In 2024, CIRA (Italian Aerospace Research Centre), in collaboration with Board, developed an information system called SPICO (Integrated Planning and Control System), capable of integrating data from various sources and supporting both strategic and operational planning. The new system introduced a unified approach to project management, simplifying decision-making processes, automating numerous activities, and enabling the creation of reliable what-if scenarios.
One year after its implementation, Board’s planning platform manages over 250 projects throughout their entire lifecycle—from proposal to closure—and involves more than 120 users. It offers CIRA innovative features for performance analysis and the development of multi-year financial plans.
Further developments of the SPICO system are planned for the future, aiming to continuously improve its functionalities and support the business in strategic corporate processes.
The Challenge: Growing Project and Data Demands
CIRA, the Italian Aerospace Research Centre, is a publicly owned company established in 1984 to conduct research in the aeronautics and space sectors. It is based in Capua, Campania, and its shareholders include public entities such as the National Research Council and the Campania Region, as well as aerospace industries and SMEs. CIRA currently employs 459 people and possesses the largest set of aerospace research infrastructures in Italy.
In 1989, the Italian Government entrusted CIRA with the implementation and management of the National Aerospace Research Program (PRO.R.A.), aimed at supporting the competitiveness of the national aerospace community through the management of strategic testing facilities, the development of research programs, and the dissemination of scientific expertise.
With a particularly complex internal organization and a growing number of projects, resources, and facilities to manage, traditional systems were no longer sufficient for CIRA to efficiently cover all phases—from multi-year financial planning to monthly reporting—nor to easily integrate existing data sources. A new working method was needed to make daily activities and decision-making processes more efficient, supported by an integrated and dynamic system for planning, monitoring, and reporting.
The Solution: One System, Total Insight
To achieve this goal, CIRA initiated a collaboration with Board to develop an information system capable of interacting with other management systems, integrating strategic and operational planning processes at both corporate and operational unit levels, including project teams, management control, performance monitoring, and business analysis.
The new system was designed to facilitate project management through an always-open process and a dual top-down and bottom-up approach. It also needed to offer capacity planning functionalities, providing advanced tools for resource and facility analysis, with automatic alerts for threshold breaches.
Within the same platform, it had to be possible to carry out reporting and contract management activities, fostering collaboration between project managers and administration, as well as to develop what-if scenarios and multi-year financial plans. To encourage adoption within the research center, a clear interface reflecting CIRA’s corporate identity was also essential.
The Benefit: Smarter Decisions, Faster Results
The Integrated Planning and Control System (SPICO), launched in 2024 through the collaboration with Board, fully met expectations. The new cloud-based platform, protected by SSO and MFA security systems, perfectly integrates existing data sources and now serves as the reference point for CIRA’s strategic and operational planning.
Thanks to Board, CIRA has achieved tangible benefits across all strategic and operational areas. Today, about a year after the project’s launch, the system manages over 300 projects and 50 facilities, involving more than 120 users. Automation of key processes and a highly intuitive interface have simplified the approval workflow and accelerated profitability analysis and control processes.
Moreover, the ability to develop reliable what-if scenarios allows CIRA to define highly accurate multi-year financial plans. In just a few months, CIRA has completely transformed its approach to planning, reporting, and project management by adopting a single integrated platform.
The launch of the SPICO project marks only the beginning of CIRA’s digital evolution. The organization has already identified potential future enhancements to further extend the functionalities of the Board platform. CIRA aims to improve planning activities by developing a driver-based cost and revenue planning system.
The aerospace research center also plans to use Board for other types of analysis related to increasingly strategic processes. Among the future developments on the roadmap, a key role is played by the implementation of guided rescheduling functionalities and the automatic reallocation of planned hours based on resource and facility capacity.
In about a year, the implementation of Board has laid the foundation for a continuous improvement journey that will support CIRA in its role as Italy’s leading aerospace research organization.
