Operational transformation

With the acceleration of crises impacting supply chains, operations management has become a time-consuming activity, requiring a high level of responsiveness that is generally not conducive to parallel project management.

Moreover, transformation projects are complex and critical, as the Supply Chain interfaces with the rest of the company’s functions. The implications are numerous, and each project requires resources to deal with them.

Today’s supply chain managers are faced with a “resource dilemma”: whether to second high-level operational resources to a transformation project, or leave them to run day-to-day operations. In the latter case, it may be necessary to recruit staff, but without any certainty that the position will be filled on time.

Reinforcing your project team with operational consultants relieves the burden on your team, and provides you with the right skills to lead the transformation, either for the duration of the project, or for a specific phase requiring one-off assistance.

In order to prepare for the deployment phase, we recommend the following prerequisites:

• Designate a “deployment” project manager and prepare for his or her link-up with the “design” project manager, if the two functions cannot be performed by the same person.
• Ensure your ability to address issues in a cross-functional way, and your ability to dialogue with project verticals or company departments.
• Anticipate the deployment phase right from the project design phase, enabling a gradual ramp-up, appropriate allocation of resources in terms of quantity and skills, and more efficient management of project costs.
• Identify the jobs that can be supplied in-house and those that need to be outsourced, as well as the duration of this transitional phase.
• Characterize requirements for these different positions.