Bombardier Case Preparation

Problem / Issue Statement

In the early 2000’s Bombardier committed to replacing its legacy systems with a state-of-the-art integrated system that would allow efficiency and effectiveness throughout its operations.  Senior management felt that given the competitiveness in the aerospace market, moving to an ERP system was necessary. 

Bombardier went through multiple rounds of ERP implementations; with the Company’s first attempt – in 2000 – being scrapped mid-project after $130MM had been spent.   After hiring a consulting team, establishing a new “One Company” vision throughout Bombardier, getting senior leadership on board and creating a project plan, Bombardier was ready in late 2001 to move forward with their Bombardier Manufacturing Information System (BMIS) – a new integrated manufacturing system that would be implemented through SAP.  All of these practices proved valuable as the second round of implementation was much more successful.  Bombardier successfully implemented BMIS at its Mirabel plant and followed suit with implementation at Saint-Laurent.

Evaluating the mistakes made in past during implementation, Bombardier would like to further analyze their efforts and look at a Best Practices approach for third ERP phase implementation.

Situation Assessment

Bombardier Aerospace discontinued an ERP project midway at Mirabel plant in 2000 after $130 million because of focusing the implementation on inappropriate business processes, an outdated company vision, a weak sponsorship model and insufficient involvement of internal employees. Bombardier was more successful in ERP implementation at Saint-Laurel plant based on rectification of the mistakes made at Mirabel plant.

As Bombardier is moving with phase implementation approach, they do have more challenges to face as oppose to “big bang approach”. Bombardier with its latest implementation should adapt to best industry practices and make proper allocation for the required resources.

List of Plausible Alternative Courses of Action

Bombardier has to change the ERP implementation approach by adapting the best industry practices against their previous efforts.

Evaluation of Alternative / Recommendation

With past ERP implementation, Bombardier has focused on the implementation on inappropriate business processes. They also had an outdated company vision and a weak sponsorship model with insufficient involvement of internal employees.

For successful ERP implementation for the third phase Bombardier has to follow the following industry practices;

·         Understand Business Processes and Key Requirements

For previous implementation Bombardier has concentrated more on the technical aspects of ERP software, rather than on what requirements are most important to the business. Software features or functionality that don’t align with the company’s business needs often lead to an unnecessary waste of implementation resources, time, and money that might be better spent on other activities such as software customization or training.

·         Ensure Proper Project Management and Resource Commitment

Another characteristic that distinguishes best-in-class ERP implementations is how well the implementation is managed. A prerequisite for a successful ERP implementation is a dedicated project manager who is involved in both planning and ongoing management. In addition, the company must also be willing to commit sufficient resources to the project before, during, and after implementation.

·         Gain Executive and Organizational Commitment

A distinguishing trait of best-in-class ERP implementations is that they have the full support and commitment of the company’s executives. In fact, it can be argued that this characteristic is the most important one for a successful ERP implementation; without this support, ERP initiatives are more likely to be “starved” for corporate funds and resources.

·         Invest in Training and Change Management

ERP implementations don’t just affect systems and business processes; they also involve people who may find it difficult to change roles, processes, and behaviors that they may have learned over many years of work. It’s unreasonable to expect employees to change their behavior during the relatively short duration of an ERP implementation.

Employees need to be introduced to new processes and job roles over a period of time so that they can accept and internalize these developments. Neglecting this aspect of implementation or putting it off until late in the project may result in organizational resistance to the new system, even to the point of operational risk. To be most effective, training should concentrate on business workflows and how these changes affect job roles and the people who do the work.

Additionally Bombardier management had to overcome the Ken Eason's "Initial Dip Phenomenon which shows the impact on organization (performance) with the change.  Bombardier has to overcome or minimize the dip of change to sustain its growth in the ever competitive market.

Information Technology and Organizational Change

 

Presentation

In order to present this case, the consultants should go through some of the Best Practice frameworks that exist and give a detailed approach that Bombardier could use.  It would be helpful to see the successes and missteps along the journey in order to see where the Company did a good job and where improvements could be made.