Software Implementation

SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION

The last company that I worked for successfully implemented a supply chain management system (SCM). The organization was in the food industry and needed a SCM system to centrally manage and give visibility to the number of products that were being produced and shipped for sale in stores. This tool would allow our organization to identify trends and plan accordingly as well as gain some visibility into markets where our products were not doing so well and then make a decision on how to improve or to sell off that portion of the business.

When implementing a supply chain it is important to keep the following five areas in mind while planning for the implementation: Strategy, Process, People, Technology, and Service and Support. Strategy consists of knowledge around how your supply chain will be contributing to your overall business. You will need to decide what components are applicable to the organization and what components will be supported by senior management. Process refers to the policies and procedures the organization adheres to. Processes should be efficient and easily repeatable. People is how the organization is structured, the structure must support the changes that you are making in the supply chain. Technology refers to the applications and equipment that can make up an automated supply chain. This technology must be reliable, secure, and have the magnitude to grow with the organization and supply chain. Finally Service and Support is in relation to taking care of your supply chain solution. This could include internal or external resources to help speed the implementation of your supply chain solution or to help operate it effectively (Cisco, 2003).

The next major consideration is then around supply chain metrics. Prior to evaluating any tools that you will utilize in your supply chain you need to work with the business to identify what metrics should be utilized and will provide the results desired. Some of the keys to metrics are to keep them simple, ensure you integrate the most crucial data in the organization, and with technology today you should look at automating as much of your data collection as possible as well as alert notifications (Eric Schoeniger, 2007).

When implementing a supply chain it is important to remember that everyone wants numbers and you have to make sure you are accurately collecting the right information, information that will make a difference. With a conventional supply chain, materials start with suppliers and move to plants, then warehouses and finally make their way to stores and consumers. We needed to ensure all employees had the ability to accurately track and account for all the items in our inventory.

I believe our implementation of our SCM tool was very successful based on the fact we did our homework and were armed with this knowledge. When then went to each of the business units and defined all of their requirements based on the processes they had in place today. Once all the data was collected an extensive RFP was put together and sent out to a number of organizations to come up with a solution. The consulting firm that won the bid came in with an SAP solution that would meet all of our needs.

Once the agreement was signed the consulting firm had individual's in house working with our engineers to implement the solution they had designed. This was a lengthy project as there were numerous processes and procedures for each of the business units that had to be standardized, the bulk of the length for this to be successful was based on employee buy in. We knew it would take time for staff to get use to the new tool and be comfortable utilizing it and understanding how it benefited them and provided them everything they had in their previous processes. What enabled the success of buy in was a strong executive front and open and constant communication to the management and leaders, which then trickled down to every employee. This positive front really helped positively effect change.

Implementing the SAP solution was challenging since we did not have staff on hand with SAP experience. We relied heavily on the consulting firm and they did an excellent job training our staff as they worked with them. We also planned some additional money in the budget to bring on experienced full time staff to help support this application and were able to find the right candidates in a timely manner.

On the communication front we had a portal with all the documentation and statuses of the project that could be checked by anyone at a moments notice. We broadcasted out