Industrialization of Roll-outs

Templates accelerate system implementations – if it’s done right.

Wilfried Pfuhl,
Member of the board
inconso AG

Quicker, cheaper, more flexible and transparent…! The pressure on logistics operators is immense. Adequate IT solutions and systems can help to achieve further efficiencies. But: New logistics software and especially the implementation are also significant cost factors. Considerable advantages are hoped for by many companies today when doing software implementations on more than one logistics location: Under the buzzword 'templates', new concepts and methods are developed for efficient roll-outs of logistics solutions.

The implementation of company-wide standardized logistics systems is appealing. Especially for trade and industry corporations or logistics service providers with several locations, even international ones, the thoughts arise about achieving transparency and management possibilities while saving costs at the same time through a standardization of the systems.

This ensures that the major logistics processes such as the goods receiving are designed in the software and operated in the same manner across all locations. The idea is that a comprehensive standardization will simplify the management and accelerate the successive implementations at more locations. As known with Office applications 'templates' can be developed and set up as a blueprint and certain processes, individual steps or the organizational structure can be set up in the same comprehensive standardized way. This procedure is possible both with SAP solutions as well as “best-of-breed“-solutions such as the inconsoWMS Product Suite. In the meantime, this procedure has proven to be successful in several projects. Then, this procedure actually results in several advantages:

•    Company-wide, a standardized logistics network can be achieved quickly.
•    This results in a comprehensive transparency throughout all areas and locations.
•    Overall changes in the requirements can be quickly realized in the entire company and even globally.
•    The network can be extended with new locations with relatively little effort (regardless whether constructed or purchased).
•    Workers or teams that are transferred or help out at other locations are immediately familiar with all the details of the systems.

Logistics service providers also have further advantages. They can implement their services and processes for their customers with the appropriate industry vertical functionality based on templates: New customers and new locations can easily be modified. Even the integration of “small” customers is profitable. For the sales of the services, the template is used as a “sales toolkit“.

//// In short: With templates, transparency is increased, time saved, costs saved and efficiencies won.

This all sounds easy and natural. But, experience shows that the actual conditions are significantly more complex and require a differentiated approach. Even within the same company, the individual logistics locations are different. Based on the task spectrum, local characteristics, history, warehouse and conveyor technology used, proven strategies and processes should be able to be developed. Therefore, the use of templates requires a careful planning, preparation and well-conceived management.

Leading software and consulting companies like inconso have the required combination of far-reaching logistics know-how, extensive IT experience and 4/5 of the wealth of practical successes that are needed to “calculate” such templates. Even when they cover the processes that could be required in every company, such templates always are set up company specific. After all, they should secure existing competitive advantages (for example through special process efficiencies or qualities) and eventually even increase these. Therefore, as a first step, it is important to carefully check and determine what the goals are each company is trying to achieve with the use of templates.

Thus, an analysis of all the general requirements is suggested: How standardized are the processes already? Which deviations exist, which are tolerable, which are desired? Should they eventually still be kept even though a template is used? What does the IT basis for the system look like – how much standardization does it allow?

The analysis and concept phase is decisive for the success of the approach. And, a template requires more time than when no template is used. This is because the standardization requires a significantly higher level of cooperation. The heterogeneity of the different locations, the multitude and differences of the service providers to be connected to or the local modification to certain customer requirements must be considered to achieve the advantages of using a template with limiting the business on-site. Depending upon the results of the analysis, different strategies can be suggested for the template design. Templates can be made up of a general core that is used at a few, individually set up and complex distribution centers and allows a lot of freedom in the design of the individual locations. Where many similar warehouses, such as cross-docking centers, should be connected, the functional depth of templates would be correspondingly larger. During the template development, additional care must be taken: The design of a location must still be configurable although a template is used – the software may not be set up so rigidly.

When the standards have been defined one time, the roll-out can actually be quite faster and risks can be minimized than without a template. Normally, the advantages achieved outweigh the intensive preparation of a template by far. Opposite of the single implementation of a logistic solution at a location, the roll-out of a template to many locations must itself be standardized. This requires the use of an arsenal of usable checklists, project plans and training documents. For the integration of workers, three practical, proven variations are offered: A team can be built that manages the roll-out to all locations; the persons who have successfully done an implementation at one site are sent to the next implementation location to share their experiences; or the persons from the following implementation location can be integrated into the current implementation project in order to gain experience.

Also in the operations of the system on the basis of a template, the correct concept especially with Change Management must be set up. Experience, secure methodologies and the corresponding discipline to integrate the new requirements into the template are important. The release capability of a template with the appropriate software distribution to the corresponding systems is a mandatory technical prerequisite. Requirements of a specific location are not only locally taken care of – the changes are available to all locations with this method. This way can guarantee that the uniformity of a template and the advantages of the comprehensive solution remain intact.