Whether or not it’s painting the kitchen or deploying an enterprise supply chain management system, the top three reasons for success prevail. It’s also not only the three ‘R’s’; Right timing, Right place and Right resources that will make these deployments successful.

From some very capable industry Project Managers I have had their opinion of the top three reasons of a successful deployment:

1. Communication
2. Customer Commitment
3. Clearly Defined Requirements

My wife one day called me at work and told me to pick up an order for her at a local paint store.  When I arrived to pick up the order the sales people were smirking.  I soon discovered why when the laughing lady told me to drive around the back of the store and my order was on the dock…… it was 10 gallons of paint in various colours along with various sizes of brushes and rollers.

This was the first time I had heard of my new project but I knew one thing was for sure.  I was the main supplier for the upcoming deployment, so already we had the making for success as not only was the material in place but without conversation the communication that I had been selected for this deployment was definitely received (In this case no written contract was required).

I also did not have to question at all if this deployment had Customer Commitment, obviously the customer had a large input in the design.  The only commitment question at this point was whether I would be the one that would be committed and probably not to the project but to some establishment that would specialize in the commitment area!

The third part of the success would be the Clearly Defined Requirements.  On my arrival home and after stacking the 10 gallons of paint safely in the garage, again I realized how much of a success this deployment was going to be.  Each wall that the paint was to be adorned to had paint chips taped to them with not only the colour but also the mix and model number attached.  Shortly after I had digested all of that came the time table, aggressive but achievable.

So keep in mind the top three things of a successful deployment when you are implementing a supply chain management solution.  It does not matter the colour and the brush you use as long as you are driven by the Commitment, Communication and the Clearly Defined Requirements.

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Tags: Supply chain management
Posted in Best practices
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