Anaplan enhances Valmet’s business planning

The beginning phase of the project was intense, as the existing system was being replaced by Anaplan under a clearly defined timeline. The first pilot was delivered just five months after the project started, and three months later, the system was rolled out globally. Measured by the number of users, the final implementation is extensive, with more than 2,000 users.

One of the major early changes was to replace Excel-based workforce planning calculations, inputs, and reporting. Anaplan was integrated with the HR system, enabling smooth forecasting of personnel costs by pulling data directly from the source. This made personnel cost estimation and budgeting more centralized and automated.

Another significant improvement following the Anaplan implementation was the transition toward rolling forecasting. Forecasting and budgeting practices were also standardized globally across the entire organization.

Today, each cost center owner is responsible for estimating expenses in their own area. Data updates in real time as units add expenses, ensuring that information is always current. When moving to the next month, the previous month is replaced with actuals, and the most up-to-date view is always available. Automation has increased through driver-based calculations, with calculation rules maintained by each company’s key users.

With Anaplan, Valmet’s entire planning process now runs on a modern, maintainable, and unified platform. Anaplan integrates with numerous source systems, most importantly Valmet’s data warehouse, as well as the global ERP system, centralized master data portal, consolidation system, and HR system.

In certain areas, Anaplan also acts as a master data hub for cost center information. In Valmet’s new ERP system, certain attributes are required at the cost center level to enable reporting on company performance or overhead costs. Many of the legacy ERP systems did not contain this information, so Anaplan was designated as the master source for these attributes.

Anaplan has met the expectations of both Valmet’s developers and end users. According to feedback from end users, Anaplan performs well, is clear, and is intuitive to use. The automation and automatic calculations provided by Anaplan also reduce unnecessary manual workload. Most importantly, the system is fast, easy, and straightforward to use.

“The flexibility and speed of development have also received praise – something that isn’t always a given with other technologies. As a platform, Anaplan is highly flexible, allowing us to respond quickly and easily to different user needs,” says Peltomäki.

Overall, Anaplan has enabled Valmet to develop solutions easily, cost-effectively, and quickly – always with clear benefits for end users. Anaplan has also been better integrated into Valmet’s processes than the previous system allowed.

“The Anaplan implementation has brought significant added value across different parts of the organization. Many processes that previously relied on Excel have now been effectively migrated to the platform. As a result, errors have been significantly reduced, and a great deal of time has been saved,” Peltomäki concludes.

According to Peltomäki, collaboration throughout the project has been excellent from the very start: schedules were met, and he was able to fully trust the people working on the project. Through previous projects, we had already gained a solid understanding of Valmet’s business and source systems, which, according to Peltomäki, made it easy to start this project together as well.

Especially during the project’s demanding initial phase, the team’s ability to quickly take ownership of issues exceeded Peltomäki’s expectations. He has also been consistently impressed by the team’s commitment: what was agreed verbally was always delivered, even when unexpected challenges arose along the way.

Petteri Peltomäki
Project Manager responsible for developing business reporting, Valmet