Reflection CEPAS

The YSW team provided powerful insights in their presentation about the presence of competing card issuers, the main stakeholders involved in the platform, CEPAS impact, motivations/ incentives for the stakeholders, analysis prior to CEPAS initiative. This is exactly what we look forward to send who want to acknowledge how we merged the two systems and explain the success story of how this country 'Singapore' is advancing towards ez-cards and less cash.
 After YSW presentation, we have come to an agreement that the faster turnaround time in the payment process within an economy which will ultimately increase GDP across the economies will be the best option and most effective process in every aspect. The more innovation brought about to this platform, the more economies will prosper across the world. The consultants discussed the  CEPAS strongest point and mentioned about having standard methodologies & create an entity independent of stakeholders. If there is an independent entity appointed who reinforce the changes across the society, there will be an evidence for a need to change perceived by the people. The results of using the CEPAS is clear to  its users, there will be a large number of changes and the nation will be more consistent and effective in its operations.

CEPAS (prep)

There are two leading pioneers in the e-payment landscape in Singapore, namely NETS and EZ-Link. Founded in 1985 by the local banks of Singapore, NETS continues to be a pioneer in providing cashless payment convenience. For many years, EZ-Link controlled the transit space while NETS controlled the motoring (ERP, parking) space. NETS also dominated the retail space, with EZ-Link having limited presence.
This case examines the running challenges and tradeoffs inside the development and deployment from the platform innovation for instance composing the efforts of multiple stakeholders and balancing various stakeholders’ legitimate acquisitions of supporting infrastructure and complementary enhancements. By additionally, marketing the adoption and diffusion in the cards by clients and merchants. The CEPAS platform appeared to become being utilized for an additional generation of e payment enhancements for example, obligations via Near Area Communication enabled mobile phones. Singapore needed one platform to combine these two methods and make it more efficient for the business and less costly for the consumers.
The stakeholders involved were the consumers, because it would save them money and the convenience. The government because it would decrease the cost of cash handling and the businesses that benefited from electronic payment systems. EZ link and NETS would benefit from one infrastructure that would help reduce cost.
Along with security and integrity requirements, CEPAs had to meet the high-performance requirements of Singapore’s transit system.

·         If the card was linked to a bank account or credit card it would provide balance by a specified amount when the debit amount was insufficient.
·         Limited to the most recent amount debited, this was useful for retail and bus fare transactions that required ‘at start, deduct maximum, upon end, and refund unused amount.
·      To reduce transaction processing overheads, debit operations for one card were accumulated into a final amount
The Singapore Society would be able to benefit by having all the information all on one card so that the card users could use the train or car/park systems with one card. Card features enabled multiple payment programs supplied by different companies to become only one smart card which clients may use for bus, taxi, rail transport, parking garages and road usage charges and finally retail micro obligations. By having two non-interoperable cards it would cause a lot of inadequacies causing problems for the users of the cards. 
There were s risks to CEPAS initiative, new e-payment system would not be accepted by consumers, and cards became available for purchase at a variety of locations, including ticket offices, convenience stores.  Another risk was that businesses would not adapt to CEPAS.

Bombardier ERP Implementation Reflection

After hearing the consultant’s presentation at last week's meeting I feel that Bombardier is headed in the right direction in regard to their ERP implementation. There was vast improvement from the first implementation to the second implementation and it looks like we are headed to even more success for our upcoming third implementation. As stated in the presentation, Bomardier's second implementation at Saint-Laurent greatly improved from its first implementation at Mirabel.  Bombardier wonderfully completed some facts of implementation. These facts included knowing why the company was implementing an ERP system, recognized the value in early planning and understood the business processes.  However, Bomardier key phases weren’t strong enough, which if addressed properly, could have led to better implementation results.  The consultants discussed that Bombardier needs to improve upon building a business case for an ERP system with a positive return of investment, gain executive and organizational commitment, ensure proper project management and resource commitment and invest in training/change management.

To address the main disconnection between management, employees and the project team and the issues mentioned above, a best practices framework was presented. After listening to the consultant’s recommendation and analyzing my own research, I agree that Bombardier needs to implement a best practices framework.  Even though the company greatly improved from the first implementation, there are still numerous issues that are not being addressed.  The best practices framework presented will be comprehensive and which will help the company understand the important aspects of framework.

Investing in training is necessary and highly qualified trainers/consultants should be readily available to train and support users. A suggestion would be to formulate a detailed training program including materials and workshops prior to implementation. Change management should also include a business transformation plan which should identify roles and responsibilities that will change when the ERP is implemented.  Since employee's positions are based upon functions, the plan will introduce employees to new roles and assignments prior to implementing the new ERP system.
The company has committed a great deal of financial and personnel resources to this project and implementation is key in determining overall success. The best practices framework should not only be carried out by the project team but also management.  If the best practices framework is carried out properly, implementation at the third location is projected to surpass the Saint-Laurent implementation.

 

 

PMO Reflection

After the presentation of our consultants and considering the sensitivity towards the cultural issues and governance in our organization. We should definitely move towards having a PMO heavy in the future at an enterprise level. The consultants explained the benefits when PMO is used in the organization, especially  having standardization methodologies that will allow us to have consistency and the project managers recognized as change leaders. If we have the change leaders in place who reinforce the changes across the organization, there will be an evidence for a need to change perceived by all the employees.

The consultants mentioned a very practical point of proving to the staff and company that PMO system works and is effective. This is definitely something to consider as unless we have a PMO running the projects and proving its worth, the staff members will not be able to quantify the results of having an office in the company. Once we start seeing the results in PMO light by concentrating the projects for few functions, we can then take steps and make it visible to the organization by aggressive communication across the firm. In today’s world, where there is competition across the industry & users want quick & precise information in a consistent manner, I believe we should take steps to implement the PMO light approach and then later establish PMO heavy approach.
 In making our business process flow more efficient, it is worth investing in the implementation of PMO. Once the results of having a PMO are visible to the employees there will be a change perceived by all the employees, and the entire project management process will be more consistent and effective.

Bombardier ERP Implementation

Key Problem
Bombardier Aerospace is the third largest designer and manufacturing aircraft company in the world. Bombardier is using a legacy system since the early 1990s known as the Bombardier Manufacturing Systems (BMS).  BMS is based on a MACPAC platform, which is displaying its malfunctions an insufficient solution. Bombardier has made several acquisitions throughout the years and the MACPAC platform is making it difficult for the future development. The key problem is Bombardier Aerospace needs to significantly improve their low visibility of inventory and lack of integration within the company.

ERP I - Implementation
Bombardier Aerospace tried to make a significant technological improvement with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. An ERP application provides one platform for inventory, purchasing, procurement, customer service and finance. The first attempt for the implementation of ERP system project was not successful.  The ERP project was discontinued in 2000 and spent a considerable amount of $130 million in defeated costs.
 Reasons the ERP implementation was a failure:

1.       Inappropriate businesses process

2.       Outdated company vision

3.       A weak sponsorship

4.       Insufficient involvement of employees.

In my opinion, Bombardier didn’t have best practices for the ERP implementation as there was no structure, loyalty and organization. The Bombardier Aerospace ERP best practices should have been developing the inventory management, integration, formal employee training and price consistency.

ERP II -Implementation
The second ERP implementation was started in 2001 by a group of senior managers from Bombardier Aerospace’s Irish facilities. The senior managers developed the Bombardier Manufacturing Information System (BMIS). BMIS was a motivated realistic proposed plan to achieve project goals. The BMIS project was to have a wider ERP strategy and focus on the processes that support manufacturing, inventory, procurement, finance and engineer data. The main reason the ERP implementation failed the first time was not having a detailed management planning solution. The ERP system would eliminate paper as most of the material would be automated.  Employees could focus on more analytical tasks rather than administrative tasks. The SAP enterprise system was chosen as the ERP system for Bombardier Aerospace.
There was value for deciding to use the Mirabel plant as it is manufacturing plane site. The CRJ700 model plane is manufactured at this location and the jet plane is Bombardier Aerospace’s potential growth in the future.  The one site procedure is a more conservative approach which is needed for a large scale ERP implementation.

 The way implementation was structured using the Mirabel site as pilot with integrating testing, training and Go-Live. Once SAP implementation was fully completed, the cost savings was extremely favorable within the year. There was a significant reduction in $1.2 billion in inventories within the first year of Go-Live.    

ERP III – Implementation

I will identify the ERP SAP best practices and bring the necessary world class standard for the implementation project. The second ERP implementation was a success but I want to ensure the third implementation will be flawless. There are several action steps during the second ERP implementation that I would continue to support for the third ERP implementation: BMIS, One-Company (Integration) and less Consultants.  BMIS functional strategy is one of this company’s strongest assets to the development of the ERP implementation. I would continue to utilize the BMIS philosophy as it provides the right focus on the Bombardier’s functional processes. BMIS focuses on the functional processes, such as: inventory management, manufacturing, earning and finance. BMIS shows a detailed analysis and structure to implement thoroughly and effectively. It is necessary to have all checks under the Bombardier name and have an integrated system.  Employees can get frustrated with too many consultants explaining the processes and can be challenged with a new ERP implementation. There will be a better working environment with fewer consultants.

I would recommend 4 areas to make improvements, training, eliminating legacy systems, processing purchase orders and Finance. At this point, I wouldn’t recommend training from a third-party consultant as the Mirabel plant is your training material. The BMIS team and the Mirabel plant users can provide a formal cross training program during the new ERP implementation. The Mirabel employees can provide feedback to the new users that the ERP system has saved them a significant amount of time. There were users after the Go-Live from the Mirabel plant that were using the current legacy systems. The VP of Operations and Project Sponsor’s should send out an email to the managers and not give permission for users to use the legacy systems. I would encourage managers to send out a problem list to the BMIS project team so they can problem solve for any new issues in SAP.  I encourage revamping the purchase order process as vendors are either receiving too many faxes or not receiving purchases orders.  SAP was automatically sending fax purchase orders to vendors, causing problems within the MRP engine. Suppliers were receiving too many faxes every time the MRP engine was being updated. ERP SAP has the capabilities to email purchase orders rather than faxing a PO to your vendor. It was unacceptable that the BMIS team was printing, stapling and mailing purchase orders to vendors for three weeks.
Once the third implementation of ERP SAP is installed, utilizing KPIs on a monthly basis. ERP systems can provide an excess of KPIs and you can choose what KPIs are most important to your department.  There is a significant amount of opportunity to improve your trade working capital .

 Conclusion

ERP implementation can be successful with the proper vision and dedication to the system. Management needs to be confident in their product and users should be encouraged there is a benefit to their daily workload. Bombardier Aerospace must emphasize that ERP systems give you an upgrade and an opportunity to grow the business. In my opinion, it’s time to eliminate the outdated legacy systems and look to the ERP system as a stability of future growth.  ERP systems provide the following services better than legacy systems in the following: organization, inventory visibility, purchasing, customer service, finance, employee morale and function control. The Mirabel ERP implementation contributed to a $1.2 billion cost saving reduction which is flawless! This will give Bombardier additional cash flow, improve Bombardier’s balance sheet and make potential company acquisitions.  I would eliminate the legacy systems completely and replace them with the ERP SAP.
The ERP SAP system would be just as efficient as the design of your aircrafts. The ERP SAP system will bring a fast and powerful solution and provide an effective solution with integration, inventory, purchasing, sales and finance.
 

The AtekPC PMO Case

Problem/Issue Statement

The AtekPC management faces challenges in the development and distribution of a Project Management Office in the company. AtekPC had executed a corporate planning office to decide on selecting an ideal PMO model for its company. The main challenges and obstacles in implementing a PMO at AtekPC was that a formal documentation and plans for PMO did not exist.  With limited staff, which consisted of a PMO director and three contract project managers,  AtekPC  faced the problem selecting between PMO-Heavy model and PMO-light model.

Situation Assessment
The changes in AtekPC’s business environment caused the company to introduce a PMO. PMO is the focal point for improvement and enhancement in project management through the implementation of the enterprise-oriented functions. The enterprise functions provide the long-term stability and is the blueprint for the project management success. This mission is met by establishing, and maintaining, a project historical database, by developing project management best practices, by providing training in all project management knowledge areas, and last but not least,  by providing visibility for the value of project management. The decision criteria would be cost reduction and to get better on projects which would mean getting more creative in launching new products.

Evaluation of Alternatives
The main responsibility of a PMO are typically divided into two categories: project-focused and enterprise-oriented. Project focused responsibilities such as consulting, mentoring, and training were services that enabled the success of individual projects. On the other hand, enterprise responsibilities provided services that might improve all projects such as portfolio management, PM standards, methods, and tools, and project performance documents. The PMO should exist within Information Technology organization and provide project support for all IT projects and its clients across the company. This leads us to further understand the selection between the two models available to an organization. An ideal way is to note the characteristics and limitation of the PMO heavy and PMO light models.

PMO heavy model:

There will be full staff of project managers who have an inherent responsibility for managing all IT projects. Under the direction of the PMO,  hire project management experts, either from internal or external sources and use resources to manage projects. In extreme case for PMO-heavy model, none of the project would operate outside the management and will be direct control of the PMO.

PMO light model:

This model focuses on the development of skills of internal project managers who were not formally connected with the PMO. In extreme cases for PMO-light, all projects operate outside of the PMO under existing organizational controls, and the ownership of projects exist in the functional area and IT group charged with execution of the project.

 Recommendation

PMO-heavy seems to be the best model for AtekPC. Management should realize that they would not be able to gain acceptance immediately from this approach. The demand for resources was more throughout AtekPC, and the PMO would need to prove itself in order to earn the resources they wanted. Therefore there is a need to build support for the PMO-heavy model through project successes. AtekPC can implement a PMO-heavy approach furnishing project managers to the various groups.

 Purpose and mission of a PMO:

The purpose and mission of PMO is to have consistent project practices. The specific duties of a PMO were typically divided into two categories: project-focused and enterprise-oriented. Project focused responsibilities such as consulting, mentoring, and training were services that enabled the success of individual projects. Whereas enterprise responsibilities addressed services, that might improve all projects such as portfolio management, PM standards and project performance archives. PMO’s are more effective and can better impact the bottom line, when they are operating at the corporate enterprise-wide strategic level, rather than at the departmental level. Departmentally based Project Management offices are successful in their own storage tower but not accepted outside their span of influence, and therefore, are unable to influence the organization as a whole.

 Structural and governance mechanisms critical for effective PMO implementation:

Currently, there seems to be no roadmaps or timelines for maturation of the PMO, people did not know who PMO was accountable to, and there was weak support from the senior executives. Employees hesitated which was not making the PMO a success.

 How much PM is enough PM? How much PMO support is enough PMO support?

If the PMO is to be successful, there are several key issues that must be assumed. The success of projects, in general, all rely on the factors being implemented; i.e. the integration of client, implementer, and software vendor goals and plans, constant management of the project’s scope, and finally a method for gaining visibility into project health at all levels throughout the life of the project.  When PM is applied skillfully, in an appropriate way, it generally improves the probability of project success and pays for itself. The key point to understand is that every project needs planning, controlling, monitoring and again going back to planning when there are issues seen in the controlling and monitoring phases.

 

Zara Reflection

Even though Zara has no problem with POS system itself at its current status, the innovations will require Zara to upgrade it. After the presentation of our consultants, I feel that for a fast growing company like Zara, I would recommend to improve their system now, rather than waiting until they actually face a problem. I would recommend this investment by explaining the possible future risks and what can happen if Zara would have to switch out their technology at last minute. I believe ZARA will be able to achieve improvement with new technology. For example, this change will allow for online sites and create better and faster inventory updates. It will also connect all of ZARA’s chain stores, in which some of the benefits will allow Zara to better manage and predict demand on each branch.

                 If Zara wants to implement a new Enhanced POS system to get a better idea of how long it will take and how costly it will be. The consultant estimated €233,000 in initial costs to get new system and it will take one year. Investing in new Enhanced POS system; will make us more money in the long run because we would be using less man-hour. Also as mentioned by the consultants, reports would be run more often to create optimal plans to begin production, as well as have a faster system with more functionality.

The implementation of new system will not be quick and smooth but if Zara does not want to find itself stuck in a situation where new stores cannot be opened due to its current POS manufacture terminating production, this will have to be done. As long as ZARA can adapt to this technology the way they want, they may be able to keep their tradition of person to person interaction with customers, and at the same time, be more efficient at helping and getting them what they want.