SITUATION OVERVIEW
Not long ago, this global organization had implemented an ERP system across several aerospace and defense manufacturing plants. It was now considering an upgrade to the latest version of the system.
However, the organization knew its end-users were still struggling to adopt the changes instituted by the prior initiative.
More specifically:
- Employees were relying on workarounds, such as Excel and AS/400.
- Employees had developed their own ways of using (or not using) the system.
In addition:
- The company was struggling with bettering its project management governance at the executive level.
- The company was struggling with change management and ERP benefits realization.
- There was a lack of executive and stakeholder alignment.
- There was a lack of business process standardization and oversight.
- There was no measurable benefits realization from ERP software.
OUR APPROACH
Panorama deployed two organizational change management experts, who conducted extensive on-site and video interviews with end-users across functional areas, plant general managers, and the executive leadership team. These interviews provided valuable insights that allowed the team to develop a plan to help the company support the new application in the long term.
In addition to interviews, we focused on the following activities:
- Assessing employee usage of the system relating to workarounds, customization, and pain points
- Assessing past organizational change management initiatives at the organization, including training (for new hires and existing staff members), communication, and enduser buy-in strategies and tactics
- Assessing the executive leadership team, including its overall structure and project governance framework
- Assessing the organization’s current state and outlining a timeline of steps it should take to reach its desired state
- Engaging the leadership team at key milestones throughout the project to coach them regarding their roles
THE OUTCOME
Based on our findings and recommendations, the organization determined that in order to optimize its ERP system and fully realize the expected ROI, it must first address internal organizational issues prior to upgrading its software. With this insight, the organization was poised to avoid the fate of low user adoption and low benefits realization that it had experienced in its initial implementation.
Panorama Consulting Group is a technology-agnostic consultancy specializing in Digital Business Transformation and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Implementations for mid- to large-sized private- and public-sector organizations worldwide. This highly respected firm is 100% independent of software and technology vendor affiliation. They offer a phased and integrated approach to strategy alignment and execution, enabling each client to achieve its unique business transformation objectives by transforming its people, processes, and technology.
Panorama clients include multi-national conglomerates from Amazon Robotics to Valcor Engineering, as well as governmental entities, including state and local governments, municipalities, school districts, state offices of the attorney general, and tribal governments.
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