Optimizing Philips' Global Planning Tool

The Client

Philips is a multinational multi-industry company based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It has a rich history, founded way back in 1891, nowadays with three main divisions: Personal Health, Connected Care, and Diagnosis & Treatment.

Melon first started working with Philips in 2002, when we developed a web-based financial planning, controlling, and forecasting system for the branches in Central and Eastern Europe. Gradually, it was onboarded to almost all markets. It facilitates planning revenues and expenses, and creating forecasts. Since then, Philips has trusted Melon with building two more planning systems and their subsequent support. 

The Project

The Global A&P tool, developed for Philips back in 2014, has been an integral part of their planning ever since. It implements a standardized established planning workflow. Originally, it relied heavily on the Microsoft Office Web Components (OWC), which is now discontinued. Because of the use of OWC, users had to access the tool through Internet Explorer, a browser which is also nearing the end of its life. 

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To replace the discontinued component and improve the user experience, in 2020 we began the development of a new version of the tool. It includes a complete redesign of the user interface, as well as many under-the-hood optimizations to reduce loading times and allow for the use of any other browser to access it. The new component for the planning sheets is AG Grid. It offers a large features set, high performance, and a customizable design, suitable for the Global A&P tool.

Melon has been providing continuous support since the implementation of the system, and frequently assisting with monthly planning operations and the data flow between the tools used by Philips.

The Goal

The new system will ensure that all markets will follow a central standard process, reliable and optimized to enhance the planning capacities of the respective markets and their advertising costs. The upgrade will allow the use of any user-preferred browser, increase the speed of the tool and minimize the loading times. And most importantly, it will ensure way more positive user experience for all.

Reach

Our goal is to cater to all of Philips’ markets by providing them with the necessary support and ensuring that the functionalities in the tool correspond to the different needs of the markets. For this reason, Melon plays a part in the clear understanding of the markets’ planning process and requirements. This eases the implementation of future enhancements across the globally used tool.

Results

The end result is a system which is:

• More intuitive than the previous version;

• Optimized and loads faster;

• With modern UI to match Philips’ color scheme;

• Accessible from all modern browsers;

• Easier to maintain and support.