Changing over to the new DIRECT systems and processes for supply chain projects

- Projects are how we make changes to systems and processes in a supply chain. In this video, we'll talk about the fifth element of the direct model, the change that occurs as a result of a project, and I'll give you some tips to make sure that your changes go smoothly. The point when a project really involves a lot of change for a lot of people is often called the implementation, the launch, the startup, or the go live. During the go live, lots of critical activities will be happening in a very short period of time. Let's go back to our example of Two Trees Olive Oil's new manufacturing facility. That project could last for a year and will have major milestones like purchasing the real estate, completing construction, and installing equipment. There are a lot of tasks that will take a long time to complete, and they need to happen in a specific order, but all of that work probably won't have much of an impact on anyone who isn't part of the project team. But then there's the go live. When we bring the new facility online for the first time, people will need to start using new equipment and following new processes. They may need to hire additional staff, which means they need to train new employees. Basically, there are a whole lot of changes happening very suddenly for lots of people who weren't part of the project team. Here are some tips for managing the change in your projects. First, treat the go live as a separate project. You need to pay attention to lots of details and you need to respond quickly to any issues. Make sure that you know who the go live team members are and how to contact them. You may even want to build a separate project plan, specifically for managing the go live. Next, test all of the pieces and then test the entire system. This is often called user acceptance testing. For Two Trees, this might involve testing each piece of equipment that they've installed and then performing a mock manufacturing run, starting from the receiving of the raw materials and going the whole way through delivering finished bottles of olive oil to their distribution center. You want to see everything working together properly in as close to a production environment as possible before the go live. Next, have a plan for how you will communicate with the entire team. Maybe you want to have a daily standup meeting to check in with all of the functional groups. Something as simple as having everyone's email address and phone number can make a big difference in resolving go live issues quickly and have contingency plans for what you'll do if you run into issues. For example, what would be the backup plan for the Two Trees team if their new olive washer doesn't work properly? What if people get sick during the go live or if there's a power outage? Finally, plan for a decrease in performance. I know that sounds strange because the goal of many projects is to improve performance, but during the go live, there's often a period where our processes are less efficient than they had been before. This is called the delta dip. As we continue to use the new processes and systems, performance will improve and will become more efficient than we were before. In other words, performance improves as we move up a learning curve. Supply chain projects change processes and systems that are working a certain way today. We know that they'll work differently once our project is complete, but we need to pay close attention to the change from the current state to the future state in order to direct our project successfully.