LAB-01 UNIT 1: IMPLEMENTATION LIFE CYCLE Case Study: NUDO PRODUCTS "ERP is a daunting task at any time but Nudo recognizes the exponential risks associated with going live at the peak of the construction season. Market Custom manufacturer of wall, ceiling, mezzanine, and decking paneling that produces product to stock and to a specific customer order. Currently manufactures their products at a single facility Problem In 2008, Nudo was acquired by a private equity firm. The new owner quickly brought in new management to formulate and implement a growth strategy. From the start the new management team realized they were handicapped by an old legacy system that did not meet the needs of a growing diversified manufacturing company. The legacy system did not provide multi-site support, WIP control, easy user access to information, and flexible production scheduling capabilities. As the company began to implement its growth strategy they were impacted by the economic downturn in the construction industry. Nonetheless the team could not wait. They needed a modern information system to support their growth strategies and they needed to move quickly. Solution In early 2010 the new management team conducted a search for a "vendor independent" ERP expert that could assist with their need to quickly transform their information system. They selected Ultra Consulting, experts in ERP selection projects for midmarket manufacturing companies. Most important to the management team was Ultra's focus on reducing "time to benefit". They felt Ultra's methodology could get them to the finish line quicker" and it could be completed between season's. Ultra's process focused on current state documentation, educating the project team in ERP best practices, and the development of a detail futures state map and definition, all designed to expedite the selection and implementation process. Ultra facilitated a review of popular ERP products, so the team could quickly arrive at a short list of three vendors. After the initial round of demonstrations, the top ranking finalist presented a weeklong "day-in-the-life" walkthrough of the system incorporating Nudo's proposed future state maps and business processes. By walking through this process, the Nudo team had a concrete understanding of how the system would work in their environment as well as a head start on the implementation process. Benefits through Ultra's process, Nudo believes they made a more educated decision, bought a manageable solution that could evolve with their business model, as well as saving their people's time and money. Nudo was able to complete the entire process from documenting their current and future state business processes, to selecting a final vendor in 3 months After the contracts were signed, Ultra's project manager had the Nudo team and the vendor team immersed in the implementation the following week. Because of the upfront time to focus on their business processes, Nudo was able to evaluate, select and implement a new information system in just 8 months from the initiation of the selection project. Nudo is expecting a significant return on their ERP investment. Ultra and the Nudo team are focused on achieving business performance improvement in: 1 Productivity Supply chain Customer delivery Decision making as a result of their rapid ERP deployment. Questions 1. Read the case study and analyze the problems that exist with the legacy system at Nodu Company 2. Illustrate the possible reasons that Nodu think to implement and use ERP system at the peak season of construction. 3. Construct Implementation life cycle approach by using MS. Visio