Retail chain Stockmann has reformed its strategy and strengthened the group's long-term competitiveness. In recent years, NIS has supported the company in various financial projects. When the collaboration began, the main goal was to harmonize financial processes and establish a long-term rolling forecast.

"We have collaborated extensively, helping with daily work and reorganization, as well as developing and following up on forecast models. Stockmann has been in the midst of a transformation in many ways, and we have been involved in the development of their financial models," says Jussi Loponen from NIS.

A central part of this financial transformation was the Anaplan project, where NIS had the role of project manager. Anaplan is a cloud-based planning tool that provides data for decision-making. The project started after Stockmann had identified the need for more flexible and transparent financial planning.

Therefore, an external project manager became an effective solution in this case. Our NIS consultant, Laura Nilsson, started as part of the business controlling team for the first six months and then continued as a project manager, responsible for project planning, status monitoring, system rollout and handover of the system to around 100 new users.

"From our perspective, the biggest advantage of choosing Laura as project manager was that she already understood the existing processes and could use this knowledge in the design and implementation phases. We did not need to make major changes to the functions or processes, but rather consolidate them into one platform to get a holistic view," says Andres Alango from Stockmann.

"Stockmann has a fantastic company culture, and it has been fun to work in an organization that is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year. Even though the company is quite mature, it has been exciting to see the enthusiasm and curiosity for new technology among the employees," says Laura Nilsson from NIS.

Overall, Stockmann has been very satisfied with the collaboration with NIS. "We particularly appreciate the clear and systematic approach and consistent communication, which allowed us to stay informed about the project's progress, challenges and costs," says Andres Alango from Stockmann.

In the future, Stockmann will be able to develop the system internally and update the forecast modules as the business develops.

As a result of the effective cooperation, NIS has continued to support the finance team at Stockmann. We hope that our great partnership will continue in the future!