Founded in 1956, Ball Aerospace is a leading manufacturer of innovative aerospace solutions, serving the defense and intelligence, commercial and space markets.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. is a leader in the design, development and manufacturing of innovative aerospace systems. Ball is recognized for excellence in project execution – helping its customers pioneer discoveries and perform beyond expectation with leading-edge solutions for a variety of industries. Ball is committed to operating with agility, transparency and cost efficiency because those factors are critical to its success in current and emerging markets.
In 2012, Ball furthered that commitment by selecting Sequence Enterprise (formerly EcoSys) as an enterprise software solution to manage program costs, budgeting, forecasting, and estimating across the entire company as well as to centralize rates and pricing. Sequence Enterprise replaced many internal systems to provide Ball with a single source of truth, allowing for consistency of information, faster and more efficient reporting, and a greater understanding of its business.
Before Sequence Enterprise, Ball spent countless hours and effort managing many disconnected Excel and VBA-based tools that were developed in-house. To meet audit requirements, these tools were continuously updated manually to ensure that rate list information was correct. Project controls analysts worked in siloed, Excel-based solutions, managing each project differently.
Project stakeholders found it difficult to analyze programs and evaluate profitability because data was disconnected and inconsistent. It was time consuming to look beyond top level information, which limited the amount of useful data and metrics that Ball could produce.
Sequence Enterprise has allowed Ball to realize true Integrated Program Management (IPM). It is now able to utilize full lifecycle program management at every stage; from Opportunity Tracking & Forecasting, to Proposal & Estimating, and Program Award & Execution through Closeout. With enhanced capabilities in estimating, tracking, analyzing and forecasting costs, Ball can break down silos of information and generate more quantitative measures than ever before.
Solutions
Sequence Enterprise replaced the internal tools while integrating with existing ERP and scheduling systems, providing a single source for costs/funds, schedule, scope and resources
Ball utilizes Sequence Enterprise for full lifecycle Integrated Program Management to track, forecast and submit initial cost estimates at every stage - opportunity, proposal, project, closeout
Ball can report and analyze program data in a consolidated fashion and at deeper levels than before
Sequence Enterprise provides a familiar, Excel-like interface to shorten the learning curve
Ball executive management was fully committed to Sequence Enterprise, helping to ensure a smooth transition
Enhanced Earned Value Management capabilities and resource staffing and forecasting will help Ball execute projects even more efficiently
Benefits
Having the full lifecycle in Sequence Enterprise allows Ball to generate valuable metrics and move from one phase to the next efficiently, resulting in significant time savings
Looking beyond cost summaries at an Enterprise level gives Ball a much greater understanding of its business
Ball has been able to develop new business metrics to help assess what is driving its business
An increased ability to understand variances helps isolate problems quickly and at a detailed level
Management and executive levels get a real-time look at what is affecting the business, allowing Ball to make more strategic decisions faster
Next steps
In an effort to become even more strategic in its approach to programs, Ball will further enhance its solution by implementing more capabilities within Sequence Enterprise. Tactical and strategic staff forecasting will allow Ball to optimize its workforce, replacing yet another in-house tool. Understanding the demand for resources at a more granular level, down to resource category or even named resource, will ensure Ball can efficiently execute the projects it books. Ball will also look to the Sequence Enterprise platform to further enhance its Earned Value Management reporting capabilities.
About Sequence Enterprise
Sequence Enterprise is the global standard for Enterprise Project Performance software. Our easy-to-use web-based platform helps organizations worldwide maximize their return on projects investment through optimizing project portfolios, controlling project costs and enabling proactive management of change.
