Capital investments maintain and enhance business opportunities. Depending on the size and nature of the business, a significant amount of money is committed to investments on an annual basis, ranging from millions to hundreds of millions of euros. As the capital expenditure costs increase, a challenge may arise in maintaining a real-time view and control of the investments: what investments are ongoing and upcoming, and on what schedule and budget?
The challenge: Attaining transparency in the investment portfolio
“We used to manage our investment process manually with forms and Excel,” says Jyri Mahonen, Senior Controller at VR Group. “We lacked comprehensive visibility into the entire investment process. Information about the status of investments sometimes had to be sought, dug up, and inquired about. We identified the need for a solution that would give us more control, visibility, and efficiency in the entire VR Group investment process,” Mahonen describes.
“Through an automated approval chain, active monitoring, and transparency, we aimed to bring better structure to the entire investment process.” Jyri Mahonen, Senior Controller, VR Group
“Our goal was to have an easy-to-use platform that supports VR’s capital investment process throughout the entire investment lifecycle, from the idea to the final report and post-calculation. Through an automated approval chain, active monitoring, and transparency, we aimed to bring better structure to the entire investment process,” Mahonen continues.
SC Software delivered the Vinha Capital Investment Management Solution to VR Group in 2015, and the solution now serves as a tool for over 200 users across the organization. The use of Vinha is also expanding to VR Group’s operations in Sweden.
Clear insight to capital investments achieved with Vinha
With Vinha, the entire capital investment lifecycle can be managed from the idea to the completed investment. In addition to actualization data, budget and forecast scenarios offer a portfolio-like view of ongoing and future investments.
According to Mahonen, VR Group has achieved the goals of clarifying the investment process with Vinha. The achieved benefits include improved process efficiency through the system’s user-friendliness, information accessibility, and real-time monitoring. Another advantage is that the Business Cases, investment calculations, and other investment-related documents can be easily attached to the existing investment information.
