Post-mortem of the second phase:
the question is complete , directly snipped from book
What were the challenges faced by the project team?
How were the new roles defined, communicated, understood?
Sponsorship The project champion for this second roll-out was the Vice-President at Saint-Laurent. He firmly believed in the necessity of the BMIS for Bombardier's future growth. He advocated strongly for the system and was the one who brought senior management at Saint-Laurent on board. The change leader was also a strong advocate of the system. He pushed the deployment and change within the plant. In addition, the CEO of Bombardier Aerospace was leading the change from the top level of management. The Vice-President at Saint-Laurent made sure the message was conveyed across the organization by holding senior management meetings, attending and playing an active role in project kick-off and progress meetings, conducting the opening and closing of user education sessions, participating in the management training 'How to Accept Change, " etc. The presence of the Vice-President during these activities sent a very strong signal to the employees. The Vice- President explained that the project was essential to ensure the growth of the company, as the legacy systems were unable to support Bombardier's development. At the same time, he insisted that his directors and managers take the lead in the project in order to be clearly responsible for what was happening in the plant. This behaviour induced similar behaviour among the directors and managers. They set aside time for training for their employees and made participation a priority. They helped review mapped processes and they took the lead in the implementation, knowing that their participation would have an influence on the final product Saint-Laurent would receive. Senior management at Saint- Laurent made the project a clear priority and communicated this to their employees. Even power and super users fulfilled change leadership roles among their peers. The vision was communicated through different media to ensure that the message was understood by everyone. Change leadership A need for change was perceived among most employees throughout the Saint-Laurent plant. The information relayed highlighted Bombardier's position with respect to the ERP strategy in comparison to competitors. A video by the CEO of Bombardier Aerospace sent a clear message from top management on the rationale for the change. The overall vision for the BMIS project was now clearly delineated and was well understood across all levels and functions. Most directors at Saint-Laurent took visible actions to increase the understanding of the vision within their functions, such as requesting vision presentations on the BMIS project. These vision presentations preceded the actual training and enabled the users to develop a good understanding of the changes introduced by the new processes. The vision was supported by well-designed tools. Since 2003, several tools had been developed to present an overview of the project, the processes, the roles and how all these elements were tied together. This meant that all these tools (BMIS Roadmap, BMIS Essentials, 'The 5 Mega Processes," etc.) were provided by the project team to ensure a smooth deployment within the business. The education tool 'BMIS Essentials' was especially appreciated by the users.User preparation and training Education and training messages were tailored to the specific needs of the different hierarchical levels. Managers and directors attended training sessions, notably the 'BMIS Essentials' and the 'How to Accept Change' sessions. Users received more extensive (and more detailed) training. By 2005, the trainers had gained experience and their credibility with the users was good. When surveyed, the majority of users mentioned they appreciated the quantity and quality of the training. Users also thought that the timing of the training was appropriate. Employees were given the time required to attend training and management made it clear that attendance was a priority. Changes in the various roles and responsibilities were implemented before the deployment of the new system. Users felt that having these changes in place before the introduction of the system facilitated the change, because they had time to adapt to the new roles before having to adapt to the new system. This way, they were better able to cope with the changes. A variety of channels such as meetings, presentations, posters, and newsletters were used to communicate messages, depending on the situation and the targeted audience. In general, users were positive about the expected outcome of the project. They thought that the project would benefit Bombardier Aerospace and improve their own work environment at the same time. Project management By 2005, the project team members were able to use the valuable skills and expertise they had acquired to ensure the project was developed according to high standards. The project team used the SAP methodology and employed certified SAP developers. The project was still organized by functions and not by processes. However, the project team had gotten used to the structure and roles were clear. Any issue raised could be dealt with and technical problems were assigned clear contact points in the help desk or the SAP Competency Centre. Nevertheless, the project structure was not always understood by the business side and was often perceived as overly complicated. Project team The project team members formed a dedicated group. Most of them had participated in the first roll-out at Mirabel. There was a positive atmosphere among the project staff. People mentioned they liked to work on the project and enjoyed working with their colleagues. The staff were highly motivated to make the project successful. This was seen as a personal challenge that all employees wanted to tackle. The dedication of the project team was manifest. On-time delivery was the highest maxim. The project deliverables were planned with an aggressive - and perhaps even, according to some members, unrealistic - schedule. Consequently, overtime was an intrinsic part of the schedule and plan. Team spirit was encouraged by the project management group. The project management people stayed with their staff during the overtime work periods. This sent out positive signals.Employees felt it was a collective effort and that everyone was contributing to attaining the project goals. This pressure on delivery meant that there was very little slack in the utilization of human resources. There were no buffers in place for potential contingency events. This created a situation in which several key individuals had no shadows - i.e., people who could replace them in case of emergencies or who could share some of the workload. This was a challenging issue. The specialized knowledge was concentrated in a few individuals. However, it was not simply a question of hiring more people. The knowledge transfer to new team members was not simple and required the availability of key individuals who were already working intensively on the next deliverable and who felt that the time investment required for knowledge transfer would jeopardize the project schedule. This created a vicious circle. Since they were in limited supply, there was strong pressure for these knowledgeable people to spend all their time on project activities. If they stepped back to transfer their knowledge to colleagues, they felt they were slowing down the project's progress. However, failure to transfer this knowledge threatened the continuity and sustainability of the project. It was acknowledged that no project should be overly dependent on a few key resources. Relationship between the business and the project Top management clearly communicated the importance of the project for Bombardier and there was a common understanding of the objectives and anticipated benefits throughout the hierarchy on both the project and the business side. The project's progress was assessed through meetings, project status reports and scorecards. These reports and scorecards were given to the management at Saint-Laurent and circulated in the plant. The business was kept informed of the project's progress in biweekly meetings. If managers or directors were not able to attend any of these meetings, they sent knowledgeable delegates with the authority to make decisions, thus avoiding any delays in the project. These delegates would then report back to the managers and directors on the meeting results. Therefore, management was always informed. This procedure signalled interest from the business and indicated that the project was regarded as important. In some instances, the business side felt that the communication with the project team could have been a bit more transparent. There were a few times, early in the project, when scorecards were 'embellished' a little bit to veil some issues with which the project side was struggling. This was done to prevent the business side from worrying about the project. As could be expected, the information could not be hidden for long. Go Live The project went live on the planned date and there were no significant disruptions to normal operations. The Challenger 300 and Global Express Cockpit deployment represented another key step of the BMIS implementation. This particular phase of the larger project could be rightly considered a success, both in terms of results and the deployment process.Successfully Navigating the Turbulent Skies of a Large-Scale ERP Implementation Appendix 1 Bombardier Aerospace's History Timeline 1947 Joseph Armand Bombard 1967 founda Auto-Naige Company incorporated 1985 1900 2008 Bombardier Line and becomes Bombardier Limitta Acquires Acquires Launch of the Bombardier Limitta publicly listed Canadair Learjet Corporation C-Series 1942 1870 1973 1907 Acquires Fire Contract to build engine manufacturer transitequipment for Short Brothers de Havilland Lohner-Werke Montreal's subway HEC MontrealAppendix 2 Bombardier Aerospace's Manufacturing Facilities MANUFACTURING FACILITIES Canada Saint-Laurent, Quebec Component manufacturing for various aircraft models including the Bombardier 415, Challenger 604, Challenger 800 and Global Express Production of structural components for other aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus Saint-Laurent, Quebec Component assembly for the Bombardier 415 Dorval, Quebec Final assembly for the Challenger 604 and CRJ200 Dorval, Quebec Interior completion of the Global Express Mirabel, Quebec Final assembly of the CRJ700 and CRJ900 Downsview, Ontario Manufacture and final assembly of the Q-Series turboprop family of aircraft Manufacture of components and final assembly of the Global series Production of structural components for the Learjet 45 North Bay, Ontario Final assembly, pre-flight and delivery centre for the Bombardier 415 United States Witchita, Kansas Manufacture of the Learjet series Manufacture of the Challenger 300 Flight test centre for various Bombardier aircraft Tuscon, Arizona Interior completion, maintenance and refurbishment of Bombardier business aircraft Northern Ireland Belfast Production of components, engine parts and spare parts for Bombardier aircraft Production of components for other aircraft manufacturers including Boeing; Rolls-Royce Deutschland, General Electric, and Pratt and Whitney SERVICE FACILITIES Canada Mirabel, Quebec Technical support, including support for the CF-18 military aircraft Painting and interior completion of the CRJ series United States Southport, Manitoba Management of basic pilot training for the Canadian Forces Bridgeport, West Virginia Maintenance, modification, painting and refurbishing gervice center for civil and military aircraft Contractor Logistics Support for the C-23 aircraft fleet with the USAF and USARNG
