Launching a CUSTOM
Supplier Management System
Christopher Pang
BAMS 522
Project Background
Vancouver-headquartered contract electronics manufacturer rapidly expanding through acquisitions in US, China and Mexico in recent years
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Project Background
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Lack of strong centralized process for managing suppliers led to loose integration of different supplier management systems
- Increasingly large number of 7,000+ common suppliers and inconsistencies across the organization led to frequent external audit failures, putting at risk quality certifications
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Project Goals
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Develop and launch a centralized supplier management system to integrate processes across the enterprise
- Build cohesive management and approval workflows for monitoring suppliers using web-based forms and automated re-qualification alerts
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Project Leadership
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VP Global Supply Chain was
"project champion" and supportive of using new technologies
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Management team also assembled from Supply Chain Leaders, Quality Leaders and Process Leaders from local business units
- First researched off-the-shelf products, but later decided to build custom .NET web application to create competitive advantage
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Project MODEL
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Clear goals, but unclear solution as few precedents of custom-built applications within organization
- Development followed iterative process (frequent demos) to ensure goals and solution were aligned
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Project Outcomes
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Application launch was successful and project received praise on ease of use and simplicity of new workflows
- System helped to proactively prepare for audits: less fear of external auditors!
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Project Management
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As news of project leaked, number of additional features were requested, mitigated scope creep by channeling into phase two deployment
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Easier to gain cross-enterprise support and resources because leadership consisted of leaders from various local business units and departments
- Frequent communication to remove roadblocks and minimize risk of custom software development and process change
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