Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to define, organize, oversee and control
the various project processes. Project managers for supply chain project require general project management skills, understanding
of supply chain business processes and broad knowledge and experience of information technology. Implementation of supply chain
projects involves multimillion dollar investment and years of commitment.
Define Project Scope
The scope of a supply chain project describes the major business processes the project will transform, the participants of the supply
chain, the intended end users the project will support, the relationship of the project with legacy information systems, other e-business
systems and ecommerce applications, the high level technical architecture, funding availability, timeframe of application release and
measures of the success of the project.
Establish Project Teams
A supply chain project requires frequent inter-organizational coordination. The project teams usually consists of project management team
and implementation team. Based on a 2003 Computer Science Corporation survey, the commitment of senior management is the most important
factor in the success of SCM system.
Develop Project Plan
Vendor Selection If you choose to use packaged software for implementing the Supply Chain Management (SCM) system, the important
part of your project is the plan for vendor selection. The project plan should detail the criteria of evaluating enterprise software,
processes of selecting vendors, and candidate list of software vendors.
Implementation Plan The project plan should detail the implementation methodologies whether it's SDLC or module implementation
approach. Large project is often broken into phases horizontally and module vertically. Pay attention to the customization and outline
plans for customization.
Time & Cost Management Create a project schedule, resources and budget plan. A supply chain project may need purchase of
additional hardware and system or security software, but the cost of packaged software, customization and implementation dominates overall cost.
Quality Management Develop a quality plan and carry out quality assurance and quality control activities.
Part of quality management at planning stage is the development of high level test plan. Implementation team can run the test plan against
high level requirements to validate scope of the project.
Resource Management Perform organizational planning, manage staff acquisitions and promote team development.
Risk Management Identify risks, develop contingency plans for possible risks.
User Training Plan Outline the steps, resources and time required for end user training.
Monitor and Control Project Progresses
Supply chain projects seldom proceed as planned. The progress of a project is impacted by many factors - change of project requirements, unexpected
technical challenges, and changes in resources availability. Project managers should closely monitor the progress of the project, identify
the critical successful factors and foresee the risks of project implementation, and adjust project plan and re-allocate resources.
The project plan is continuously updated to keep track of what's happening rather than what's planned.
Post Implementation Review
The success of a supply chain project is often the result of continuous tuning and enhancements. It is critical to review the project execution
after the initial completion of the supply chain project. Organizations can learn from experience and identify the things that went well and
the things that failed to work as planned.
Related Topics
Supply Chain Collaboration
Supply Chain Management Software - Planning, Collaboration, Automation and Optimization
Supply Chain Software vs. B2B Exchanges
Inventory Management Overview - Demand Forecasting, Inventory Monitoring and Inventory Reporting
Order Fulfillment Options and Choosing Fulfillment Company
|