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Strategic ERP Implementation
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Lean Manufacturing, Basics, Principles, Techniques
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Effective Training Is Needed at All Levels The first priority of key project people is to be familiar with the overall principles of ERP and the applications in their specific areas, so that they can demonstrate the system and train others, as well as effectively determine implementation approach (with consulting help), priorities, etc. Next, IT people need to be ready to perform technical work and ongoing support. Project leaders/middle management need to understand the big picture and how their own areas will work and interface with other areas. Executives need to understand the big picture, what systems can and can't do, and what the priorities and tradeoffs are. Finally, end users need to be as comfortable as possible with their new tools BEFORE going live. It became apparent two months before implementation that additional training was needed for effective utilization of the system. Management was quite serious about rectifying the situation. The Human Resources Department managed this effort. Standards of performance for each employee were developed. The employees, trainers, supervisors, managers, and, ultimately, executives were held accountable for employee competence. Formal knowledge assessments were conducted and remedial action taken, The vast majority of employees were ready on the go-live day, and it showed in the results. One notable shortcoming in training/resources: nobody—company personnel, Oracle, or third-party person—seemed to know the entire system well enough to provide the big picture. We had to spend an inordinate amount of time and money consulting with all kinds of people to get cross-functional, "cross-module" answers. We still have more work required to fully develop such people. However, the company does have a couple of excellent, generic business systems gurus available, which has proved invaluable. We recommend spending the time and money to beg, borrow, steal, or develop cross-functional experts to know your business and applications systems. Our superusers and project leaders must have really been good, because a lot of them have already been promoted or have moved on to better jobs. We have realized this and are working to develop a better ongoing training/successorship approach. Any organization needs a comprehensive generic business systems education program to ensure that people are aware of the state of the art. An APICS trainer is providing overview education for the company. Some seminars are being attended on things like forecasting, JIT, etc. A wider-reaching program is still needed. Thorough Conference Room Pi lot, Testing, Simulation Are Needed, Including Stress Testing When all is said and done, the team must thoroughly exercise the system in order to know and assess its strengths, weaknesses, and different ways they can solve problems with it, and in order to iron out bugs, procedural weaknesses, needed organizational changes, documentation and training requirements. Realistic scenarios and data are needed. The company got very serious about this a few months before implementation, beefing up the conference room pilot activities, making them a centerpiece of the effort. This paid off in building a good implementation model, testing it and helping in documentation and training efforts. Two highly realistic stress tests exercised the system not long before the go-live date. Minor defects, which might have caused major problems, were quickly identified and corrected. Conversion programs were also tested again and again to avoid unpleasant "Day 1" surprises. If You Insist on a
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