keda's SAP implementation

The required layout for this section is an essay in question / answer format (apprx.1000 words). The assignment should be produced to a professional standard and contain a title, table of contents, page numbering, etc. All referencing must be applied using the standard Harvard format Marks for the assignment will be guided by the following criteria: * suitability, explanation, academic theory and justification of topic * explanation of terms * quality of written presentation including use of diagrams and tables * organisation of material * pertinent business examples Name: Course: Instructor: Date: Keda's SAP Implementation Question 1 ERP projects are expensive and risky. Why did Keda decide to embark on an ERP implementation project? KEDA is a Chinese company that was founded in the year 1992 as a small manufacturer of machinery. At the time of its founding, European companies dominated the ceramics industry. Following the business model adopted by these companies, KEDA enjoyed significant growth especially in the Chinese industry. With time, the company surpassed the international competitors to become one of the leading global manufacturers of ceramics machinery. The company mainly depended on various fundamental business functions such as research and development, inventory management, purchase of raw materials, a wide range of assembly lines and production processes, sales and marketing, and logistics. These various functions operated in an autonomous and flexible manner and were quite effective in enabling the company achieve product perfection and customer satisfaction in the global market. Moreover, the company had invested heavily in business innovation whereby it invited scholars to conduct researche in its workstations with research topics ranging from product innovation to human resource management and supply chain management (Fung 2). However, KEDA began experiencing challenges with its silo-based model driving the company management to implement Enterprise Resource Management. The company culture that involved freewheeling entrepreneurial and decentralized decision making began to negatively impact on the company’s performance while at the same time increasing the operational costs. The disconnected business units resulted in duplication of processes and tasks that were highly redundant exposing the company to unnecessary risks and expenses. Moreover, there was limited flow of information between the various business units and departments preventing the management from making well informed, timely, and holistic business decisions. The absence of integration further prevented the company management from making strategic actions. For instance, when assessing whether to compete for orders for the sale of polishing machines in the global market, the company management was unable to evaluate its accurate cost and potential and based the final quote on a mere hunch (Anderson, Charles, and Tim 21). The lack of integration further prevented the company from effectively competing both locally and globally. In order to maintain market leadership, it was critical for the company to spearhead innovation in the areas of product development, business operations and management. This was in addition to increased information pertaining to production, sales and customer needs. As Zhu clearly stated, the effective management of the company required the flow of required information to the company decision makers at every stage of the decision making process. The second driver for ERP implementation was pressure from the national government agencies. During this time, the Chinese government encouraged the local companies to focus on innovation with the aim of competing effectively with the foreign companies. The third driver was the challenges pertaining to inventory management. The company was unable to effectively keep track of its various individual business units that were characterized by high customization. Question 2 a What were the major challenges faced by Keda in each stage of its ERP project? The implementation of an ERP project is a highly complex task and is plagued by various challenges. This can be evidenced in KEDA’s case. One of the challenges that the company faced was that of time constraint. The company’s MRPII solution could no longer handle the increasing growth of the company and increasing product demand. The company therefore needed to replace it with another more effective solution within a short period. This urgency prompted the company to adopt the big bang approach while testing the system and training its personnel at the same time. The wide range raw materials and large quantity of parts that were maintained in each of the business units presented the company with a unique challenge of selecting the appropriate ERP software. The company handled a vast amount of data that presented a challenge to ERP implementation. Moreover, the company maintained poor quality data and its translation to ERP was highly taxing (Portougal, and David 12). The third challenge pertained to user resistance. This is a challenge that is characteristic to the implementation of new projects. User resistance was experienced in various stages of the implementation process. For example, the company staff strongly opposed the collocation scheme. Secondly, staff members also opposed the project during its roll out stage on the basis that it had rendered the processes more tedious. Question 2 b What factors contributed to the project’s success in the face of these major challenges? Despite these and other challenges, the company was able to successfully implement the ERP due to various factors. One of the critical success factors was the top management support. KEDA’s senior executives exhibited immense support for the project and were actively involved throughout its implementation. Secondly, the company adopted a team approach where all members of staff were involved. Thirdly, there were clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the various departments and employees. ERP consultants served as coaches while the IT department assumed a supportive role while the users served at the core. Works Cited Anderson, George W, Charles D. Nilson, and Tim Rhodes. Sap Implementation Unleashed: A Business and Technical Roadmap to Deploying Sap. Indianapolis, Ind: Sams, 2009. Print. Fung, Terrance. Keda's Sap Implementation. London, Ont: Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, University of Western Ontario, 2011. Print. Portougal, Victor, and David Sundaram. Business Processes: Operational Solutions for Sap Implementation. Hershey, Pa: IGI Global (701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 17033, USA, 2006. Print.