BY PETER BRADLEY, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
strategicinsight
Systematic
integration
Looking at a systems integration
project in your DC? Here are
some tips for keeping the
project running smoothly and
on schedule.
EVEN THINKING ABOUT A MAJOR SYSTEMS
integration project can be daunting. The process of
bringing together multiple technologies—material
handling equipment plus a wide array of software—
The goal is to link these disparate pieces into a seamless
whole. Business success—not to mention careers—depends on
successful execution. To borrow a phrase, failure is not an option.
So what does successful implementation take? We asked a number of
experts who specialize in systems integration what their customers need to
do in advance of and during a major project to ensure that it runs as smooth-
ly as possible. Here’s what they said:
Make the case. Major projects require substantial capital, and that means senior
management buy-in. But significant changes in operations affect many parts of the
company beyond the DC—sales, marketing, operations, IT, and more—and project
leaders should ask managers in all of these functions to weigh in on a proposal.
David Farmer, vice president of sales and marketing for Fortna, which describes
itself as a supply chain design and implementation specialist, emphasizes the need for
managers to view the project through both what he calls the business lens and the
functional lens. “The business lens is about service, cost, revenue, reducing
risk, and strategy,” he explains. The functional lens focuses on how the
overall system will work to meet the business objectives.
James Bowes, president of Peach State Integrated
Technologies, adds that it’s important that the
project planners look out over a
sufficient time horizon. “If you’re
going to make an investment of
