Solutions & Modules

The starting-point of an Innovation Process is collecting, evaluating and prioritizing ideas. The PipelinePlanner supports this process with a standardized collection and several evaluation methods, which can be adapted to your needs.

• quick and easy input of ideas with a web form
• collection of ideas in a central data base
• identification of the most promising ideas in the following process

The PipelinePlanner offers several methods and tools for the evaluation of projects and portfolios. Graphical analysis tools facilitate the evaluation.

• The qualitative evaluation usually rates non-financial aspects and delivers significant results with little effort.
• The quantitative evaluation uses financial criteria to deduct key indicators, which are essential for the project success.
• The Risk Evaluation includes insecurities of future developments and visualizes the spectrum of possible results transparently.

Qualitative Evaluation

Qualitative evaluation models as well as graphical selection mechanisms usually dominate when evaluating ideas.

The qualitative evaluation in the PipelinePlanner enables

• transformation of non-financial evaluation criteria (strategic, technological, market related)
• customized definition of the scoring models
• applications like Strategic Fit Analysis, Customer Pull / Market Push Analysis, Strengths / Opportunities Charts, SWOT Analysis

Quantitative Evaluation

A well-founded financial analysis is often the essential criterion for project decisions.

The work environment of the PipelinePlanner, which is similar to Excel, enables

• transformation of user-defined evaluation models
• deduction of benchmarks (NPV, Internal Rate of Return, ROI, Break Even)
• availability of all analysis tools on all hierarchy levels (Project Level, Business Unit, Division, Portfolio as a whole)
• easy to use, i.e. expert knowledge is not required

Significant deviations of the results can be caused by uncertainties of input variables. Useful analysis tools enable identifying the corresponding risk profile of the project.

Evaluation of probabilities and uncertainties with risk analysis tools, e.g.

• Sensitivity and Critical Values Analysis for an easy presentation of the effects of positive and negative deviations from the expected value
• Scenario Analysis for a comprehensive comparison of alternative developments
• Monte Carlo Simulation for the consideration of probability distributions
• Decision Tree Analysis for the transformation of expected financial effects of decision alternatives in the project

Analogous to the corporate structure, the project portfolio can be structured as a pyramid of strategic projects and basic planning.
Aggregations and scenarios are possible at any time at all levels.

The projects are organized in an aggregation pyramid. With this structure the PipelinePlanner takes over the most exhausting task with

• automatically calculated compression of data
• aggregation on all superior levels
• aggregation-by-click, i.e. selection of the projects to be aggregated by simply checking the checkbox
• graphical analyses tools at all levels
• quick development of scenarios also at superior levels
• availability of all common methods and presentations of the portfolio analysis

The planning of timely courses and resources are important components for each project and its process and increase the efficiency.

The PipelinePlanner offers a classical project and resource management, which is reinforced with valuable portfolio functions:

• Dissection of projects into their subtasks and milestones with corresponding relations
• Planning of individual resources or resource pools per task and period
• Analyses of the capacity utilization and description of overlaps as well as shortages at the portfolio level
• Planned times, evaluated with cost rates, can be transferred to the financial planning

Transparency, standardization and objectivity are important to secure that the most successful projects will be implemented quickly and weak projects can be ended on time.

The PipelinePlanner supports the process with

• division of the process in different phases and gates with decision criteria
• definition of clear responsibilities, workflows and rights
• illustration of the process status and upcoming tasks
• documentation, evaluation, and filing of finished tasks
• e-mails, controlled by process steps, which communicate the next tasks in the workflow
• clearance of tasks after finishing the previous process step

The PipelinePlanner supports the efficient and quick communication and information with providing reports for all levels.

Report templates can be put together in the database of all available data and charts in PipelinePlanner.

• Definition of standardized reports for projects or portfolios
• Save, print, sending reports in pdf format or as an attachment to an e-mail
• Configurations of report templates for different applications or groups are possible

Beyond the previously mentioned modules, the PipelinePlanner offers important central functions that affect the entire process:

• Roles and Rights:

User rights can be granted precisely to projects, modules and single data fields (Read– Write– Change)

• Project History:

A write-protected copy with all data for the analysis is available

• Document Storage:

Documents can be uploaded for projects and data fields. These documents can be uploaded everywhere, protected with roles and rights

• Tool Box Concept:

All described modules are configurable by the user without programming