Aarhus Letbane: “By giving our IPW system an identity, ALIS became the whole organization’s little baby.”

Challenge
For years, we struggled with a system that wasn’t designed for management. It was outdated and difficult to navigate, and many found shortcuts by saving old templates — essentially working outside the system. At the same time, as an infrastructure manager we must comply with Danish Regulation 712, which sets very detailed requirements for safety documentation — far more extensive than those in ISO 9001. The result was frustration and low user involvement. We knew that if a new system was going to succeed, we needed users on board from the very beginning.

Solution
When we brought in IPW, we put user-friendliness at the center. We decided the system should have its own name, so we launched a naming contest where colleagues could submit suggestions. We landed on ALIS (Aarhus Letbane Integrated Management System) — a simple, personal name people quickly adopted.

We introduced the structure early at all-staff meetings and invited input so everyone felt heard. The entire organization completed basic training: everyone received a login, tested the system in a sandbox environment, and learned the most important forms. Document owners received extended training, where they could try the features in a realistic environment — but without risk. It created ownership and helped ALIS — essentially IPW — become our system.

Result
On September 1st, we launched ALIS as a shared milestone — or  "due date", as we jokingly called it — with flags, cake, and confetti. From day one, the system was met with enthusiasm because everyone had already had their hands on it.
We’ve now brought our entire safety management system into IPW and plan to expand into additional areas like quality, occupational health and safety, and electrical operations.

In the nearly two years we’ve been running this project, we haven’t received a single complaint. It feels like a huge success — and a clear sign that we’ve succeeded in creating real ownership. Our approach to onboarding made all the difference.