Solution. Industry. Challenges. Client Case Study. Legacy Systems too Costly to Maintain. Supply Chain Advantage. Delivered.

Transcription

1 Supply Chain Advantage. Delivered. Client Case Study MEBC Supprts the Federal Aviatin Administratin Manage Prject Risk during Majr ERP Implementatin thrugh Independent Verificatin and Validatin (IV&V) and Quality Assurance Testing Industry Slutin Service & Distributin Intensive Maintenance Dept & Lgistics Center fr Large Federal Gvernment Agency MEBC Independent Verificatin & Validatin (IV&V) Services MEBC Quality Assurance Testing Services MEBC Prgram Management Supprt Services Challenges In rder t handle the prjected increase in demand fr spare parts planning, system maintenance and lgistics services, the FAA Lgistics Center began a large, multi-year business transfrmatin initiative t replace their 11+ legacy systems with a Cmmercial- Off-The-Shelf (COTS) ERP sftware slutin. Client Results Prject cst avidance f apprximately $5M thrugh MEBC s assessment and recmmendatin t defer the replacement f FAA s legacy WMS with IFS. Over 151 quality assurance and imprvement recmmendatins fr 41 key prject artifacts. Increased requirements and design visibility and traceability thrugh identificatin f 245 ambiguus system requirements. The Federal Aviatin Administratin Lgistics Center (FAALC) plans, implements and cntrls the prcurement, maintenance, distributin f materials and spare parts planning in supprt f the Natinal Airspace System (NAS). It sustains apprximately 8,000 custmers and fills rders fr apprximately 100,000 parts annually t the Air Transprtatin Office, Department f Defense, State and Federal agencies, and freign cuntries. This is achieved thrugh the use f utsurced lgistics supprt services, NAS supply chain management, and thrugh the maintenance and repair f NAS assets, equipment and systems. Client Technlgy Ftprint Legacy Systems t Cstly t Maintain The FAALC Infrmatin Systems Grup determined that the cst t cntinue maintaining its legacy systems had becme prhibitive in rder t supprt the next generatin f the FAA s MEBC Prvides IV&V Services fr the FAA s Lgistics Center ERP Transfrmatin Client Case Study 1 Replaced 11 legacy, mainframe systems. IFS v7.5 (with an eventual upgrade t Applicatin 8) fr: Enterprise Resurce Planning Enterprise Asset Management Supply Chain / Spares Planning

2 field system maintenance peratins. With the help f MEBC, the FAA began a market research activity t replace their existing legacy systems with mdern, cmmercially available technlgies. After a thrugh sftware vendr evaluatin, the FAA selected Industrial Financial Slutins (IFS) as their ERP sftware vendr. The FAA Lgistics Center refers t this majr rganizatinal and technlgy transfrmatin as the Lgistics Center Supprt System (LCSS) Prgram. Cmplex System Requirements Management The FAALC s bjective and requirements fr their ERP system intended t prvide increased capability t cnduct Asset Management, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), and Supply Chain Management (including spares planning, surcing and rder management). Alng with replacing mre than 11 legacy systems, the selected (ERP) sftware - Industrial failures s that defects may be crrected befre deplying the prductin system. MEBC Selected as IV&V Partner As a prgram risk mitigatin strategy fr their Prgram, the FAALC decided t cntract an independent and bjective partner t prvide the LCSS Prgram with nging assessment f the prject management functins, business prcess reengineering activities and system develpment thrughut the Design, Develpment and Implementatin Phases. Having the extensive knwledge f the FAALC peratin and familiarity with their business and system requirements that we gained during ur supprt f the ERP Acquisitin Phase, MEBC was selected as the best-value cntractr t prvide Independent Verificatin and Validatin (IV&V) services. Our bjective was t ensure that the LCSS slutin satisfied FAA business requirements thrugh analyzing and testing the system t ensure that it perfrms its intended functins As the Prgram s risk mitigatin resurce, MEBC s rle was t elevate prject issues and risks t the Prject Management Office (PMO) and Executive Steering Cmmittee. We develped recmmendatins and strategies fr the PMO t supprt their decisins and adjustments t sftware implementatin activities in rder t prevent impacts t the prject schedule and ttal cst. Financial System (IFS) - required integratin with ther FAA enterprise systems fr prcurement, warehuse management and financial management. The ttal transfrmatin effrt included business prcess redesign, cnfiguratin r custmizatin f IFS t meet functinal r interface requirements, rerganizatin f the wrkfrce and imprved crdinatin with ther FAA supprt rganizatins. The cmplexity f this transfrmatin effrt required rigrus quality assurance testing and prject risk management t prvide early detectin f prcess r sftware MEBC Prvides IV&V Services fr the FAA s Lgistics Center ERP Transfrmatin Client Case Study 2

3 crrectly, that it perfrms n unintended functins, and t measure its quality and reliability. As the Prgram s risk mitigatin resurce, MEBC s rle was t elevate prject issues and risks t the Prject Management Office (PMO) and Executive Steering Cmmittee. We develped recmmendatins and strategies fr the PMO t supprt their decisins and adjustments t sftware implementatin activities in rder t prevent impacts t the prject schedule and ttal cst. IV&V Prvides Experience & Perspective t Augment the Prject Team MEBC s cnsultants have n average ver 15 years f experience in Enterprise Asset Management, Enterprise Resurce Planning, and Supply Chain Planning expertise acrss multiple cmmercial sftware packages (SAP, ORACLE, IFS, JDA, JD Edwards, Red Prairie, i2). Our IV&V supprt f FAA LCSS builds upn ur experience threading quality assurance int large-scale business system transfrmatin initiatives fr ther rganizatins such as the Defense Lgistics Agency EBS Prgram, NAVY ERP, and a glbal health and beauty cnsumer prducts cmpany - just a few examples f ur previus clients. MEBC s apprach t IV&V utilizes best practice systems engineering principles and implementatin methdlgies and ges beynd technlgy t include peple and prcesses t verify the cmpleteness f prject deliverables and t validate that ur client receives the right technlgy slutin fr their requirements. IV&V Tasks & Deliverables The MEBC IV&V Team delivered the fllwing: 1) a quality assurance prcess fr managing the cmpleteness and accuracy f prgram artifacts and deliverables and 2) a prcess fr identifying prject risks and mitigatin planning based n industry best practices as they relate t finance / prcurement, supply chain planning, and maintenance / dept repair capabilities and prcesses within an ERP system architecture. MEBC s regular deliverables included mnthly system architecture reprts highlighting any identified risks r issues, their status, and intended next steps fr recmmending mitigatin actins. Our apprach t IV&V is early detectin and elevatin f perceived prject risks t reduce the need fr rewrk r impacts t prject schedule and cst. We participated in mnthly meetings t discuss prject milestnes, successes and risks in a rund table frmat with bth FAA leadership and system integratr prject management thrugh all phases f the prject. Blueprint Design Phase IV&V Our cre deliverables during the Blueprint Phase f the LCSS Prgram fcused n tw main prject tracks: System / Business Prcess Design and Organizatinal Readiness t receive the LCSS slutin. T ensure sftware quality assurance, MEBC participated in business prcesses wrkshps and system blueprinting design sessins. During these sessins the IV&V team assessed the verall LCSS Blueprint s ability t satisfy LCSS business system requirements and reprted findings t FAA Prject Leadership fr risk cnsideratin and mitigatin planning. MEBC Prvides IV&V Services fr the FAA s Lgistics Center ERP Transfrmatin Client Case Study 3

4 Specific Example f IV&V: During the curse f the system blueprint wrkshps, the FAA and system integratr were examining the FAALC s Warehuse Management System (WMS) a cmpnent f the FAA s system architecture that was nt part f the riginal LCSS prject scpe. The FAA tasked MEBC with independently evaluating the ptential t replace FAA s legacy WMS slutin with the IFS System capability. The result f ur analysis cncluded that while technically and functinally feasible t be cnsidered in the future, the LCSS Prgram was nt prepared rganizatinally r financially t pursue adding this additinal scpe t the prject. While ur recmmendatin t defer replacing the legacy WMS slutin with the IFS capability was nt widely ppular, FAA leadership did heed ur advice and as the prgram prgressed t the implementatin phase, it became clear that ur recmmendatin was crrect ultimately saving the LCSS Prgram millins f dllars and many mnths, ptentially years, in achieving riginal prject bjectives. Thrughut the Blueprint phase, MEBC s IV&V team regularly prvided quality assurance and imprvement recmmendatins t increase the value f deliverables prvided by the system integratr. Our assessment f these deliverables, which included system design artifacts, prcess wrkflws, and interface specificatin, ultimately prvided recmmendatins t imprve the cmpleteness and accuracy f deliverables befre final submissin the FAA. Implementatin Phase IV&V During this prject phase MEBC validated and verified system implementatin activities thrugh an analysis f system cmpnents and dcumentatin related t system architecture, requirements traceability, system cnfiguratin, and integratin with ther FAA enterprise systems. MEBC IV&V prvided industry best practice recmmendatins and risk assessments f the LCSS Prgram that included: Sftware and system integratr vendr management best practices; Quality assurance ver the system integratr implementatin methdlgies and deliverables; Applicatin f systems engineering best practices fr sftware verificatin and validatin (MEBC s IV&V fllws standards established by IEEE Standard ); Independent industry expertise and guidance in the verall implementatin f ERP Sftware and Business Architecture; IFS functinal cnsulting and system cnfiguratin recmmendatins; Requirements management, ad-hc testing and defect identificatin; Organizatinal readiness supprt and system lifecycle planning beynd just implementatin; and Lng-term FAALC strategy recmmendatins, risk assessment services, and mentring t LCSS Executive Management. Specific Example f IV&V: At a critical pint in the Implementatin Phase, MEBC IV&V was asked by the Prgram t cnduct an end-t-end rle based MEBC Prvides IV&V Services fr the FAA s Lgistics Center ERP Transfrmatin Client Case Study 4

5 test n Deplyment #3 f the prject (the system integratr prpsed t use an Agile methdlgy fr the implementatin f IFS fr the FAA). The purpse f this test was t evaluate the cmpleteness f the business prcess design and validate the User Acceptance Test (UAT) cases. IV&V cnducted three runds f testing t assess the preparedness f the LCSS Prgram t enter UAT as a critical milestne t deplying capability t the FAALC users in a Prductin envirnment. Out testing uncvered several prcess and system defects that wuld have resulted in users nt accepting the design and ptential failures in the prductin system. IV&V prvided a detailed reprt that highlighted key prject deficiencies that ultimately led t the decisin by the Prgram Management Office and the Executive Team t delay release f Deplyment 3 in rder t reevaluate the system requirements and prcess design. The IV&V Team made several recmmendatins t imprve requirements management t establish a baseline f testable requirements and imprve verall LCSS reliability. These recmmendatins were incrprated int the agile prject planning fr the fllwing deplyments and wuld be used t refine and imprve the design fr Deplyment 3. Client Results MEBC s IV&V Team prvided detailed system quality assurance, ERP cnfiguratin expertise, and business advisry supprt thrughut the design and develpment phases f this prject. Specifically, ur IV&V services n the FAA LCSS Prgram resulted in the fllwing: Prject cst avidance f apprximately $5M thrugh ur assessment and recmmendatin t defer replacing FAA s legacy WMS with IFS; Identified pprtunities t supprt future WMS imprvement prject t achieve greater efficiency in Distributin Operatins independent f supprting system cnsideratins; Over 151 quality assurance and imprvement recmmendatins fr 41 key prject artifacts; Early detectin f system defects fr Deplyment 3 that resulted in an Executive decisin t re-baseline the Deplyment and create a mre cmplete set f testable requirements that matched the user s needs; Increased requirements and design visibility and traceability thrugh identificatin f 245 ambiguus system requirements f the ttal 580 system requirements (ambiguus requirements were slated fr later deplyments s early detectin allwed the prgram t refine these int testable requirements within the existing schedule and budget). MEBC apprach t IV&V during the curse f an Agile system implementatin demnstrates ur ability t tailr ur services t client needs and adapt quickly t changing prject envirnments while still adding value t ur client engagements. Abut MEBC, Inc. Funded in 2002, MEBC is an emplyee wned prfessinal services rganizatin. We fcus n prviding wrld class supply chain planning system implementatin, C-Level advisry services, and IT & ERP prject supprt fr glbal leaders in Manufacturing Sales Distributin Service Surcing intensive industry verticals. MEBC has participated n sme f the largest technlgy transfrmatin prjects in the wrld. Our cnsultants have prvided IT services, IV&V, ERP functinal and cnfiguratin expertise, and Enterprise inf@mebcglbal.cm Change Management advisry services fr the Defense Lgistics Agency (DLA), Navy ERP, and the Federal Aviatin Administratin (FAA). Alng with ur Federal gvernment experience, we have perfrmed ver 50 (866) cmmercial prject engagements. MEBC Prvides IV&V Services fr the FAA s Lgistics Center ERP Transfrmatin Client Case Study 5 MEBC is headquartered in the suburbs f Philadelphia, PA with partner ventures in Suth America and Eurpe t supprt ur glbal clients. Learn mre at