Repeatable & Consistent QAD system Rollout to multi sites

• Your CEO has requested you to rollout 8 Manufacturing sites across 4 countries in 12 months, each taking 2-3 months long.
• You are already having problem with the pilot site with the current consultants and users.
• Your job is on the line as you don't know which Project Manager is able to handle such a mammoth task.
• Who do you call? [Clue: Not Ghostbusters]

• In the past a typical QAD training is going through the "trio" training of
  • Product Training 1 (PT1) - Mostly Distribution Modules (SO/PO/IC)
  • Product Training 2 (PT2) - Manufacturing Modules (MPS/MRP/BOM/Route/WO)
  • Financial Management (FM) - AP/AR/GL
• Each of the training modules above takes about 5 days each, continuous.
• For most people, the first class in the first 3 hours, they have the most energy.
• They are all charged up and ready to learn the new system their company have purchased and assigned them to sit in through "prestige" training class conducted by someone who supposes to be an expert in QAD.
• Then they realized the following problems:
  • The example in the training manual is about manufacturing of stationary (The pencil company)
  • The data in the training database is not related to their company data
  • They are learning things they don't normally do day by day (ie: Physical Count,PO,SO)
  • The "Business Process" of the company is not the same as QAD, so they cannot relate
  • The trainer is not well verse in their company business processes. He/She only knows QAD product and not the business side of it.
  • Sometimes we have many trainers (Sounds good from a service provider point of view for more charges for resources) but they cannot effectively "link" the Sales Order to the Invoicing/AR module as this is covered by another consultant. When you probe more, they will always say, "I cannot answer you right now as my colleague will be conducting that training later". Sound frustrating right?

Current QAD Limitation

• There are many companies that require to use discrete Purchase Order rather than EDI or using the QAD Supplier Schedule Order modules. Typically they want to control PO by price due to contract and supplier delivery performance using the Promise Date of the discrete Purchase Order.
• QAD MRP will calculate the correct requirements for components to be purchased. It has the function to approve planned Purchase Order to become Purchase Requisitions.
• Unfortunately the approval control for Purchase Requisition is part by part and not consolidated by supplier Purchase Order.
• Once Purchase Requisition is approved, end user needs to enter the PO detail line by line using the Approved Purchase Requisition.
• For an enterprise that need to procure over 50 Purchase Orders/day, this can be a task that is very time consuming and human intensive.
• Normally they have to print, scan and fax/email to their suppliers.
• For Supplier Promise Date, they have to update it back to the QAD screen (5.7), line by line.

Current QAD Limitation

• Sometimes there is a need to perform BULK Item Master creation, either from the engineering PDM, inter-company product transfer or simply a new product launches.
• If you are in a manufacturing company where item master creation is a burden because of the number of items to be created in (1.4.1) or (1.4.3) + (1.4.5) + (1.4.7) + (1.4.9) is too time-consuming and tedious and error prone, you need alternative solutions to entering the data one by one.
• Once you have setup the Item Master, next you must create the Product Structure and Routing. These 2 screens are not that "friendly" to non-daily QAD users like the engineer, entering incorrect information.
• Everyone know the limitation of QAD whereby the ABC Class setup by site, Wrong Taxable flag, Purchase/Manufacturing flag will create problems in your daily operations.
• How about BULK update to a certain group of supplier Purchasing Lead Time, Buyer/Planner code and MRP Order Policy? How do you do all these without typing one by one?
• Audit Trial for Item Master, Product Structure and Routing has always been a problem for MFG/PRO eB2 and below. Someone has change the Purchase Flag without informing finance and production creating bad planning and wrong costs!!