvay Shared Services

In this interview with Guy Mercier, General Management - Director Geral & Gerente at Solvay Shared Services, he shared with us his proudest accomplishments within Shared Services and how it’s affected his business.

What are your most proud accomplishments within Shared Services?  How did it affect your business?

• In a bit more than 5 years we built, fully “in-house” and with only 6 expatriates, a multi-functions Finance & a HR well matured SSO with 2 centers, one in Lisbon (with 220 FTEs) and one in Curitiba Brazil (60 FTEs) and a financial hub under study in Bangkok, to serve more than 150 Solvay affiliates in 17 different languages from one single SAP-ERP platform supported by some specific IT tools (like IVR, Ticketing systems, Knowledge Management...)
• We processed in 2010 2.293.499 transactions (1.7 M in Finance and 0.5 M in HR Payroll and data maintenance) and received only 2.394 customer complaints delivering more than 99% service level in compliance with SLA
• We are certified ISO 9001-2008 in our Lisbon center and now in Curitiba and put in place a fully integrated Continuous Improvement plan data-base to link all corrective-preventive, innovation and process development actions.
• We have a career plan and strategic training individual development plan for all our employees. At each level, from operator to manager, they are motived and appraised through individual EPDA  sessions with their direct supervisor twice a year, linking their objectives with the strategic company objectives.
On a quartely basis the company performances is measured and communicated based on a balanced scorecard with 17 KPIs detaileld by process.
• We received 68,2% “good to very good” feedback from our customer based on a survey we launched systematically twice a year (rising from 66% last year).
• We are now at the center of the Solvay Group business transformation with one global objective which is to extend further the scope and the geographical coverage of our 3S shared services model within Finance by putting in place an added-value higher expertise finance middle-office unit and in HR by developing a single point of contact for all employee e-services.

What are your plans for 2011/2012?
• Business transformation through process redesign & further automation and geographical expansion in ASIA

3S Solvay Shared Services-Sociedade de Servicios Partilhados Lda, is the new European services center of Solvay group for Finance and Human Ressources based in Lisbon and in Curitiba serving with a total of 290 employees more than 150 Solvay companies in 17 different countries.  It is a member of the worldwide Solvay S.A. chemical and plastics group headquartered in Brussels, generating 8,485 m Euros sales in 2009 (60% in Europe, 28% in Americas, 10% in Asia) with more than 19,000 employees.

Guy Mercier will be giving a presentation about Cloud Computing for SSO at the Shared Services Woche 2011 in Berlin, Germany. Visit the website for more information.