Founded in 1932, the Japanese company Sunstar is globally recognized for its oral care products, particularly under the GUM brand.
With nearly a century of history, the company has established itself as a key player in the oral health sector, as well as in diverse fields such as industrial chemical formulations. However, despite its growth, Sunstar faced a major internal challenge: traditional project management based on manual and decentralized methods. To overcome these limitations and optimize its operations, Sunstar chose to rely on Planisware Orchestra, the project portfolio management (PPM) solution developed by Planisware.
A Necessary Digital Transformation
Myriam Kramer, Senior Project Manager and PMO Lead at Sunstar, leads this transformation project with her colleague Nicolas Bonhoure. “With Planisware Orchestra, we were finally able to centralize our information, improve project visibility, and strengthen the efficiency of our processes,” she explains. Since Sunstar develops medical devices subject to strict regulations, the company needed a tool capable of structuring its projects in a smooth and secure way.
This shift to digital was crucial for Sunstar, which had been managing its projects primarily on paper and through basic tools such as Excel. This method made it difficult to align teams and coordinate critical steps.
According to Emna Hamouda, Key Account Manager at Planisware, Sunstar’s adoption of Planisware Orchestra demonstrates the flexibility of the tool.
« Planisware Orchestra can perfectly meet the diverse needs from IT governance to
product development and innovation across industries » Emna explains.
Although the implementation of Planisware Orchestra solved several key problems, it was not without challenges. Myriam recalls that when they started the project in 2021, project information was scattered, making it difficult to track and organize. The management of Sunstar’s projects, particularly those in the oral care division, therefore required a complete overhaul.
“We had an impressive amount of paper documents, and it was obvious that we could not continue like that,” she explains. Moving to a PPM system like Planisware Orchestra required preparation and adjustments to adapt to the new tool. For Myriam, it was the first time she had worked on implementing a digital solution.
Emna Hamouda emphasizes that the onboarding phase was extremely important: “We focused on building a project management culture with a PPM tool, defining key performance indicators, clarifying objectives, and training the teams.” Within three months, the tool was fully operational.
Features Tailored to Sunstar’s Needs
One of the Planisware Orchestra features that particularly attracted Sunstar is the phase-gate system, a project management method that structures validation processes at every stage of a project. For Sunstar, this feature is essential, especially in the management of medical devices, where regulatory requirements are strict and audits are frequent.
« Thanks to the phase-gate system, we have strict control over validations, ensuring that all required steps, signatures, and approvals are respected. Before, it was a race against time to obtain these validations. Today, everything is centralized in the system, which saves us valuable time. »
With the implementation of Planisware Orchestra, risks are now classified and categorized, allowing the company to better anticipate and manage potential issues. “This structure has changed the way we work. Risks are now integrated into our processes and have become standardized and accepted,” Myriam explains.
A New Organization for Resource and Time Management
The implementation of Orchestra has brought significant improvements in resource and time management.
Myriam and her team consist of only two people managing projects in the GUM division, which makes process simplification crucial. Before Planisware Orchestra, Myriam spent up to two days per month compiling project progress information in Excel. Now, thanks to automation provided by Orchestra, this task takes less than 15 seconds.
The benefits go beyond simple time savings. With better visibility over the project portfolio, Sunstar can now optimize the launch of its products on the market. “Before, it was difficult to know when a product would be ready, which sometimes caused us to miss important sales windows, especially in pharmacies,” Myriam recalls. Today, thanks to Planisware Orchestra, Sunstar meets its launch dates in more than 90% of cases, providing reliable timelines to partners and customers.
This major change has allowed Sunstar to strengthen its position in the industry and demonstrate the positive impact of digital transformation, even within a small organizational structure. Emna Hamouda adds: “Just because a company has a small structure doesn’t mean it doesn’t need a PPM tool. Sunstar has proven that structured and centralized management can make all the difference.”
The project not only improved transparency and data centralization but also demonstrated that PPM tools can be adapted and scaled to meet the specific needs of each organization.
Promising Future Prospects with Planisware Orchestra
With this transformation already well established, Sunstar does not intend to stop there. The company now plans to expand the use of Planisware Orchestra to manage new project ideas. The goal is to enable teams to submit and evaluate ideas collaboratively. Myriam also hopes that this feature will be used by employees from other departments to increase engagement across the entire organization.
Planisware is also supporting Sunstar in this expansion by adapting Orchestra to integrate new features and cover additional divisions, particularly in the United States. This extension demonstrates Sunstar’s confidence in the effectiveness of Planisware Orchestra as a driver of innovation and process optimization.
