MiTek® is a global specialist in the design, manufacture, and implementation of future-proofed steel mezzanine floors for large, industrial warehouses. The company works closely with general contractors, system integrators and end users such as e-commerce clients to offer custom-engineered solutions to meet their individual requirements. We met with Fran Barnard, Business Improvement Manager at MiTek to discuss their Smartsheet solution and how it came to evolve into its current format.
What challenges/problems necessitated a change in the organisation?
MiTek was looking for a solution to support the design process; from the detailing and buying processes to mapping and tracking of the installation through to project close. “We wanted a solution that would see us through from start to finish so that we could track milestones, get alerts and manage our time more effectively”.
Having been using Microsoft Project, Fran outlined that MiTek was only capturing the install side of their projects which meant they weren’t planning and tracking the full picture and that key milestones could have been missed as a result. The aim was for the new Smartsheet solution to provide insight into other areas of the business so that the full project journey could be brought together in one clear view.
MiTek Mezzanine Systems in North America already used Smartsheet for their manufacturing operation, so the decision was made to introduce the tool to the UK mezzanine business. This allowed for the sharing of best practices and future collaboration, both on the mezzanine business reporting side as well as further development of Smartsheet. “The North American office uses Smartsheet for their factory in Waupaca, Wisconsin to track the product as it goes through manufacturing, whilst in the UK we use the tool to track projects through design and installation.”
How is Smartsheet being used across MiTek?
Every time MiTek raises a new project, their Smartsheet solution creates a project programme, detailing the milestones and key tasks to ensure the successful delivery of their mezzanine projects.
The need for alerts and triggers when a deadline was due, was an integral part of the solution. This allowed the project teams to always stay one step ahead of the game and make changes before a problem arises.
“As our business evolves the requirement to measure our KPIs has become more and more important, Smartsheet dashboards help us illustrate our achievements.”
Another positive for MiTek using Smartsheet was the ability to create dashboards. The feature allows MiTek to track and illustrate their KPIs and performance quickly and clearly.
With 60 people using Smartsheet across MiTek (UK), dashboards are a great way to present information. This allows them to change the view of what performance areas they want to track, such as tasks due, team allocation or the Gantt charts. In the future, MiTek is planning to share dashboards with their customers to show deliverables, install programme and further insights across all stakeholders.
Implementation with PPS
MiTek recognised the need for a formal solution to support them and decided that Smartsheet was the best option to provide this support. They prepared a document outlining the desired functional specifications and shared this with PPS.
“We had an initial meeting with Andrew (Head of Consulting at Project Plan Services) to discuss the technical spec of our requirements, so we could see what was possible. We then set up weekly calls between ourselves and Andrew, where we could share information and begin to build exactly what we wanted.”
“We did some trials of the solution so we could see exactly what Smartsheet could do. It is often quite difficult to understand how a solution will work for you unless it’s built with data relevant to your business. So, Andrew would create exactly what we’d asked him to, we would test it and give feedback on what worked well and what didn’t for us.”
MiTek went through a pilot phase before preparing the solution for release to the wider organisation. Smartsheet is now part of a formal process across the business and people are being trained in how to use it. The solution will ideally evolve alongside MiTek’s growth.
“Andrew did many iterations of our templates so we could get it and the dashboards how we wanted them.”
“Andrew has been there every time we've needed something or there's been a question, he's been very responsive and available to help, and he’s always found a solution to the problem.”
How was rollout and adoption managed?
MiTek began onboarding Smartsheet with the Senior Leadership Team, including Directors so that each business function was able to see how Smartsheet could work for them and also to give feedback on what they would need from the solution.
Head of Consulting at PPS, Andrew Gerrish, delivered a training session to the MiTek Heads of Department and also provided them with very helpful guidance documents which were sent out to everybody as a step-by-step guide to using Smartsheet. This has allowed MiTek to train users internally and supported the roll-out of the solution to the wider organisation “The Heads of Department and the Directors had the initial training, and they would then train their teams. We are currently producing some e-learning modules as well so if people forget or get stuck, they can click back and rewatch certain modules.”
There will always be resistance to change often due to misinformation and lack of education about the change. Fran discussed how MiTek has gone through a fair amount of change in the past 2-3 years as the company has grown. “I think over that period everyone has become a lot more resilient and better at adapting to change.”
Communication was key to supporting the teams’ migration through change as Smartsheet was implemented and rolled out, ensuring all users knew where to go when they needed support. “As the in-house Smartsheet expert, people can contact me and ask quick questions. training or pointers and that’s helped them. So, adoption has been good despite a little bit of resistance to begin with.”
In addition, MiTek continues to support the adoption of Smartsheet and the solution within BAU by utilising the Microsoft Teams x Smartsheet Integration. Setting up a dedicated Teams channel for each project to store documents and use the task planner to remind them to complete what they need within Smartsheet daily. You can learn more about the MS Teams x Smartsheet Integration here.
“PPS were amazing, and Andrew is fantastic, he's really good. He's great at explaining in a clear way, not a techie way”.
What's been your favourite moment/success year to date?
“We hoped to retain our ISO 9001 and EN1090 this year and extend our scope to our German office as well. In addition, we wanted to achieve, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification by the end of 2024. We are proud to say that we achieved all of these, which has been a great success for MiTek. The introduction of Smartsheet has contributed to this success and will continue to support us in our journey of continuous improvement”.
What are you most excited about in 2024?
“That's easy because I am very excited about it. We are creating KPI dashboards to monitor the performance of different areas of the business. I am currently identifying the data that we want to manage and monitor, where it comes from, and how to pull it all together so it can feed into Power BI. Then we're going to design a big dashboard with multiple graphs and graphics for it to be accessed by all teams and displayed on the TV screens around the office so the whole team can see how we are performing in real-time.”
What is your favourite way to use Smartsheet?
“I like the dashboards. I think they're very cool. It's easy and very intuitive to use. It’s also great how you enter a few dates into the intake sheet and then you press a couple of buttons and, as if by magic, it creates the whole project package”.
What advice can you give to a company that is looking to elevate its PPM strategy in the next 12 months?
“When we were first introduced to Smartsheet, we were not clear on the different parts of the platform, what it could do, and how all the different parts fit together. It took us a while but once the penny dropped, it all made sense, and it was like a eureka moment. So, I think making it super clear at the outset, what you want the platform to do, so, you know what the different parts of Smartsheet are for and what they relate to. Keep it simple at the beginning and build on it as you become more experienced with Smartsheet.
The second would be to get your people involved, not just your management team but people from each team, because ultimately, they’re the ones who will be using it, so they need to be invested in it“.
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