Process
How implementing Linetrack works
- Staged rollout
- Starts in project management
- No disruption to daily work
In short
Implementing Linetrack runs in eleven steps across three phases: Clarify before the decision (initial consultation, follow-up consultation, testing, proposal), Set up through go-live (rollout concept, system setup, migration of existing plans, onboarding), and Establish after go-live (support and staged expansion, interface development, impact review). The rollout happens in stages: project management first, then the departments one after another, without interrupting ongoing work. It takes just ten working days from kick-off to go-live, after which the first training sessions start.
Rollout
Rolled out in stages, without downtime
Linetrack is not switched on for everyone on a single cut-over date. We start softly in project management, because that is where the schedules come together. The departments keep working as usual in the meantime.
The departments then join one after another, each with its own training and only once the previous stage is running smoothly. Your ongoing work is never interrupted.
Why no big bang? In Linetrack, project management and the departments work on the same plan. If everyone switches over on the same day, everyone is learning at once, and coordination between the areas breaks down exactly when it is needed most.
works in Linetrack works as before
Stage 1
Start in project management
The ongoing projects are planned in Linetrack. Dates still reach the departments through the usual channels.
- works in Linetrack: Project management
- works as before: Engineering
- works as before: Production
- works as before: Purchasing
- works as before: Assembly
- works as before: Project team members
Stage 2
The first departments join
The areas with the most coordination plan their capacity in the same system as project management.
- works in Linetrack: Project management
- works in Linetrack: Engineering
- works in Linetrack: Production
- works as before: Purchasing
- works as before: Assembly
- works as before: Project team members
Stage 3
All departments on one plan
The remaining departments follow. An Excel list is only retired once its area is working reliably in the system.
- works in Linetrack: Project management
- works in Linetrack: Engineering
- works in Linetrack: Production
- works in Linetrack: Purchasing
- works in Linetrack: Assembly
- works as before: Project team members
Stage 4
Project team members in task management
Finally, the project team members join. They see their tasks in task management and report progress directly in the system instead of by email or word of mouth.
- works in Linetrack: Project management
- works in Linetrack: Engineering
- works in Linetrack: Production
- works in Linetrack: Purchasing
- works in Linetrack: Assembly
- works in Linetrack: Project team members
Example sequence. Which department joins when is set together in the rollout concept.
The steps
Eleven steps across three phases
Phase A
Clarify — before the decision
Initial consultation
An introduction based on real situations rather than a feature list, together with an analysis of the existing setup: which lists, tools, and Excel files are in use today, who maintains them, and where schedules and capacity are running separately from one another.
ResultHonest baseline assessment and a picture of the gaps
Follow-up consultation
The target state: project structure, the departments involved, roles, planning depth, and the modules you actually need.
ResultAgreed target state, scope, and effort range
Testing
Before the decision you get Linetrack into your own hands, together with the future user group and against your own planning questions. Testing is free of charge and part of the initial engagement. The people who will work with it later have used the system beforehand.
ResultDecision-makers and users know what they are committing to
Proposal and decision
Binding license scope and service packages, along with a schedule and named points of contact on both sides.
ResultSignature and a project start with a clear framework
Phase B
Set up — through to go-live
Rollout concept
We align the implementation with your processes so that Linetrack becomes part of the existing workflows rather than another island next to them. That covers the ground rules of planning (how deep planning goes, who is allowed to move dates, which capacities are binding) and the order in which the departments join after project management.
ResultAgreed stage plan and planning logic for the system to build on
System setup
Configuration of the environment according to the defined logic: project structures, departments, roles and permissions, calendars and capacities.
ResultWorking environment that fits your processes
Migration of existing plans
Transfer of the ongoing projects from Excel and MS Project, a structural review, and adjustment to the agreed planning logic. The errors that become visible in the old plans along the way are part of the result.
ResultReal project status in the system instead of re-entering everything
Onboarding and go-live
Go-live starts in project management: it plans the ongoing projects in the system while the departments keep working as before. Each group gets role-based training covering what it needs day to day, at the point when its turn comes in the stage plan.
ResultProject management planning live in the system, with no work standing still
Phase C
Establish — after go-live
Support and staged expansion
A dedicated point of contact, short regular meetings, and adjustments during live operation. In this phase the departments join according to the stage plan, each one only once the previous one is working reliably in the system.
ResultDepartment by department in the system, with no parallel planning in Excel
Interface development
Live connection to ERP systems, to time tracking (AIDA, Finkzeit, OptiTime), imports from MS Project, Primavera, Excel and SAP, as well as a REST API. This can run in parallel and is not a prerequisite for the start.
ResultContinuous data foundation without duplicate entry
Impact review
After about three months, a comparison against the baseline from step 1: how many lists have been replaced? How has schedule adherence developed? Where is planning still happening on the side?
ResultDocumented impact and a basis for the next expansion stage
Duration
How long this takes
How long clarifying takes depends on your calendars. Setting up is done after ten working days, and the departments then join step by step.
- Phase A – Clarify
- 1–3 weeksDepends on how quickly meetings with everyone involved can be arranged.
- Phase B – Set up
- 10 working daysFrom kick-off to go-live: set up the system, transfer the running plans, start the first training sessions.
- Phase C – Establish
- ongoingDepartments join according to the stage plan, impact review after around three months.
From kick-off to go-live: 10 WD
*From a full survey of all live Linetrack implementations, as of August 2026.
Costs
What this costs
You only pay for what you actually use. Every user gets a base license, and modules are added per user. Someone who only reports back on tasks does not need full planning access and costs correspondingly less. The license starts at EUR 10 per user per month.
Testing before the decision is free of charge. Rollout concept, system setup, onboarding and migration of existing plans are not included in the license fee; they are available individually and are priced according to scope. Interfaces that already exist are simply connected, with no new development needed – effort only arises where your data differs from what has been implemented so far. Which steps make sense emerges from the initial consultation.
License per user
- Resource management
- Multi-project management
- Project planning
- Base license
Project management
- Resource management
- Base license
Department head
- Task management
- Base license
Team members
Effort
Who does what
| Step | Linetrack | Your team |
|---|---|---|
| Initial consultation | Running the conversation and analyzing the existing setup | Participation of project management and the department, overview of the lists in use |
| Follow-up consultation | Structuring the target state, scope and effort range | Decision on planning depth and the areas involved |
| Testing | Access, preparation and support, free of charge | Participation of the future user group |
| Proposal and decision | Proposal, schedule, points of contact | Sign-off and naming of a responsible person |
| Rollout concept | Alignment with your processes, stage plan for the departments | Information on how the processes actually run, decision on responsibilities and sequence |
| System setup | Full configuration of the environment | Department structure, roles and capacity per area |
| Migration of existing plans | Import, structural review, adjustment | Providing the ongoing plans from Excel and MS Project |
| Onboarding and go-live | Role-based training, start in project management | Participation of project management, later the departments |
| Support and staged expansion | Dedicated point of contact, training per department, fine-tuning | Feedback from operation, sign-off for the next stage |
| Interface development | Development and connection | IT contact for the integration |
| Impact review | Evaluation against the baseline | Participation and assessment from the areas involved |
Experience
What happens when steps are skipped
Not every step is necessary for every company. With these three, though, the consequences of skipping them are the clearest.
Without a rollout concept
If Linetrack is placed next to the existing workflows instead of into them, it becomes another island: one more tool to maintain while the real coordination still runs through Excel and word of mouth. Unresolved planning rules do not disappear either. If nobody has decided who is allowed to move dates, everyone decides that for themselves, only now it is documented.
Without testing
Anyone who has not used the system themselves before the decision keeps their own list going, just in case. The Excel file stays in parallel use, and so there are still two versions of the truth.
Without plan migration
A system holding sample data is a demo, not a working tool. As long as the ongoing projects are not in it, nobody is working on the real status – and the implementation quietly slips to the next project.
Context
Why this is not an ERP project
An ERP system is built for controlling and order processing, not for operational scheduling and capacity planning. Its project module therefore covers one slice, and detailed planning moves back into Excel anyway.
Implementing Linetrack starts alongside that, not inside it. Planning begins with the first migrated project list, and it does so without any interface having to be in place. The connection to ERP and time tracking comes afterwards and improves planning that is already running by that point.
So you do not have to choose between an ERP project and planning transparency. Linetrack does not replace an ERP system and is not meant to: it connects project planning, department planning, ERP and time tracking into one shared data foundation.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about implementation
Still have questions about the process?
In the initial consultation we work out which steps make sense in your situation.