For a successful software implementation, we have listed the top three goals we suggest you set, that are commonly overlooked in most businesses.
Now that you’ve decided to pull the trigger on a software solution, you probably want to know how to set yourself up for a successful software implementation. Many times, the successes or challenges of an implementation are directly impacted by the company’s initial assessment.
The focus of most software evaluations revolves around measuring feature sets against your current problem areas and finding a vendor you can see yourself working well with. However, many times what is overlooked is a thorough internal evaluation of your company’s team members, available resources, and current processes in place.
If you are establishing a new system for your growing business, your experience will differ greatly from an organization in the process of replacing a dated solution or disparate system. In addition, there are a number of other factors that will make your software implementation unique, such as product variations, type of equipment, inventory processes, and more. Regardless, setting these three suggested implementation goals internally can greatly increase your chances of a successful software implementation for your unique manufacturing operations.
-
Gain Company Buy-In
-
Establish Universal “Truths”
-
Have Clearly Defined Project Scope
Gain Company Buy-In
Identifying the current processes in place with each person responsible for them is a necessary activity. It can be unclear just how many different hats a single person wears. Make sure that both management or ownership, as well as associated team members, understand the range of responsibilities and activities in each department. Acknowledge your team’s current workflow and discuss how the transition to a system may impact these processes. Reviewing the current state of things can help you find inefficiencies and give the organization an opportunity to provide constructive feedback. Having these conversations goes a long way in establishing a baseline of best practices for the implementation.
Establish Universal “Truths”
In our experience in working with different individuals across a variety of departments on each project, we have found that everyone has their own shade of the truth. These shades could stem from different priorities or simply be the result of a natural progression for individuals to veer a bit as they create the everyday workflow that is most comfortable for them.
Whatever the reason, documenting every single process is a must. Along with varying opinions, there are no absolute truths in terms of what is right or wrong, but once processes are identified it is important to come to a consensus around the most feasible methods. Establishing these universal truths will put you ahead of the curve in regards to any setup and organization of data during implementation.
Beyond the project at hand, discussing and documenting workflows will ultimately help identify inefficiencies in your business. This enables your team to be collaborative and sets a foundation for better processes that future team members can reference, follow, or update if needed.
Have a Clearly Defined Project Scope
Implementation projects are largely budget-focused, and having a clearly defined project scope is crucial to understanding what type of tasks are executed inside your organization, and what services will be provided by your software vendor. Clear expectations on both sides will support your project and keep it on track and within the allocated budget. Beyond paying for vendor services, such as training, keeping an implementation focused is crucial to the timeline of a project. As the project progresses, it is inevitable that additional perspectives will be added, requiring adjustments or expansions to the initial project scope. Any new ideas or different perspectives that arise should be measured against your overall goals and implementation plan.
Having a thorough discovery process to gain company buy-in and establish universal truths with documentation to maintain and support your project scope will set you up for a successful implementation.
To learn more about what a dedicated process manufacturing system can do for your organization, contact Vicinity for a free demo of our software.