Question 1i. From an IT project management point of view, discuss at least one positive thing and one negative thing about the strategies that Mr. Tumbler used to select the ERP system for implementation at Broadband-X.ii. If you were in Mr. Tumbler’s position as Broadband-X’s CEO, explain what you would have done before embarking on an ERP project that can be successfully implemented to address the needs of the company (Hint: SWOT)Question 2i.Mention and discuss at least four factors that you think might be the biggest challenges and risks that Broadband X will face during the implementation of the project? (Hint: read Ahmad & Cuenca (2013). Critical success factors for ERP implementation in SMEs)ii. Explain how the challenges you have identified can be managed, from a project management perspective, to ensure that the project is executed successfully.Question 3 i.Develop an ERP implementation project plan most fitting to Broadband-X’s situation.ii.As the manager of Broadband-X’s ERP project, discuss how you will implement at least four appropriate project management strategies to ensure that the project is successfully implemented at Broadband-X Page 59B20E021CRITICALLY DEFICIENT PROCESSES AT BROADBAND-XZayan took a couple of weeks to analyze the system in detail, reading the quality management systemdocumentation, reviewing the historical data, and interviewing his co-workers. He needed to understandthe entire system to determine which ERP modules would be implemented in what order, whether anycustomization of the ERP would be needed, and what changes to the current processes would be required.During Zayan's initial discussions with Tumbler, they agreed on two general implementation strategies.The first strategy was to concentrate on real value-adding ERP modules rather than on ones that did notpresent a functional purpose. According to past research,' one reason ERP projects may fail was the wastedeffort of implementing some ERP modules only because they looked fancy, instead of solving a realproblem in the company. The other strategy was to keep the historical legacy data (transactions) where theywere, instead of migrating them all to the new ERP system. This could initially create various reportingchallenges because the data would exist in two different systems before the ERP system went live. However,migrating historical data was a cumbersome and error-prone undertaking, which overshadowed the cost ofdealing with some temporary reporting issues.The disconnect between the quotation, purchasing, and production functions was possibly the biggest issueBroadband-X faced. Once a request for quote (RFQ) had been received from a prospect/customer, theaccount managers needed to estimate labour costs and material costs as well as the time needed to completethe job, so that they could quote a price and a shipping date. Ideally, a quote would be sent back to thecustomer within 24 hours from the receipt of the RFQ so that the job would not be lost to competitors.However, it started to become routine that customers had to wait approximately two to three days for aquote because of the email-intensive, cumbersome communication procedures between the sales,purchasing, and production departments.In some cases, to avoid losing commission income by missing a sale due to a delayed quote, experiencedaccount managers took shortcuts to produce a quote. Based on the BOM sent by the customers as part ofthe RFQ, account managers simply conducted a quick online search for the component prices to estimatethe material costs. As for the labour costs, they used a mini formula sheet provided by the productiondepartment. For the lead time, they made an optimistic guess, making it possible to send quotes to customersquickly, bypassing the production and purchasing departments. Swift as it was, the process often createdproblems if the job was acquired. First, the online price search was not as reliable as an official quoteacquired by the purchasing department from the suppliers. The online price search also did not guaranteethe availability of the components. Consequently, at times, the company ended up paying more for thecomponents than was estimated during the quoting process and/or faced longer-than-expected lead timesfor some components. Second, the existing production schedule might not allow on-time delivery unless itwas expedited, creating many other issues. The company had suffered financial losses on some jobs as aresult of the delay in communication between departments and employees finding shortcuts.actiorZayan noticed that the ERP's estimation and quoting module would fix the complications mentioned abovewith some customization. Specifically, the module was lacking certain functionality related tointerdepartmental communication; therefore, they would need to generate an additional databaseapplication to handle the collaboration between departments before a quote could officially be completed.The ERP provider did allow its customers to customize and manipulate the ERP database within certainlimits and produce supplementary applications that would address the communication issues.'Matus Peci and Pavel Važan, "The Biggest Critical Failure Factors in ERP Implementation," Applied Mechanics and Materials519-520 (2014): 1478–1482. Page 69B20E021Another problem Tumbler wanted to fix was the coordination of the sales efforts, to have account managerswork more collaboratively. Tumbler hoped the CRM module would offer a standardized practice in leadmanagement that would give him access to the CRM data, making his communication with accountmanagers more effective. Tumbler's rich market experience made his involvement highly valuable for theaccount managers. Improved communication would ultimately enable better decisions, increase customersatisfaction while at the same time understanding the needs of current customers better.An additional obstacle was presented by Ratna Anand, the quality manager, who worked verysystematically to make sure that Broadband-X continued to comply with the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO13485:2016 (medical) standards. She did an effective job in organizing the documentation of proceduresand work instructions, but she encountered problems collecting and analyzing the necessary quality datafrom production, such as product defects at various stages, return material authorizations (RMAS) fromcustomers, preventive maintenance planning and execution, and corrective action requests (CARS).Luckily, the ERP had a quality management module that could handle the data collection she needed aswell as a separate application dedicated to preventive maintenance.Finally, Broadband-X had two separate coding systems for its raw materials and finished products, whichcreated problems during deployment, especially when dealing with BOM. A coordinated effort betweenthe engineering, production, and inventory control departments were needed to work out a standardizedcoding system.ADDITIONAL DEFICIENT PROCESSES AT BROADBAND-XDuring his process evaluation, Zayan leamed that Broadband-X did not have routine management meetings.The management team gathered to make decisions as issues arose, but this arrangement would not beeffective because he needed all managers (i.e., sales, accounting, purchasing, production, quality, andinventory managers) on board regularly to get the feedback he needed as the project progressed. He alsoneeded a platform to communicate the progression and direction of the ERP project, and he needed buy-infrom all departments, as it would be a company-wide initiative.Zayan also discovered that Broadband-X controlled its production activities with reference to sales orders(SOs). The shop floor employees recorded their activities based on the SOs that came from QuickBooks,which did not have a production management module. However, an ERP system would require work orders(WOs) with coded activities that were normally, but not necessarily, tied to SOs. The updated WO and SOnumbering system posed a challenge, as the whole workforce, including engineers, had troubleunderstanding the rationale behind having separate SOs and WOs.Another issue the company faced was that most employees were so accustomed to working withspreadsheets that they were complaining about some of the entry screens, reports, and built-in dashboardsthat came with the ERP. Zayan agreed that some of the ERP functions were not efficient and did not servetheir purposes. Zayan was requested by employees to produce spreadsheets, such as an SO dashboard, aWo dashboard, BOM and router analysis reports, BOM mass-entry sheets, and purchase order (PO) mass-entry sheets. It was technically possible to synchronize spreadsheets with the ERP database to create therequested tools, making the workflow easier for many employees.One critical issue was that the payroll function under the HR module of the ERP did not comply with thelaws of the country where Broadband-X operated. The same issue was reported regarding the taxation

The full form of ERP is enterprise Resource Planning and it refers to a software in which the system…

Answered: Question 1i. From an IT project…

Database System Concepts

7th Edition

ISBN:9780078022159

Author:Abraham Silberschatz Professor, Henry F. Korth, S. Sudarshan

Publisher:Abraham Silberschatz Professor, Henry F. Korth, S. Sudarshan

Chapter1: Introduction

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1PE

See similar textbooks