The questions you should ask before going to implementation of SCM solutions?

Filed in archive Practical Tips

One of the questions many people have asked me is: "How should we approach implementation of a SCM initiative, avoiding failure?". Well, I think we should even start from before the implementation: We should ask ourselves some questions to ensure we have all the readiness and necessary components in place. My list of the "Must-be-answered" elements include:

- Is the senior management of the organization strongly support the SCM initiative? I think this is the first and most important area. Implementation of a S&OP solution as an example, is not an easy issue and the company will definitely face problems in the implementation phase. Having the senior management at the top; supporting the initiative and trying to resolve issues is a fundamental element to overcome these challenges.

- Do we have a good project manager and project management structure? This one seems obvious yet very important. Many times, when companies want to choose a project managers, they look for someone who is available. This is certainly not true. The companies should assign their best people in the area as project managers and the structure should be based on heavyweight project management and not a coordination role.

- What are the critical elements in achieving acceptable ROI? There are different elements which contribute to the ROI of the project and solution but some of them are more critical than others. The project management function of the team should focus on those elements and monitor them throughout the project to ensure financial success of the effort.

- What are the training needs? This is especially important especially if the company's supply chain is geographically fragmented. The team should think about three things in this area: What should be the training content for heavy and light users? What should be the media we use for training (distance learning, physical course, ...) and the model for training (How we conduct the effort?). As an example, if the organization has presence in three continents, first we can train a selected group of heavy users and those people will take care of local problem solving in their area. We can launch computer based training for the rest with the contact info. of local heavy users for addressing questions.