MMK improves the budgeting system using IBM solutions

PJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works expands its capabilities in the field of analytics and budgeting. Together with GMCS, an IBM business partner, the company has successfully implemented a new budgeting system based on IBM Planning Analytics, which is used by more than 400 users.

The strategic project goal is to unite into a single budgeting environment the large companies of the MMK Group in order to significantly reduce the planning time and implement instant recalculations of budgets in order to optimize them taking into account the volatility of raw materials and metal products markets.

The project began in 2019, and in the 4th quarter of 2020 the system was put into commercial operation. The system implements a complete budgeting contour, integration with an ERP system based on Oracle and a system for optimizing production and economic planning. At present, the system covers the budgetary processes of practically all large companies of the MMK Group. 

IBM Planning Analytics, powered by TM1®, is an integrated planning solution with artificial intelligence, automation, and predictive capabilities that enables enterprises to quickly, easily, and more accurately create plans for financial operations, sales, supply chain, and more. By the efforts of the joint project team of MMK and GMCS, when choosing and using IBM Planning Analytics as a new solution, the budgeting system's functionality was significantly expanded and the number of its users increased.

“MMK is constantly improving the efficiency of management decisions, developing and improving business processes, and extending high corporate planning and analytics standards to all companies in the Group. Improving the budgeting system is another step in this direction. The transition to the use of IBM solutions made it possible not only to optimize and unify budget planning processes but also to increase their transparency and make them more controllable by integrating all processes on the basis of a single IT platform,” commented Andrey Eremin, Director of Economics at MMK. 

The completed project is the next step in the development of analytical applications based on IBM Planning Analytics solutions at MMK. In 2015, with the participation of GMCS, financial planning, and consolidation systems in accordance with IFRS based on IBM Planning Analytics and a system for automating the collection of actual reporting in accordance with IFRS based on IBM Cognos Controller were created.

“Despite the difficulties of this year, when most of the work on the project was carried out remotely, we were able to implement the project on time. This became possible thanks to the exceptionally high culture of project management adopted at the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works and the highest professionalism of the project team,” said Bela Temirkanova, Project Curator at GMCS.