Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

Consolidated Coca-
Wi
th
Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated Improves
the
EP
Project Cost Reporting
M
Sol
uti
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (CCBCC) is a leader in manufacturing, selling, and
on,
distributing carbonated soft drinks, bottled water, teas, juices, and energy drinks. The
we
company’s Information Systems and Services Department needed to track all of its projects in
ca
a single repository and to do more detailed cost reporting than its project management
nsolution allowed. To address this need, CCBCC deployed the Microsoft® Office Enterprise
req
Project Management (EPM) Solution, which includes Microsoft Office Project Portfolio
ues
Server 2007, Office Project Server 2007, and Office Project Professional 2007. The company
tchose Project Solutions Group for help with implementation and training. With the EPM
the
Solution, CCBCC can analyze its finances more accurately, easily comply with Sarbanes-
pre
Oxley and SOP 98-1 regulations, and better manage its resources. In addition, it has the
cis
visibility to make decisions and achieve its goals in less time.
eSituation
am
Coca-Cola
ou Bottling Co. Consolidated (CCBCC) is the second largest Coca-Cola bottler in the
United
nt States. The company is a leader in manufacturing, selling, and distributing soft drinks. It
touts one of the highest per capita soft drink consumption rates in the world and manages
of
franchise
ca territories with a consumer base of more than 18 million people. With corporate offices
in
pit Charlotte, North Carolina, the company does business in 11 states, primarily in the Southeast.
al
we
In March 2007, the company’s
ne
Information Systems and
ed
Services (ISS) Department began
Jas
fro
to look for a better way to
on
m
forecast and capture project
Ca
the
costs. The department had been
rlis
sta
using a project management software solution on which the maintenance agreement had expired,
le
rt
and CCBCC expected significant time, money, and effort to upgrade the solution. Mary
Se
of
Morabito, Information Systems and Services Project Manager at CCBCC, says, “It lacked many
nio
aof the advanced functions that we wanted, including historical cost reporting and the ability to
rpro
have multiple project baselines.”
Pr
jec
Jason Carlisle, Senior Property Accountant at CCBCC, adds, “We could not track cost elements,
op
t.
such
ert as labor and material cost, in one repository. Senior management would want details on a
Th
yproject,
is
including true cost to the company, and we would spend a lot of time and effort
gathering data from several locations.”
Ac
sol
co
Solution
ves
unt
aCCBCC considered a few project and portfolio management vendors. Ultimately, it chose the
ant
my
Microsoft®
CC Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution, which includes Microsoft
ria
Office Project Portfolio Server 2007, Microsoft Office Project Server 2007, and Microsoft Office
BC
dProject Professional 2007. Morabito says, “We’d like to simplify our software footprint to
C
of
consist primarily of SAP and Microsoft products to reduce our maintenance costs. So the EPM
pro
ble
ms
for
us.
Solution fit in with our overall strategy very well, while giving us the ability to handle our
expenses and resources efficiently.”
Be
For
ca its implementation partner, CCBCC chose Project Solutions Group, a Microsoft Gold
Certified
use Partner. Based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, the company offers project
management
the and training services to a diverse client base. Project Solutions Group provided
CCBCC
EP employees with thorough training on the EPM Solution.
M
Eventually, CCBCC will deploy the EPM Solution companywide; so far, the company uses the
Sol
solution in its ISS Department. “We use the solution for our SOP 98-1 financial accounting—for
uti
the costs of computer software developed or obtained for internal use. We use the EPM Solution
on
custom fields to allocate project expenses to either expense categories or capital categories,” says
giv
Carlisle.
es
The company also uses the EPM Solution to ensure that its license and maintenance costs are
us
captured. Morabito says, “We rely on it to track and compare estimated to actual labor and costs
cle
for training, travel expense, communications, and internal and external labor.”
ar
Office Project Server 2007 is integrated with Windows® SharePoint® Services so that users can
vis
manage
ibil documents and track risks and issues using Microsoft Office Project Web Access.
Participants
ity use SharePoint sites, known as project workspaces, to view and update project
information and manage related items such as documents. “ISS project managers use project
of
workspaces
our to check in and check out project-related documents. We also rely heavily on the
Data
pro Analysis reporting capabilities in Project Web Access.”
jec
tBenefits
wo
By using the EPM Solution,
rk
CCBCC is tracking its project
Ma
an
finances
ry more accurately. The
d
company can easily comply with
M
cos
Sarbanes-Oxley and SOP 98-1
ora
ts,
regulations
bit and better manage its resources. In addition, it has the visibility to make decisions
we
oand
ca
achieve its goals in less time.
Inf
Analyze
n Cash Flow More Accurately
or
qui
The
ma CCBCC ISS Department is seeing significant efficiencies in financial tracking. “Project
ckl
Web Access custom fields and the Data Analysis tool help us to flexibly and quickly perform
tio
ymonth-end analysis of project-related costs to ensure proper classification between capital and
nma
expense,”
Sy says Carlisle. By using custom fields that correspond to vendor name, purchase order,
ke
capital, and expense, “We can easily view the information we need by period, and know exactly
ste
de
what
ms amount to capitalize for that period. Because the EPM Solution narrows the information
cis
down to such a fine level of detail, I can more quickly prepare journal entries, and get the project
an
ion
capitalized.”
ds The Project Web Access Data Analysis tool generates financial reports using
Microsoft
Ser Office Excel® 2007 spreadsheet software. “The Office Excel reports I’m able to
in
generate from the Project Web Access Data Analysis function are very helpful,” he says.
vic
the
es
Before
co implementing the EPM Solution, “We would begin a project asking for one funding
Pr
amount,
mp and invariably we would need to go back and ask for more because we would exceed
oje
the
an budget,” says Carlisle. “It was not uncommon to go back to management and ask for more
ct
money
y’s multiple times just because project elements would change or something was left out. We
Ma
bes
na
t
ger
int
CC
ere
BC
st.
C
have almost eliminated that completely. With the EPM Solution, we can request the precise
amount of capital we need from the start of a project. This solves a myriad of problems for us.”
Comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and SOP 98-1 Regulations
By using the EPM Solution, the ISS group at CCBCC is assured of its compliance with industry-
standard accounting regulations, including Sarbanes-Oxley and SOP 98-1. So, the company is
better prepared for audits. “The EPM Solution reports are helpful throughout the year whenever
auditors want to see or test data on capital projects,” says Carlisle. “They’re able to test with
reasonable assurance that everything’s correct and that we’re not making material mistakes. With
the EPM Solution, everybody can do their due diligence more easily, making sure that we are
capitalizing what we need to capitalize and that our processes are working correctly.”
Manage Resources and Schedules More Effectively
In tandem with the implementation of the EPM Solution, the ISS Department created a project
delivery framework that consists of five gates: qualified need, define, design, build/test, and
deploy/measure. Morabito says, “Previously, we didn’t have gates. Our projects were more like
checklists than project plans—there was no consistency. When we implemented the EPM
Solution, we installed a project management office to bring some consistency and structure to
everything. The EPM Solution helps us to follow our project delivery framework faithfully, so
that all projects stay on track, and so we can address needs or questions immediately.” Based on
the number of hours people spend on tasks, says Morabito, “Resource managers can see whether
they have the right spread of resources, and they can take decisive and informed action by seeing
where people are spending their time.”
Make Timelier Decisions
The solution helps the CCBCC ISS Department to make more timely and informed decisions
about its assets. “Because the EPM Solution gives us clear visibility of our project work and
costs, we can quickly make decisions in the company’s best interest,” says Morabito.
Achieve Goals in Less Time
CCBCC is saving significant time by using Project Web Access workspaces to manage and
exchange documents. “We want one location to hold all project deliverables, including the
schedule and all of its required documents, and Project Web Access provides that,” says
Morabito. “It’s very efficient to have the documents centrally located and to move away from e-
mail, network drives, and hard drives.”
Carlisle adds, “The Microsoft EPM Solution gave us the centralized solution that we wanted
very quickly. Compared with our previous solution, it saves us many hours of work effort each
month.” For example, because the company didn’t have the custom fields it needed, Carlisle
would spend hours on the phone chasing down the information that he needed for month end
reporting. “Now I can make decisions and move through the day a lot faster. Where I used to
spend the better part of a week trying to close monthly capital for projects, with the EPM
Solution I can do it in an afternoon. And that’s a comfortable afternoon.”
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales
Information Center at (800) 426-9400 . In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information
Centre at (877) 568-2495 . Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text
telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in
Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft
subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/
For more information about Project Solutions Group products and services, call (866) 691-1963
or visit the Web site at:
http://www.psgus.com/
For more information about Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated products and services, call
(704) 557-4100 or visit the Web site at:
http://www.cokeconsolidated.com/
Microsoft Office System
Microsoft Office is the business world's chosen environment for information work that
provides the software, servers, and services that help you succeed by transforming information
into impact.
For more information about the Microsoft Office EPM Solution, go to:
www.office.microsoft.com/epmsolution
For more information about Microsoft Office System, go to:
www.microsoft.com/office
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published April 2009
Solution Overview

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Cola_EPMSolution_Final.doc

Organization Size: 6200 employees

Organization Profile
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated makes, sells,
and delivers carbonated and noncarbonated beverages, primarily products of the Coca-Cola
Company.

Business Situation
The company’s Information Systems and Services Department lacked a centralized solution with
which to easily and comprehensively track current and historical project costs.

Solution
CCBCC deployed the Microsoft® Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution with
the help of Project Solutions Group.

Benefits
• Analyze cash flow more accurately
• Comply easily with Sarbanes-Oxley and SOP 98-1 regulations
• Manage resources more efficiently
• Make timelier decisions
• Achieve goals in less time

Software and Services

• Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007
• Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server
• Microsoft Office Project Web Access
• Microsoft Project Resource Management

Vertical Industries
Consumer Goods Manufacturing

Country/Region
United States

Business Need
• Collaboration
• Enterprise Project Management

Partner(s)
Project Solutions Group

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