Normet: Planning and management of ERP project testing
In Short
Normet is a world-leading, innovative technology company. They define the future of underground operations in mining, tunnelling, and civil engineering projects, helping their partners to increase safety, sustainability, and productivity throughout the lifecycle of their projects.
Normet has a transformation project where multiple ERP systems will be replaced with Microsoft D365 FSCM. At the same time, processes were harmonized so that there would be a global way of working throughout Normet companies across the world. VALA was taking part in the ERP Finland pilot project.
“VALA has been involved in Normet’s significant ERP project from the beginning and has been the most important partner in terms of quality assurance. With the help of VALA’s experts, we have developed quality assurance practices for the entire project, and proven practices have also been utilized in other Normet projects. With VALA’s help, we have also started the development of test automation, and it will play an important role as part of Normet’s quality assurance in various systems. Working with VALA people is smooth, and I hope the cooperation will continue in the future as well.”
– Paavo Kaltiainen, Test and Release Manager, Normet Group Oy
In practise
VALA has been responsible for the planning and management of the Smart365 ERP pilot project’s testing, as well as the development of test automation.
The systems that have been part of the project include: Microsoft D365 FSCM, Jakamo supplier portal, integrations with other systems such as PDM, PES (production execution solution), and electronic invoicing.
In practice we have worked according to the VALA Quality Model. Meaning that we have:
- Built quality proactively, focusing on quality processes and other preventive measures instead of just testing at the end.
- Built and enhanced the clients quality focused culture together with the talented people of Normet.
- Based our work on the business needs and goals of the client.
What challenges have we managed to solve?
The client did not previously have enough resources for testing. VALA stepped in to address this challenge and made testing more comprehensive, with higher quality, and more structured.
We introduced new testing practices and processes to the customer and successfully trained the organization in those. Additionally, we have been involved in building a key user network for the customer’s various systems to represent end-users.
Business benefits we have created
We have created testing processes and trained individuals in such a way that the end-users of the client can independently perform effective testing focused directly on the most relevant aspects of their work.
As a result, we created reusable test cases, workflows, and training materials, enabling customer to train new personnel in testing procedures in the future.
“In my opinion, one thing we and Normet did well in this project was to bring quality on at an early stage. We managed to incorporate and strengthen the idea that QA is not just about testing, but about the collaboration of teams and entities to achieve a high-quality end result.”
– Juho Häyrynen, Head of Sales, VALA
Feedback for VALA experts:
“I especially like that she is always prepared for the meetings that I have with her. She also drives changes in a good and positive way and is able to see the people aspect behind the changes. She understands many things and consequences, when talking about the bigger picture.”
“She has managed the testing activities in our global template project very efficiently and proactively. She has identified risks early on, so project teams have had enough time to react to the same, to mitigate issues.”
“She is able to utilize her wide experience in testing to lead the testing of Smart365 project with a proactive approach. Successfully created practices to carry through testing in large projects.”
“She is a very pleasant colleague, clear in her communication and open for collaboration. All sorts of issues are easy to deal with her.”
