How ABB runs over 300+ ongoing Global Projects with SmartTask

Highlights

Challenges

• Manual reporting bottlenecks: Managers spent up to two full days per week compiling reports
• Limited visibility: Leadership struggled to gain a clear, real-time view of ongoing team utilization, productivity and project progress
• Resource allocation inefficiencies: Assigning specialized engineering talent optimally was difficult without real-time data.
• Inconsistent tracking methods: Different teams and regions followed varied processes, leading to data discrepancies and a lot of time spent in compiling reports

Solution

• Standardized Project Frameworks: Pre-built templates for different project types allow teams to kick off new projects instantly with clearly defined roles, ownership, and accountability.
• Real-Time Visibility into Active Projects: The Portfolio view gives leadership a consolidated overview of all running projects, including current status, key milestones, dependencies, and overdue items.
• Smarter Time and Resource Management: Leadership gains clear insights into team utilization, project-level profitability, and available capacity, enabling more accurate planning and confident decisions for future projects.

Outcome

Within six months of SmartTask implementation, ABB Robotics achieved remarkable results:

✅ Saved 18 hours every week by eliminating manual reporting

✅ 30% improvement in resource utilization across engineering teams

✅ 24% decrease in project delivery delays

✅ 100% real-time visibility across all active projects

✅ 20% increase in operational capacity without increasing headcount

Managing 300+ Global Projects and getting valuable insights

As their project portfolio expanded across international markets, their reliance on excel for project management and time tracking became a major obstacle to efficiency and scalability.

ABB Robotics needed a scalable, structured, and intelligent project management solution to support its global operations.

The Solution: A Systematic Approach to Project Excellence

To overcome these challenges, ABB implemented SmartTask as its central work management platform. By applying the same engineering precision that defines their robotics solutions, ABB created a structured, efficient, and scalable system.

Standardized Project Framework

With SmartTask, ABB Robotics transitioned from fragmented excel workflows to a unified, organized project architecture:

• Predefined templates: Common project components are templated to enhance efficiency
• Consistent project stages: Every project follows standardized phases aligned with ABB's engineering methodology
• Clear accountability: Team roles and responsibilities are well-defined and transparent

Real-Time Portfolio Visibility

SmartTask's Portfolio View transformed ABB’s ability to oversee global projects at scale:

• Project data points: Projects are categorized by Business lines, Global service center, and by countries. These data points help the team quickly find projects they want information on
• Geographic coordination: A centralized view across international teams
• Team-based tracking: Specialized engineering teams have clear resource management insights
• Executive dashboards: Leadership gains a comprehensive, real-time view of all active projects

Intelligent Time & Resource Management

One of the most significant transformations came from SmartTask’s automated reporting and analytics:

• Live dashboards: Replaced manual reports with real-time, interactive insights
• Utilization tracking: Instant visibility into engineering team workloads and productivity at team level
• Automated cost tracking: Eliminates manual calculations of project expenses
• Predictive resource planning: Identifies bottlenecks before they impact delivery

Scaling SmartTask Across ABB

Following the Robotics Division’s success, ABB is now expanding SmartTask across the organization:

• Rolling out SmartTask to additional business units
• Enhancing analytics for deeper operational insights
• Integrating with enterprise systems for end-to-end process automation