Bombardier Case Prep and Reflection

Problem/Issue Statement

Problem: The company’s strategy of growth by acquisition created problems and inefficiencies as systems did not communicate with each other effectively.

for instance, it was difficult to share data between manufacturing facilities. Labor mobility suffered due to the fact that the skills required to operate information systems were not transferable between facilities. The cost of information systems ownership was multiplied by the number of systems maintained

The scope of the problem is integration. Lack of integration of the operations of its acquired companies. Integration with business partners. Bombardier aerospace believed that its biggest problem was low visibility of inventory and lack of integration between its Legacy systems.

Problem Symptoms:

Data inaccuracy

Persistent pressure on cost

process delays,

sequential activities,

low inventory turns,

supplier proliferation

price inconsistency,

Multiple bills of material.

In order to fix this problem Bombardier decided that it needed to  replace its legacy information system applications that supported Bombardier Aerospace’s manufacturing activities, (Bombardier Manufacturing System) with an ERP System.

List of Alternative Cost of Action and Evaluation

The following list are the Best Practice approach to ERP implementation

• Clear Definition of goals and objectives
• Ensuring that the appropriate software is chosen that will align with the organization’s information needs, processes, functional requirements, and workflows. After much consultation, Bombardier chose to use SAP and implement the BMIS system for manufacturing facilities
• Prepare for business transformation by creating a transformation plan and also a change management team.
• Training and support resources should be invested in.
• Clear implementation plan and timeline.
• Allocate the necessary resources across financial, managerial and end to end support for training and change management

Recommendation:

When evaluating the differences between Bombardier’s implementation at both the Mirabel and Saint-Laurent plants, we can conclude that the Saint-Laurent Plants process was a smoother one. This can be attributed to the fact that there were more management support, clearer goals, and better training when beginning the implementation at Saint-Laurent. The list of best practises above is what I recommend that Bombardier should use so that they can improve further. It can improve implementation if clear goals and objectives are being stated because employees will have a sense of concrete direction in the way things should be carried out. An intense training plan that should be strictly followed will also improve the implementation process. Employees should also be intensely trained before and during the implementation

Reflection:

Memo

To: Senior Management

From: Lynda Okeke

Date: April 12th, 2014

Re: Bombardier ERP Implementation Reflection

This memo is in response to the presentation on tuesday, April 8th, 2014 in regards to how Bombardier can improve its ERP implementation.
I was impressed that we chose that right consulting team for this issue because it appeared that they have done extensive research on the history and journey of our company including our failures and success over the years.
The consultants pointed out areas that needs improvements which i believe that we were already aware of.

However, one of the areas of improvement that I mostly agreed with them was that our users are not feeling encouraged due to lack of available support after the go-live date date. Providing extra support for our users can build up their confidence and reduce the stress of learning the new process. The on call support idea sounds great where users can have easy access to someone who can answer their questions and give them directions.

In general, I believe that we are at a good starting point and I like that the consultants came up with a good list of best practices. If we continue to stay committed through out the duration of this process, with patient, we will keep improving during the implementation process because it is a complex task.