Bombardier Reflection

After attending the consultants presentation for Bombardier, I have a greater sense of all the components necessary for the proper implementation of an ERP system.  I really believe that the connection between the Project Management Team and the end users is the essential key to success of any ERP system.  Without this cohesion, any new technology or management approach risks the chances of not being used to their full potential.  We all know that all new technology has more advantages than disadvantages because it would not make it past its development phases if it did not offer a greater upside.  The problem that I see reoccuring is that the human capital involved is not always up to task in learning and utilizing these new avenues to make their daily work activities significantly easier.  This causes a certain lag period where a new ERP system will not be used to its full potential for an uncertain amount of time.  This may result in lost revenues, which is obviously a reason why any management team would stay the course and continue to operate as is.

The consultancy team did a very good job in analyzing all the different soltuions to the problems that persisted with Bombardier as they took the journey in implementing a new ERP system.  THe part of the presentation that correlates with my initial reaction after reading the case study is the request to diversify the project support team.  This goes along with my excitement because there is an indefinite need for support and education professionals with the goal of making a smooth transition to a new ERP system because on board employees are significantly less expensive than consultants.  Teachers are paid an average of $50K in the state of New Jersey and their job duties, in essence, are to shorten the learning curve.  If these efforts can be focused of tech knowledge and program specific training modules, that annual teacher salary will look miniscule if we look at the costs that will be avoided by getting employees on board more rapidly and by resolving issues in a more timely manner.  The next step for me is to gain these skills and  product knowledge to be able to teach how to use these new programs and be able troubleshoot any problems that may persist.  I believe that we are heading in a direction where all companies will be moving away from their old methods and moving to ERP systems and other tech savvy solutions, so why not have an education portal that makes these transitions more fluent?