Matt Barber
An MES/MOM implementation touches almost every part of a manufacturing operation. The software matters, and so does the team behind it. Get both right and the project delivers.
This article covers the people you need on your side, and what successful project teams tend to have in common.
Identify the stakeholders and decision makers early
Before any configuration starts, identify the people who can influence the project and involve them from the beginning. They control resources and can remove obstacles, or create them.
Executive sponsor
A senior executive with the authority to allocate resources and make strategic decisions. Enterprise MES/MOM programmes usually have one, because they're seen as strategic investments. Plant-level projects without executive sponsorship often struggle when they need budget or a decision that crosses departments.
IT
IT is responsible for the technical side: deployment options, infrastructure, integration, security and coordination with local IT at each site. Involving IT early surfaces technical constraints while there's still time to plan around them. More in IT vs OT.
Operations
Representatives from production, quality, logistics and maintenance. These are the people whose work changes most, and who know how the process really runs. Operators in particular hold detailed process knowledge that rarely appears in procedures. Without their input, requirements tend to describe the process on paper rather than the process on the shopfloor.
Your vendor or systems integrator
And of course, you'll be working closely with your vendor's or systems integrator's team throughout.
The project manager
Strong project leadership is one of the clearest predictors of success. The project manager oversees the implementation and, in multi-site businesses, the roll-out to further plants and warehouses.
It's a complex role. A good project manager typically brings:
- Domain knowledge. An understanding of MES/MOM and your production processes, including the challenges specific to your industry.
- Communication skills. The ability to manage expectations and keep stakeholders informed, including those who aren't yet convinced the project is a good idea.
- Planning discipline. A plan, built with the vendor or integrator, that sets out milestones and dependencies.
- Problem-solving. Anticipating roadblocks, and resolving issues before they cause delays.
- People management. Leading a cross-functional team, many of whom don't report to them, and keeping it motivated.
- Budget management. Tracking spend against the plan, including your own people's time, and raising overruns early.
- Risk management. A live view of risks and issues, each with an owner and a plan to deal with it.
- Time management. Keeping the plan moving and protecting the critical path.
- Scope control. Saying no, or not yet, to changes that would derail the plan.
- Supplier management. Holding the vendor and any integrators to what was agreed, and working with them as one team.
They also act as the main point of contact between the internal team, stakeholders, the vendor and any consultants.
Internal expertise
Internal process knowledge is often overlooked. Experienced people on the shopfloor know where the workarounds are, and what goes wrong at 3am.
They don't all need to be on the core team. Involve them when processes are being designed and tested, and make it easy for them to raise questions or suggestions. It improves the requirements and builds support for the change. It also lets external partners spend their time where their expertise adds the most.
Choosing your delivery partner
Your vendor or systems integrator brings the product knowledge and implementation experience. Where your own MES/MOM experience is thin, an independent consultant can also help on your side.
When choosing who you'll work with, look for:
- A track record of MES/MOM delivery, ideally in your industry
- Hands-on implementation experience, not only advisory work
- A preference for keeping the solution as simple as your processes allow
- Willingness to transfer knowledge to your own team
Vendors and their partners have usually implemented the product many times, so their experience of common pitfalls is worth using.
Roles and communication
Define each team member's role and responsibilities at the start, and share them with everyone involved. Agree how often the team communicates, and with which stakeholders. Clear ownership speeds up decisions and makes issues visible sooner.
Resistance to change
Some resistance is normal in any implementation. Address it directly:
- Explain the reasons. Show how the project supports business goals, and how it makes daily work easier. The executive sponsor can help carry that message.
- Involve people. Ask for feedback, include users in testing, and act on what they say.
- Train properly. Make sure people have the skills and support to use the new system with confidence.
- Give detractors a stake. Find the people most likely to resist, particularly anyone who built the system being replaced, and give them real responsibility for making the new one succeed.
- Celebrate progress. Recognise early wins publicly, so people can see the change working.
More in Resistance to change is guaranteed. Plan for it.
What successful teams have in common
Across successful projects, the same patterns appear:
| Successful teams | Struggling teams | |
|---|---|---|
| Change management | Planned from day one, as a business transformation | Treated as a training task at the end |
| Objectives | Clear KPIs agreed before the project starts | Success defined loosely, or not at all |
| Master data | Quality checked and fixed early | Assumed to be ready |
| Team | The right people, with time and authority | Part-time, with the project on top of the day job |
| Sponsorship | An executive who removes barriers | Budget approval, then little involvement |
Master data deserves a special mention. See Your ERP master data isn't ready for MES.
For multi-site manufacturers, the core team often becomes a permanent centre of excellence that owns the template and supports each new site. More in Rolling out across sites.
Give the team ownership
Provide the resources the team needs, and recognise milestones as they're reached. Teams with real ownership tend to be more committed to the outcome, and for the people involved, a successful MES/MOM project can be a career-defining experience.
Related reading: How long does an MES implementation take? and Go-live is the starting line.
My view
In my experience, the team you build matters as much to the success of an MES deployment as the platform you choose. The strongest programmes are defined at enterprise level, with a centre of excellence for global standards and stakeholders at every level across operations and IT. I can't stress enough how important it is to involve frontline workers: they're the people the system is meant to help, and they know how the process really runs.
Who on your current or next project would you least like to lose?
