Enpro builds one consistent basisfor capital decisions with Weissr.

Walter Rockhill has been with Enpro for close to nine years. He started in global consolidation, where he was corporate administrator of the company's capex tool at the time, then spent a few years in corporate development. For the last five years he has led FP&A for Garlock and in this role he handles many Capex approval processes, and Walter knew what a better process could look like, he was asked to sponsor the search for a new tool.

Enpro was using a basic approval tool that supported yes/no approvals, while business cases were maintained separately in Excel. Project data was handled by several teams in various formats. The team sought to reduce manual data handling and create more time for strategic project discussions.

Enpro looked for more than features. With a matrix structure and multiple sites, Enpro needed a partner that could support a coordinated, phased implementation.

“We were looking for somebody that would partner with us but be patient with us and understand that we do have a lot of complexity.”

Walter also wanted a partner that would push when needed and help Enpro picture what the future could look like. He saw that in a recent product vision session with Weissr, where the conversation started from Enpro's own goals.

Enpro now runs its capex requests in Weissr Capex Management, with the business case template built into the platform. Every team evaluates investments on the same basis, which is what Weissr calls Decision Confidence: clear assumptions, structured approvals and one consistent way of working.

• One format for every request. The offline Excel template is gone. Moving from familiar spreadsheets to a shared platform took some change management, but Walter sees clear value in the consistency the centralised format provides.
• Structured fields that guide the business case. The old tool had one open text box. Now separate fields and categories ask for each topic Enpro wants covered, such as alternatives considered.
• Easier for occasional users. An engineer who submits one project every three years no longer has to ask FP&A what to include or look up the policy.

“Before, it was just one box. But we want you to talk about these eight things. Now we have eight boxes.”

The next step is centralising data and reporting, which Walter calls the low-hanging fruit. In the target state, every idea and project sits in Weissr, and Enpro, Garlock and each site can run consistent reports at their own level from the same data. That is Strategic Clarity in practice: one place where reliable capex data becomes insight at every level of the organisation.

Connecting ERP actuals is part of the ideal state. With numerous ERP systems across Enpro, the team is approaching it with care.

“We're cautious. We're not skeptical. We know that it's possible. It's just going to be complicated.”

Enpro has also hired a new team member who led the capex process at a Fortune 500 company, and who will lead the capex roadmap going forward. Capex Strategy, Weissr's module for modelling investments across the portfolio, is expected to be on that roadmap, with timing still open. It is the route to Capital Efficiency: weighing competing uses of capital across the organisation instead of project by project.

Walter sees value in Weissr's vision of the platform as the brain of the operation. Today, several people handle the same project data by hand. If Weissr takes over more of that synthesis, it would “let us be more of the strategic operators.”

Looking ahead, he sees consistent idea submission and supporting data as key to getting more value from the platform’s reporting capabilities.

“How do you let the system help you versus just check the box?”