Bombardier Report

Ismael Rodríguez Olga Fetisova Discussion One a) Discussion of company’s initial situation Bombardier, a company that started in the rail transportation market, obtains about 50 o! their revenue !rom the aircra!t design and manu!acturing industry" It is the third largest company in the aircra!t industry, and the leading producer o! regional aircra!ts" In their initial situation, they #ere !acing a strong competition !rom $irbus, Boeing, and specially %mbraer" In addition, as they led the regional aircra!t industry and regional and lo#&cost carriers #ere gro#ing !aster, there #as an opportunity opportunity !or Bombardier to gro# and survive in that highly&competitive environment" 'o do so, they needed to make changes to their legacy in!ormation systems, that #ere outdated, not integrated and didn(t evolve to cope #ith the changes o! the business" b) What are the current challenges? 'he main strategic challenge is to be able to cope #ith the competitive environment o! the $ircra!t manu!acturing industry, especially #ith their near competitors" $lso, one important challenge is to take advantage o! the rising o! the regional and lo#&cost !lights to be able to gro# and overtake the competitors" 'o succeed #ith those challenges, several other goals have to be accomplished) replacing the old system s ystem #ith one that allo#s the company to gro#, reduce the data errors introduced by humans, and align the operations o! its ac*uired companies by implementing common roles, responsibilities and company values" It is necessary to create an integrated organization" c) To what extent is Bombardier an integrated company?  +ot much" Bombardier has been ac*uiring di!!erent companies since its !oundation -anadair, .hort Brothers, /ear et -orporation, etc"1" 'his led to integration problems, as systems !rom the ac*uired companies did not communicate #ith the e2isting ones e!!ectively, and the values, roles, and processes o! such !ormer companies #ere very di!!erent !rom Bombardier ones" In addition, there #as a proli!eration o! stand&alone databases !or very speci!ic !unctions, instead o! an integrated repository o! data" 3i!!erent !unctions had di!!erent databases, and di!!erent branches o! the company company in di!!erent di!!erent locations locations had also di!!erent di!!erent repositories, repositories, causing data errors, errors, omissions omissions and repetitions" d) What are the challenges associated with integration? Integration is not only a matter o! a technology implementation4 it implies altering tradition, the #ay employees #ork, their roles, business processes, and many aspects o! the organization" 'he integration has to be grounded on a very strong business !oundation, company vision has to be up&to&date and internal employees have to be involved in order to succeed" $lso, a lot o! money, time, and e!!ort is re*uired" e) What are the expected benefits of integration? 'he main bene!it is that the system #ould !ollo# the pace o! the business and #ould allo# its gro#th" 3ata could be shared seamlessly across branches, sites, products and departments, and routine and clerical tasks could be automatized, hence allocating more time !or analytic tasks" eld inventory could  be reduced, e2penses could be minimised, and the overall company e!!iciency #ould be increased, leading to higher bene!its" Discussion Two a) What were the strong points in the implementation process for the Mirabel rollout and what points needed impro!emen i mpro!ement? t? On one hand, the progressive implementation starting in 6irabel1 and the no&disrupting schedule #ere very good strategies" -reating a separated data cleansing and preparation team #as also a good idea that

improved the *uality o! data" 'he pro7ect #as based on blueprints o! the business processes, #hat lead to more accuracy and better results" Finally, the high *uantity o! meetings, the support people a!ter  deploying and the .$8 consultants during the development #ere o! great help" On the other hand, there #ere many delays and late decisions on the implementation, #hat derived in doing some tasks !ast and badly in order to meet the deadline" 'he training had very bad documentation, there #as too much in!ormation provided to employees and users #ere not motivated, !eeling that they #ere not taken into account #hile the %R8 #as designed" b) "ow was the pro#ect team managed and is the pro#ect team’s pace sustainable in the longer run? $ special team !ocused on all the aspects related to the system preparation and deployment #as created" It #as composed by the members o! the Business 'rans!ormation .ervices department and employees !rom the business that #ere reallocated to #ork !ull&time on such pro7ect" 'here #ere !re*uent meetings, monthly reports o! progress, and each documentation and process #as revie#ed by several stakeholders" -ommunication played an important role on the team" 'he pace #as not sustainable in the longer run, as it involved !ull&time dedication o! very valuable employees to the pro7ect" 'he cost o! maintaining the pro7ect team #as very high, not only due to the e2pertise o! people that composed it, but also because other people needed to supply the !unctions that those people can(t do #hile #orking on the pro7ect" c$%) "ow were the new processes defined to ensure a global !ision? 'he ne# processes #ere de!ined using the blueprint techni*ue" 'hey #ere de!ined by the pro7ect team, and an integration team composed by responsible people o! di!!erent areas validated those designs" $lso, managers !rom the business #ere invited to participate in #orkshops #here issues #ere discussed" c$&) "ow should a !ision be communicated? 9e think that a vision should be communicated in a long period o! time, and the key !actor is sho#ing the employees ho# the ne# vision #ould a!!ect their lives, making them understand that it #ould be  bene!icial !or them" For that, communication should be based on presentations, ne#sletters, emails and meetings" c$') "ow were the new roles defined? (ommunicated? nderstood? Roles #ere de!ined #hile the restructuring o! the processes #as taking place" o#ever, some o! the ne# roles #ere still being de!ined #hile users #ere being taught ho# to use the system" 'raining sessions #ere held, #here po#er users used conducted classes and trainings to sho# the users ho# to use the system" Roles #ere not communicated or understood correctly, though, and users #ere not a#are o! the impact o! their tasks" 'raining #as !ocused on transactions, not on roles"

Discussion Three a) What were the strong points in the second implementation process and what areas needed impro!ement? .igni!icant lessons have been learned and took into account #hen setting the second part o! the implementation" 'he core o! the !ocus #as user preparation as one o! the most signi!icant points to !ocus on" 6anagers o! .aint&/aurent plant took the initiative instead o! I' department as the !ocus #as on the sta!! itsel!, #hich #as one o! the strongest points on this stage" +o# education and trainings #ere tailored to the speci!ic tasks and the special approach #as conducted" 6oreover, the company #as not in a hurry to implement everything and they took it step by step" 'he improvements could be done regarding the in!ormation received by the users and sta!! o! the company" 6ost o! the sta!! pointed out that the trainings #ere done be!ore the :o /ive version, nevertheless they #ould pre!er to split in be!ore and a!ter they put their hands on the tool"

b) What was the main difference between the two phases with respect to the definition of the user roles? In the !irst phase users #ere not ready !or all the changes, the y did not receive the right amount o! in!ormation, thus, some o! the processes #ere done manually, #hich caused !urther errors and mistakes" 8rocesses #ere not synchronized together, thus in the ne2t phase those mistakes had to be reduced" .ta!!  !elt that the ne# roles #ere less i mportant and less prestigious than the previous once" 'here!ore, in the second phase they !ocused on #hat #as considered to be #rong be!ore" 'he users no# #ere better prepared" 'he regular meetings and reports have been done on time" +e# roles #ere  properly assigned to the employees" 'he di!!erences bet#een the phases are that the messages #are sent to everyone and everyone #as involved, the pro7ect task #as clearly e2plained and #ell understood among all the departments" %ducation and training #as the priority, changes to various roles #ere done be!ore the implementation, thus, everyone #are a#are o! his;her task" c) What was the role of the plant manager? 8lant manager has set the correct