Ole H.-Manager Post Merger Integration, AI & IT Transformation

The client operates a SaaS platform for managing rail and intermodal transport (Rail-Flow Transport Management Platform).

For two of its customers, it was looking for a 3-month project management replacement. Both customers offer rail and intermodal transport services. Implementation progress differs: one customer is already live and wanted its Phase 2 enhancements implemented; the other customer is implementing its MVP and entering an intensive testing phase.

As part of the assignment, project management was taken over, including management of the internal development team (offshore Turkey).

• Took over complete project management for 2 customer projects, including the roles of Product Owner and Co-Scrum Master
• Managed agile implementation teams consisting of business analysts, implementation consultants, developers (offshore) and QA staff
• Ensured compliance with and further development of project governance
• Planning and rollout management: creation and maintenance of project and rollout plans as well as coordination of role assignments with the client’s management
• Requirements and change management: management of contractual requirements, bugs and changes
• Customer and project communication: organization and moderation of status meetings and steering committees
• Identification of project risks, initiation of countermeasures and escalation
• Ensured correct and timely invoicing for project services together with Finance

Methods: Scheduling (forward- and backward-based), including milestone planning, structured interviews, multi-project management (in English)

Tools / Technologies: Jira, Confluence / Atlas, Claude (Skills, Artifacts), MS Outlook

• Supported the team in the Scheduling Optimization area of the newly established Digital Hub to anchor the digitalization strategy.
• Identified, documented and created transparency across the group’s entire IT application landscape in the area of scheduling.
• Conducted and documented market research on scheduling applications.
• Analyzed the existing Application Compass and created a sub-list of scheduling applications.
• Identified contacts and planned and conducted interviews with 5 Lead IT Architects per business unit.
• Planned and conducted approximately 40 interviews with the identified application owners according to priority.
• Technically evaluated the interviews and prepared a management presentation.
• Analyzed existing infrastructure data and created logically structured documentation of results.
• Methods: Analysis of existing infrastructure data, structured interviews, logically structured documentation of results, multinational project management.
• Tools / Technologies: MS Office, MS Outlook.

The 4JET Group (Alsdorf) acquired Corning Laser Technologies GmbH (Krailing) at the end of 2024. As head of the PMI (Post-Merger Integration) project, I manage all workstreams, advise on the design of the target organization, and actively lead the IT workstream (including CutOver) and change management.

• Managed the PMI project following 4JET Group’s acquisition of Corning Laser Technologies GmbH.
• Managed the entire post-merger integration (full integration).
• Managed all workstreams, advised on the design of the target organization and actively led the IT workstream, including CutOver and change management.
• Supported negotiations with the works council and the preparation of a reconciliation of interests and social compensation plan.
• Responsible for the focus area of IT applications, including analysis of the IT landscape after the acquisition and selection and implementation of core systems.
• Created an integration plan defining integration priorities.
• Identified, implemented and monitored cost savings and efficiency gains.
• Captured and analyzed the IT landscape and derived implementation proposals for the integration.
• Managed the IT CutOver.
• Ensured a smooth transition without impacting ongoing business.
• Ensured clear and transparent communication with employees and managers and managed resistance and cultural challenges.
• Identified and managed risks.

Methods: Multinational project management, structured interviews, planning and conducting workshops, Target Operating Model (TOM), PMI frameworks, roadmap and milestone planning, business process mapping, analysis of the IT landscape (focus on software), including data mapping, change management according to Kübler-Ross and Kotter, stakeholder management (up to C-level), decision papers (up to C-level).

Tools / Technologies: MS Office, MS Outlook.

• Support for the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations as part of the group-wide IT strategy.
• Responsibility for planning, execution and documentation in the areas of training, support, migration and testing.
• Execution of system tests and reporting of results to the implementation partner.
• Support for change management throughout all project phases.
• Introduction of a Community of Practice, provision of learning materials and establishment of a support structure.
• Familiarization with customer-specific adaptations and configuration of the D365 installation.
• Detailed planning of task areas while taking the overall project plan into account.
• Conducting key user training sessions and workshops, as well as creating training videos.
• Support in creating test cases, as well as managing and supporting the test phases (module and overall integration).
• ERP service provider management.
• Methods: Multinational project management, sub-project initiation, training planning, training delivery, training videos, customized workshop modules, test planning, test documentation, migration planning, consulting on tailored ITIL, stakeholder management (up to C-level), decision papers (up to C-level).
• Technologies: MS Dynamics 365 (F&O), MS Teams, MS Office, MS Sharepoint, MS Outlook.

• Operational project management and leadership of the Project Office during the post-merger integration of Exploris Holding Deutschland GmbH.
• Consulting in the areas of production, human resources and IT to support the integration of the new company.
• Initial project setup and in-depth analysis of the departments on the buyer and seller sides.
• Assessment of integration readiness following a reorganization and detailed analysis of the new company's operations.
• Stakeholder management at all levels, from clerks to the Management Board, including consideration of the Italian owner.
• Establishment of the project organization, including regular meetings, project plan and reporting.
• Definition and coordination of work packages, as well as delimitation of the scope of work.
• Analysis of structures, processes and costs through interview series and workshops in the areas of production, IT and human resources.
• Hypothesis-based work to develop revenue, efficiency and cost targets.
• Development of a target organization and coordination with C-level.
• Methods: Multinational project management, individual interviews, project initiation, analysis workshops, IT requirements catalog, process mapping workshops, process interviews, process documentation, workshop planning and delivery, stakeholder management (up to C-level), decision papers (up to C-level).
• Technologies: MS Teams, MS Office.

• Operationalization of the new strategic direction in the IT department of a large automotive OEM.
• Support for an outsourcing project for the management of user hardware and software by an external service provider.
• Mapping of current tasks against the IT strategy to identify core and peripheral tasks.
• Presentation of tasks by team, including resource planning.
• Preparation, facilitation, and documentation of workshops with team leads to align on the task mapping.
• Structured preparation of data using MS Powerpoint and MS Excel.
• Use of storytelling, pyramid principle presentations, and facilitation techniques.
• Methods: Requirements gathering, structured preparation of data using MS Powerpoint and MS Excel, storytelling and pyramid principle presentations, workshop facilitation.
• Technologies: MS Teams, MS Office, MS Project.

• Complete digitization of merchandise management and connection to an online shop system for a newly founded retailer.
• Planning and implementation of merchandise management, including migration and labeling.
• Connecting the point-of-sale system to merchandise management.
• Creating an initial process map and setting up a partially automated reporting system for accounting.
• Setting up the online shop system and connecting it to merchandise management, including customization via coding.
• Connecting to a logistics service provider.
• Planning and piloting an e-commerce marketing campaign and conducting customer training.
• Use of rapid prototyping and coding in Liquid/CSS/HTML.
• Methods: Requirements gathering, structured interviews, rapid prototyping, coding in Liquid/CSS/HTML.
• Technologies: Shopify, Zettle, Pipedream.com, Meta Marketing Manager, Google Ads, MS Teams, MS Office.

• Equipping the long-distance fleet with a powerful, manufacturer-independent comfort IT infrastructure.
• Defining the IT infrastructure for the operator area network, including piloting and rollout for each train class.
• Supporting the development of customer-specific software for the central computing unit.
• Checking the cabling and commissioning display systems on the trains using test routines.
• Planning and carrying out agile project management according to Scrum and SAFe.
• Documenting the product roadmap in Confluence.
• Developing and aligning the concept with stakeholders during a reorganization.
• Preparing reports in Jira, as well as allocating budgets and drafting contracts.
• Aligning business requirements with the technical Product Owner.
• Creating the implementation plan, including schedules while staying within budget.
• Accepting delivery artifacts and supporting test planning.
• Methods: Traditional project management including roadmap creation, agile project management: Scrum & SAFe, change management including stakeholder management, budget planning, conducting interviews.
• Technologies: Jira, Confluence, MS Teams, MS Office.

• Introduction of project management standards for a growing organization with approximately 30 consultants.
• Collection, documentation, and revision of existing artifacts such as tool templates and processes.
• Conducting workshops and interviews to identify relevant PM artifacts according to Prince2 and PMP standards.
• Definition of project phases and introduction of quality gates to standardize the level of quality.
• Design of quality criteria and approval processes.
• Process analysis and documentation according to BPMN 2.0.
• Conducting rapid prototyping and Proof of Concepts (POCs) via cplace.
• Organization-wide communication of project management updates.
• Methods: IT project management, PMP & Prince2, Scrum, structured interviews & workshops for requirements management, prioritization of requirements based on criteria, process analysis and documentation according to BPMN 2.0, rapid prototyping and POCs via cplace.
• Technologies: cplace, Slack, Zoom, MS Office.

• Management of the rollout team in the Northern regional area for the Standardization of Maintenance Processes project.
• Transformation of all operational employees into a new process and IT landscape with a focus on transparency and efficiency.
• Functional management of the operational project team, including qualification, resource planning, and employee discussions.
• Planning and conducting change workshops for operational managers.
• Implementation and review of the milestone plan using the waterfall model.
• Quality assurance of training content for process, IT, and change formats.
• Regional stakeholder management and feedback to central management.
• Methods: Rollout management, project management, change management including stakeholder management, Trainings+, stakeholder analysis.
• Technologies: Jira and Confluence, MS Office, SAP R3 and 2 frontend applications, customer app (Android), WebEx conference call.

• Project management, change management and process management in the Northern and Southern regional areas for the introduction of digital order management in facility management.
• Ensuring that new processes and KPIs are followed by operational employees.
• Gathering constructive feedback in expert groups and communicating it to central project management.
• Conducting expert workshops to narrow down problems and develop suggestions for improvement.
• Developing hypotheses to optimize the rollout situation.
• Preparing decision-making and implementation documents for overall project meetings.
• Methods: Rollout management, project management, change management including stakeholder management, stakeholder management (up to C-level), decision-making documents (up to C-level).
• Technologies: WebEx, MS Office.

• Analyzing an extensive facility management contract to identify cost optimization potential.
• Identifying approximately 24 potential savings measures based on best-practice approaches.
• Detailing and validating the 4 most promising measures together with the service provider.
• Developing implementation plans and piloting the concepts in a regional area.
• Business analysis in billing and stakeholder management between specialist departments and contractors.
• Presenting the agreed concepts at executive board level.
• Creating profiles for all relevant measures and high-level concepts for the top 5.
• Methods: Business analysis in billing, project management, piloting, change management, stakeholder management (up to C-level), decision-making documents (up to C-level).
• Technologies: MS Office.

• Project coordination and documentation in preparation for negotiations on the performance and financing agreement (LuFV 2).
• Verifying the number of assets of all infrastructure companies through database queries (MS Access) and expert surveys.
• Developing a standardized calculation logic for the future funding requirements of the infrastructure companies.
• Validating and restructuring the calculation logic in workshops.
• Supporting the development and assessment of negotiation strategies.
• Merging raw data to create a valid data basis.
• Methods: Data collection using MS Access & MS Excel, project coordination, expert interviews, workshops, stakeholder management (up to C-level), decision-making documents (up to C-level).
• Technologies: MS Access, MS Office.

• Process development and implementation for the new UDS/ODX diagnostic technology in emission-relevant control units.
• Coordination of technical innovations with control unit manufacturers and adaptation of internal development processes.
• Support for communication between internal departments of different brands and external suppliers.
• Representation of the development department on the ChangeControlBoard.
• Introduction of new work processes in vehicle projects and training of those involved.
• Creation of the necessary process artifacts to support the line organization.
• Testing and acceptance of the delivered files directly on the test vehicle.
• Modeling and presentation of work processes using swimlanes.
• Technologies: MS Office, MS Project.