Prague Airport: Thanks to mib:CLM, we manage more agendas with the same number of people

Prague Airport, a.s. has 17,000 active contracts and counting. In addition, the company added additional contract-related processes to our mib:CLM contract management solution.

In an interview with Mrs. Hana Ježková, manager of SAP Development and construction application support at Letíště Praha, a.s., we asked what made the company look for a new contract management solution and in which areas they saw the greatest progress thanks to mib:CLM.

What contract management solution did you use before mib:CLM?

We had purchased a small box solution that was originally intended purely for workflow management.

When was the turning point in which you started looking for something new?

After three or four years of operation of the original solution. More and more processes piled up on it, including exceptions from processes. It became an awfully big agenda. Service requests were constantly increasing. The user got lost somewhere, needed to edit data, accidentally sent a workflow somewhere he should not have sent it… We were overwhelmed by service requests in the IT department. In the end, two full-time people had to take care of the normal operation of the solution, and not the development. The original intention was to have one person on a part-time basis.

Have you considered other solutions besides mib:CLM?

Yes, about a year before implementing mib:CLM, we considered a solution directly from SAP, and then SAP brought us a third party with its own solution and ready-made interface. None of this suited us, either financially or from the point of view of our requirements for functionality. And coincidentally, when I stopped looking and came to terms with further investments in our original application, Mr. Vácha (the author of the mib:CLM solution) and I were discussing something else and he mentioned to me that he was preparing a new product.

What attracted you to the product?

From an ICT point of view, we needed just such a solution. At the same time, users did not want to download a document outside the system and then upload it again. A big advantage of CLM is the integrated word control. This was one of the key points with which he convinced the users and our management.

Did the implementation go smoothly?

As a concept, it ran smoothly. In addition, we have added processes that were not there originally, and which precede the conclusion of the contract – investment plans and tender procedures. In March 2018, implementation began. In September 2018 we launched investment applications, in November 2018 requirements for our central purchase and tenders, in February 2019 contracts.

Who within the company have you included in the team?

Central purchasing, lawyers, compliance department, controlling department, which deals mainly with the investment process, but also the payment system, tax and economy departments, i.e. finance.

After a year, how do you evaluate the functioning of mib:CLM?

The application is useful, good, strict in terms of process auditability. A person sees in it only what he has to approve, no one interferes, does not change the document under his hands for additional adjustments, does not add additional comments. This was happening in the previous solution, and some users missed it at first. However, once the users get used to it, and after some partial adjustments to their wishes, we have very few requests for data changes. Processors already know that they have to wait in the workflow, and that they then have plenty of options to correct their user error without IT intervention. It is better from a process point of view.

So what is the biggest benefit of mib:CLM for you?

The system is transparent for the user, they know where they are in the system, how long the process takes, comments, etc. We handle many more files and agendas with the same number of people, or with a minimal increase in capacity. The company is growing and we at mib:CLM handle many more files. In addition, we introduced a lot of new processes to mib:CLM at the beginning, which were not in the previous solution. Other teams also like the app, so they want to add more and more new processes to us, which are currently in SharePoint or email. We have a queue for new agendas and for further expansions. Another advantage is that every employee can comment with us, everyone has a SAP employee role, a license, historically already because of payroll.

Which processes did you add to the contract lifecycle management system?

For the time being, those that precede the conclusion of the contract. We have large investment projects at the airport, so we start with the investment plan, commenting on it, approving it, followed by a request for central purchase. The withdrawal of funds for investments is automatically monitored. We continue with the request for the tender procedure of the supplier and its preparation, only the actual tender procedure is carried out in EZAK, the result is returned to mib:CLM. Then a contract is prepared there. Some processes were previously handled by e-mail. As a result, the process at mib:CLM is now more complex and longer than the contract life cycle management itself.

What does mib:CLM look like for you in terms of numbers? How many contracts and users do you have in it?

We have 26,000 contracts in it, whether revenue, cost, rental, energy contracts, simply all of them. No contract other than the one in mib:CLM may be signed. We also migrated historical contracts there so that users can view them. We have contracts there from 1995 until today. There are 17,000 active contracts. There are 650 contracts in progress. We have 700 users, with the fact that in the next three years we expect an increase of 200 with the expansion of the agenda covered by mib:CLM. There are 150 processors, i.e. those who establish the contract. We use the solution in within the entire Prague Airport group, which in addition to Prague Airport also includes the subsidiaries Czech Airlines Technics and Czech Airlines Handling.

You mentioned that you have a queue for other requests. What else would you like to see included in mib:CLM?

Within mib:CLM, we have now launched the management documentation and will be launching the second phase of the management documentation, which is specifically for the airport. We call it a Safety study. Then we still have supplier evaluations in the queue, which we now run on SharePoint. Furthermore, colleagues within mib:CLM would like to address security changes, which we are now analyzing from the point of view of information security. And then there’s the management of changes within investments and, in the future, perhaps even commenting on project documentation.

Has Covid-19 changed your plans in any way?

The plans remained the same, only their implementation will be spread over time due to cost-saving measures.

Thanks for the interview.

About Airport Prague, a.s.

Prague Airport, a.s. is the operator of Václav Havel Prague International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in the Czech Republic. The company provides comprehensive management of airport services, including air traffic control, passenger and cargo handling, security services and other ancillary activities. The airport serves as a major aviation hub for Central Europe and offers direct connections to more than 160 destinations worldwide.

Prague Airport focuses on modernizing and expanding its capacities with the aim of ensuring a high standard of service and comfort for passengers. Thanks to its strategic position and constant improvement of services, it is one of the key players in the European aviation industry.

We now offer our Contract Life-Cycle Management (CLM) solution within the MDP SmartContracts module of our Mibcon Digital Platform. If you are interested in the details, please do not hesitate to contact us.