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You will be reading this guide because you are interested in implementing a safety and integrated maintenance system or examining new possibilities. At first you may be tempted to think that introducing a new system would be a fairly simple process. After all work management is a key part of your business so you already understand the issues involved.
However it won't take much thought for you to realize that there are some interesting challenges to be confronted in this kind of implementation. Here are a few examples:
- What are your aims for the new system and how are you going to measure whether you have achieved them?
- Your new system will need data but where is the data going to come from, how are you going to structure it and who is going to enter it into the system?
- Which of your people have the skills and knowledge to carry out the implementation and have the time to get involved?
- Who will run the system when it has been implemented and who is going to train your staff to use it. Do they have the necessary computer skills?
- Is the system going to run on a network or be web enabled? Do you need to set up a Client Server based architecture? Is your hardware up to the job of supporting the new system?
There will be countless other issues to confront as well. At this stage you may be feeling that the whole process sounds rather daunting but this is where Engica come in. We have the necessary skills and experience to support your system implementation ranging from carrying out a total managed implementation to providing the software and basic support that you need to complete the project. In either case your project will get our full attention.
Engica are a software company specializing in the development of safety management, maintenance management and logistic management systems but we are also much more than that. Most of our staff come from a maintenance background in industries ranging from oil, power to transport, and understand the issues and challenges that you will confront. We also have partnerships with other companies who can provide a wide range of expertise in the field of safety and maintenance.
This guide aims to give you an overview of a structure that can be adopted for a system implementation, the issues you will need to confront and the support that Engica can provide to help you achieve your aims.
Before we begin to examine the implementation proper it is worth noting a few basic concepts that relate to every project no matter how large or small. These concepts fall under the headings of Streams, Stages and Phases.
Streams - "Things that need thinking about"
During the course of any project there are many tasks to be performed that relate to one another, and it helps to think of them in several streams. Examples would be Project Management, Data, Training, Documentation etc. At each stage of the project these topics will come up again and again.
Stages - "Things that need to be done before going on to the next bit"
It makes a lot of sense to break a project up into various stages between its beginning and the delivery of some benefits. Each stage should be designed so that it is competed before the next one begins. The benefits gained from this approach are that success can be measured more easily through the use of milestones and review points and that focus is provided on the "now" tasks. See the next section for more details on stages.
Phases - "A bunch of stages that produce some real benefits from using the system"
A common mistake in system implementations is to produce a list of benefits and aims and go for them all at once. As a result the project can take forever, lose direction and fail to deliver anything.
The solution is not to cut down on the benefits but to "phase" the project. The first phase should deliver the most important (or easily attainable) benefits in a reasonably short time. This phase will include all of the stages of the project, through to going live. Other phases can add longer term or harder to gain benefits. After "phase one", the effort and external assistance reduces significantly, as the first phase will have established the core business processes and systems.
Obviously every system implementation will have its own characteristics and challenges. However it is possible to say that each project will pass through a series of common stages which are as follows.
The Definition stage establishes the ground rules for the implementation and is crucial to the eventual success of the project. It’s at this stage that you will define your overall requirements and decide how you are going to measure and monitor performance. A clear specification of the user requirements and functional requirements will be the end product of this stage.
The Preparation stage sees planning becomes reality. This is where software is written and/or customized, draft procedures produced, data collected and configured, software tested and pilot users trained.
The Pilot stage allows you to work out if the preparation stage came up with the right answers. By running a pilot at a carefully selected site the system can be proven and changed before roll out to other sites or areas in your company.
Having proven the system it’s now time for the Implementation stage, which sees the new system, rolled out to the rest of the company. However this needs to be planned carefully or new problems will arise when success is so nearly in your hands.
The system is now in operation, procedures are in place and the system is fully supported.
You will now move to the Support stage in which the aim is to ensure that the newly implemented system stays up and running, delivers the business benefits you expected to see and to plan for further phases of the project and future initiatives.
To look at the detail behind each of the stages in an implementation please select the appropriate item below.
DEFINITION:
Defining and agreeing project objectives, success criteria and constraints
PREPARATION:
Putting into place everything needed to make effective use of the system
PILOT:
Testing all previous assumptions about users, process and data to show that system can run effectively
IMPLEMENTATION:
Establishing the system in effective operation as required by business objectives
SUPPORT:
Keeping the system in effective use
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