Introduction

Ok, it's difficult for me to name names here so I will call this new client AB Foods. Everyone who knows me, knows that I work in the food processing industry so it would not be any surprise for anyone reading this to learn that the new client is a food processing company. It would not be fair of me to mention the names of any of my clients so please, do not ask me to.

As a project manager working in Canada and the U.S. on behalf of the company I work for in the UK, I am inevitably involved in all parts of the business process from first call to implementation. Actually, I suppose you could argue that once implementation is done, I am not generally involved in everyday support unless some issue is escalated to me by either the client or our support department. I tend to prefer to get rid of projects once they are implemented.

This project was first brought about as a result of a colleague of mine making the initial call and subsequent follow ups, telephone calls and presentations. A lot of ground work was done from the sales perspective which must not go unnoticed as a huge part of this process. In fact, this stage of the process is one of the most difficult in today's corporate world. Funds are always tight, nervousness to work with a new supplier always exists, and relationships and trust take a long time to build. I am fortunate that much of this was done by Denis Dineen, a salesman working part time for us out in Canada. Denis has many contacts in the industry, an industry which he has been part of for many many years. Knowledge of people, their roles and the companies they do, and have worked for, is incredibly valuable.

My involvement in this project started about 6 weeks ago (September 2008) when AB Foods decided to go ahead with a pilot of the system we have been trying to get them to buy.

The System [Back to top]

So, what is the system? Well, the system in question is called "Tracesoft". It is a suite of software which allows operators within a food plant to capture information (normally filled in with a pen or pencil on a pre-printed paper form), to be entered or captured on a handheld wireless device. The data is captured by presenting the operator with a series of questions with prompts. The operator can enter the answer using the keypad on the device, select from a drop-down list of available answers, scan a barcode if a barcode is available (for identification of products for example), take a temperature with a probe attached to the device, capture a weight from a scale indicator unit, or even take a picture of something if the handheld unit has a camera in it.

This data, as soon as it is stored, is then immediately available to the entire business. The wireless technology allows the data to be stored in a central database which can then be accessed by other members of the team such as plant, production or QA managers. Having this data made available to them in this way is something very new for most food processing plants. During my time visiting all sorts of plants in Canada and the U.S. I calculated that an average of 120 forms per week are used in a typical food processing environment. Most of these are then re-keyed into a spreadsheet and often into multiple spreadsheets by different people.

There are of course many benefits which can be gained by having the system:

• Reduced inputting time.
• Removal of re-keying information.
• Improved accuracy of recorded information.
• Instant enterprise visibility.
• Automatic electronic historical data.
• Reduction in transposition of data.
• Improved reporting.
• Faster auditing.
• Faster analysis.
• Instant communication of issues which raise alerts on the system. Especially useful if capturing data for analysis of machine downtime and calculating Overall Equipment Effectiveness, or "OEE" as it is often termed.
• Ability to specify their own procedures for capturing data.

..and these are just the main benefits. There are also some second hand benefits such as reduced labour but this is always difficult to quantify. I have provided some insight into these quantifications here.

Why a pilot, and how will it work? [Back to top]

So, you have a little understanding of the system now. The joy for me in doing this document is that this is only a pilot so it is small in terms of the amounts of actual implementation work to be done. To give you a better idea of what will be involved, I will first of all explain how this pilot is going to work in relation to the actual business.

The plant which has chosen to run this pilot is doing so for several reasons:

• They have recognised the need to record data more efficiently.
• They have recognised the amount of time which can be saved in data collection, analysis and links to their own Six Sigma initiative.
• They have recognised the benefits of being able to see previously hidden data, immediately and in "real time".
• It will allow them to get a "feel" for the system and whether or not it will work for them.
• It will allow them to see how we operate as a supplier.
• It will provide them with the ability to decide whether or not this would work in their other plants (of which there are many).
• It will allow them to potentially run a system which their competitors do not have.
• It's risk free.
• It's inexpensive.
• It will provide an opportunity for several key people in AB Foods to receive some kudos with their peers if it proves successful.
• It will provide them with a month's worth of data which can be analysed as a test to highlight how things could be done.

Of course, just because this is a pilot does not mean that it can be taken lightly. From our perspective, this is as risky as it gets. A pilot will either get us in to the customer's plant with a full system and possibly into their other plants as part of a corporate roll out, or, it will close the door to us as a supplier. So, no pressure then!!

The pilot will be implemented in such a way so as not to disrupt the day to day business too much. It would be impossible to claim that the introduction of any system will not have an impact, it will. But it is important that the client understands this and understands exactly what those disruptions are. Plant managers will generally be open and willing to organise things so as to make the project work. After all, it's in their own interests to do so.

The pilot system will sit as a standalone system. It will not interact with current computer systems at all. Doing this cuts out weeks of communication with corporate I.T. departments. It also means that there is no risk to their existing data. Whenever I have to deal with large companies (especially in Canada and the U.S.) I find that there are numerous departments, managers, directors etc. to provide mitigations for before we even start getting down to the real business of putting a system in place. Nobody wants to fail, or be seen to have failed in any part of a project. The result of this is usually a huge number of meetings, documents, emails and conference calls just to satisfy these people's fears.

Only a few procedures (data collection procedures) will be run on a daily basis. This makes sure that we are able to implement and train quickly, there is not too much operator intervention required and it is easily reviewed at the end of the pilot. The plant was given the choice as to which procedures they would like to run. This was done by asking them to look at their current manual data capture processes and pick three which would be manageable, bearing in mind which operators would be required to use the system at a factory floor level as well as management level.

We proposed the pilot run for one month. This was so that there was enough time for a plant to come across most scenarios in using the system as well as allowing us time to do a post pilot review and next steps meeting prior to the Christmas period.

Defining the Team [Back to top]

I am not entirely sure if this is what one would term as a "Virtual Team" because these people actually exist in real life! However, if the definition of a virtual team is one which is made up of people from different locations, and whom never actually meet in one room all at once, then most of the projects I am involved with, including this one, have virtual teams.

The company I work for, Systems Integration, is by all standards a fairly small company. Defining teams is not so much an excersise but more of an assumption. I know that I will manage the project and I know who will be providing me with technical support should I need it. I know who will be providing any I.T. and networking skill and who will be involved on the finance side. This is because in smaller organisations, there is usually only one person for each of those roles - sometimes less! However, defining the team in the case of this pilot project was fairly straight forward.

As with any project, I thought about who I would need to provide skill in various different areas and made sure that they were aware of the project and their responsibility. This was done via email separately to individuals on my side of the fence and I asked the plant manager at AB Foods to make sure that he gave me the names of all those people he would like included at his end, after all, he knows his company far better than I.

Once the team was decided upon, their names were added to the distribution list of the implementation document. In larger projects I would also try and make sure that a level of commitment required was communicated with each member first as well. This helps people understand how much they will be involved and when so that they can plan for it. Sometimes, I add people to the distribution list for information only purposes. These are people who are not going to be "doers", but they may have an interest in what is going on.

As far as this pilot goes, the team is pretty small. On my side there is myself, Denis and one technician from the UK. On the client's side there are two operatives (the two who will actually be using the handheld guns to gather the data although they don't actually go on the distribution lists because they don't have email at work), the Production Manager, the QA Manager, the Floor Supervisor, the Plant Manager and the Corporate Technical Director.

Scoping out.. [Back to top]

Oh yes, I have used a classic corporate buzz word for the title of this section, and for those of you cringeing, let me warn you there are more to come!!

Simply put, everyone involved needs to know what the project consists of, how it will be run, when, by whom etc. This then needs to be agreed by all involved, especially where any money is changing bank accounts! I usually put together quite a comprehensive scope document which lists in detail those items which are within the scope of the project and, just as importantly, those which are not.

As this project was pretty fast and furious (to get it in and done before Christmas), and because this project was pretty small, I decided on this occasion to incorporate the scope into an easy to understand and not too big Implementation and Backout Plan document. The scope of a project this must include all that has previously been offered to the client at the sales stage. If the client is expecting to receive three horses (shod), two chickens (plucked), and a rabbit (with fluffy tail) and they receive three horses, in desparate need of shoes, a chicken, which can still give Linford Christie a good run for his money, and a rabbit missing his tail, then they are not going to be mightily pleased. In addition, they will immediately question the communication that is in place internally.

Implementation Plan Agreement [Back to top]

Once I had this document completed, I distributed it to all those in the team as an attachment to an email and asked that each person read it. For those members with items to do, I made reference to those items in the email in big bold lettering. I also asked that everyone reply to my email once they have read it and that the plant manager replies with any changes they would like or an agreement that it is acceptable.

On this occasion there were no alterations to be made and agreement was quick. However, it did highlight that the plant needed to organise internet and network access for us during our time at the plant during the implementation week. Had this just been assumed, then the pilot would have suffered a 2 or 3 day delay after we had arrived on site!

As it was, we were able to be set up on the corporate network in time for our arrival.

Communication [Back to top]

Effective communication is the single most important thing when doing any sort of project. I have seen and been involved in projects which have gone awry purely down to lack of communication and believe me, you don't want to go through that if you can help it.

By this stage in the project all members of the team knew what was due to happen, when it was going to happen and what it would entail. Despite this, I still telephoned the plant manager every couple of days in the two week run up to the pilot. Some of this was to communicate how we were getting along with our preparations and some of it was to ask if everything was still in place his end and whether or not anything had changed. it is important to ask these questions so as to make the person you are speaking to think about it for a few moments. It may well be that he has been told internally say that one of the operatives due to be using the system is about to go on a last minute vacation, or has been taken ill. Asking these questions will make sure not only that you are kept informed of what is happening, but that the client too feels comfortable in what is going on with the project behind the scenes. They can then comment on this if they are asked by their superiors.

With your team members it is vital to keep in contact. I try to make sure that this always happens via the Project Manager (me in this case!). This way, they can decide if anyone else needs to know something that has been communicated, and, if so, they can put an email together or arrange a conference call to discuss things.

Many companies in Canada and the U.S. are almost impossible to gather together at a moment's notice for an urgent conference call. Due to the nature of "virtual teams", the members are often on different time zones, may already have prior engagements, or simply do not like being put on the spot without reasonable warning. If at all possible, make sure that any conference calls are pre-booked in your calendar client such as Outlook.

Of course, there are occasions when you have no choice but to pick up the phone and ring round everyone. My advice here is, make sure you do all the calling. Do not ask Jim, to get Bob to ask Sue to ring Fred. It wont happen and you'll and up with a team member who is not informed. If you can't get hold of Fred, leave him a message, send him an email, text message, written note or anything that shows you have endeavoured to get hold of him.

Tips:

• Communicate frequently and regularly - This will help to build up a rapport with the client and team members.
• Keep lists for email groups internal, external and both so it's easy to distribute documents.
• Follow up long telephone conversations with an email listing the things discussed - This will help you as much as it does them!
• Don't overdo it. It is easy to end up with too many meetings, conference calls etc. Wherever possible try to cut down the number of times in a week when poeple have to make a commitment.
• Try not to use the word " I " in any email. It's tough, but it's amazing what it can do! I don't manage it myself all the time, but I am getting better!
• Copy your boss in on summary emails and project progress.

Ok, I am getting drawn into Communication in general here and I don't want to do that because I'll end up being here for hours!!

One last thing to note, is that when dealing with people in a team from all sorts of different areas of the business, it is important to keep the messages simple. Don't use jargon. For example, an email saying "There's a break in the project window so we can go long on resource planning and extend to Friday" is not going to mean a thing to most people. Whereas if you said "We have a little extra time to spend on resource planning this coming week. Shall we spend until Friday on it?" may go down a lot better.

[Get's off soap box]

The tale continues.....