Project Management Assignment: Implementation Plan for SAP ERP System in Yes Chemist Pty Ltd

Question

Task: Write a well-researchedproject management assignment presenting the implementation plan for SAP ERP system in the Yes Chemist Pty Ltd by VUISC Pty Ltd.

Answer

Introduction
The project management assignmentdeals with the implementing a SAP system in the Yes Chemist Pty Ltd. by VUISC Pty Ltd. The research has shown that the company VUISC Pty Ltd.has been enabled to provide the best services related to IT operations to its potential customers. The company consists of a large employee base from different fields such as consultants, project managers, business analysts, programmers, technical supporting staff, testers and administrative staff. Along with that, the company has some experienced specialists who are able to implement the required systems, some technical writers and some effective trainers who can support the purpose of professional development. However, now the company has asked the IT manager to develop and implement a SAP system in the proposed company who is suffering from management issues. A SAP system helps a business for managing different fields such as logistics, financial department as well as human resources aligned with some other business components. An Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP system can be implemented in the Yes Chemist Pty Ltd. The following study would involve the implementation plan of a SAP ERP system in the proposed organization. An appropriate project schedule would be planned and attached in this study along with the required resources. An effective risk assessment plan and communication management plan would also be a part of this study.

Project scope
Aim
The following project deals with the development and implementation of a SAP ERP system in the Yes Chemist Pty Ltd which is facing several issues for the lack of an effective data management system. The project aims to implement a SAP system and develop a proper schedule for delivering the project aligned with the determined budget and the allocated time. The research has evaluated the factor that a SAP ERP system refers to the process which helps a company to manage the management related activities. It also helps in improving productivity, quality development, improving inventory management, reduces the overall cost and makes positive improvements in the annual sales volume. These can be considered to be the quality standards that have been asked by the client.

The study would also be helpful for listing all the quality standards that have been required. The research has also ensured the factor there might be some negative factors such as risk factors that can harm the effectiveness of the entire system. The study would also identify an effective risk assessment plan where the possible solutions would also be mentioned.

Objectives
• To implement a SAP ERP system in the Yes Chemist Pty Ltd.
• To identify the required resources.
• To list all the quality standards asked by the client.
• To provide an effective communication plan.
• To discuss the identified risk factors.
• To provide an effective budget aligned with a proper schedule through a gantt chart.

Quality standards
SAP QM or Quality Management can be considered to be an effective business key component of SAP such as procurement processes, production, material management as well as sales. The following scenario deals with the business activities of a company who is suffering from the lack of an effective data management system. The IT manager has asked to implement a SAP ERP system in the proposed business for making positive improvements in the business quality. Some quality standards have been asked by the client that is needed to be included in the project deliverables.

Business case
Business need
The following study intends to develop a project management plan which would be beneficial for implementing a SAP system in the proposed company. It has been that the need of an effective data management system has been emerged by the company. Hence the company authority has asked the VUISC Pty Ltd to implement a SAP system in their business organization that can be efficient for managing the management departments. The project is important for providing the facility to the client company so that they can make positive improvements in their inventory management. It can also help in increasing the productivity of the client organization. A significant number of project deliverables or benefits have been expected from this project of implementing a SAP ERP system in the business. The following section can be helpful for identifying the expected benefits from the implementation of the project.

Hence, it can be said that the implementation of an effective SAP ERP system can cause some dis-benefits as well. The research has shown the factor that the implementation process of this management system requires a high cost. The company is required to purchase the involved software and hardware for implementing the system. The IT employees who work under this project, expects a high labor cost as well which can be considered as a dis-benefit of this system. Thereafter, the employees are needed to be provided proper training on how to handle this system. The system prevents the data sharing between the different departments which can cause a gap in the communication frequency.

Project Schedule and Approach (Rollout strategy)
Project scheduling refers to the mechanism technique which helps in providing an effective list of the tasks that are required to be done including activities, milestones as well as deliverables of the proposed project. It also includes the project plan including the start date, duration, end date, resources and the phases related to each activity. It has been considered to be an important component which helps in managing the overall time. The present project deals with the implementation of a SAP system in the client business organization. The project team can use the rollout strategy for determining the steps of automated deployment related to the project schedule. It means that rollout strategy is beneficial for providing an effective schedule such as “software deployment” for completing the determined tasks.

It would be done through five phases such as “initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and project closure”. The initiation phase includes ‘charter documentation, requirement analysis, stakeholder identification and preparing the requirement’. It would take 11 days to be completed. The planning phase would include ‘project scope, project schedule, project budget, human resource allocation, quality management and plan approval’. It would take 9 days to be completed. Then comes the execution phase which includes ‘server installation, server software installation, infrastructure set up, integration of system functions, modulation and management, provide training and go live support’. It would take 25 days to be completed. The monitoring phase includes ‘test of each pc, user acceptance testing, project evaluation and project control’. It would take about 8 days. The last phase is project closure which includes ‘documentation, project review and closing documents’ and it would take 3 days. The project is expected to be started on 23rd June, 2020 and is expected to be finished on 9th August, 2020 which means that the total duration is 56 days. The determined milestones are,

Resources
It is evident that the successful submission of a project depends on the involvement of some required human resources. The following study intends to develop the implementation of a SAP ERP system in the client business organization. The following section can be helpful for identifying the required resources and their significance.

Budget
The overall cost of the proposed project is expected to be $83,070 which includes the cost of the human resources and other required resources as well. The project team includes the documenter, planner, project manager, financial manager, human resource manager, quality manager and trainer. The overall cost of the team members is $23,320 and the rest of the costs involve the materials resources such as client pc, software, hardware, server and others. The implementation of the 20 PCs has been identified to be the prior cost which requires $50,000.

Assumptions: The assumptions include
• Identification of the standard rates of materials
• Units of materials required for the project
• Identification of per hourly wages of human resources
• Duration of works for the human resources

Risk
A risk register refers to the process of defining the identified risk factors which can have negative impacts on the project deliverables and numbering them according to the impact and likelihood. The following section can be helpful for identifying the risk factors and the possible solutions as well.

Communication
It is evident that a project can be successful only when the team members are communicating with others in an effective way. It means that the project is required to include a communication management plan which is efficient for supporting the project deliverables.

Summary
The overall study has dealt with the implementation of an effective SAP ERP system in the proposed company. A proper schedule has been required by the company which has been made by using gantt chart. A significant number of resources including human resources and material resources have been identified in the project. An effective budget plan also has ensured the expected budget that the company would need for implementing the SAP system. Some risk factors have been identified and some possible solutions have been included. Along with that, an effective communication plan has been included in the project which has ensured the factor that the team members have communicated with each other and has led the project towards being successful.

Bibliography
Aven, T., 2016. Risk assessment and risk management: Review of recent advances on their foundation. European Journal of Operational Research, 253(1), pp.1-13. Giannakis, M. and Papadopoulos, T., 2016. Supply chain sustainability: A risk management approach. Project management assignmentInternational Journal of Production Economics, 171, pp.455-470.

Hopkin, P., 2018. Fundamentals of risk management: understanding, evaluating and implementing effective risk management. Kogan Page Publishers.

Hubbard, D.W., 2020. The failure of risk management: Why it's broken and how to fix it. John Wiley & Sons.