Bombardier Aerospace Essay

After acquiring a few companies, Bombardier Aerospace was now faced with the challenge of how to align the operations of these companies who all had different sets of data, processes and systems. Major areas of concern were process delays, low inventory turn, inconsistent pricing and billing of materials among others. Bombardier introduced the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) into its aerospace division with a vision to achieve higher efficiency in manufacturing and also to significantly save cost. To assess the performance of this IT project, Bombardier Aerospace needs to consider the following six variables which are interdependent as far as success or failure is concerned. System Quality examines the desirable characteristics of an information system. These may include ease of use, system flexibility, system variability and ease of learning. If we take a look at the first phase of the project which was carried out at the Mirabel Plant, we realize that this element of system quality is not very solid. There were complaints from users with regards to the IT system. Problems were encountered after the Go Live and as a result, several users were still using legacy systems for some aspects of their work. In the second phase at the Saint-Laurent plant, we realize that after robust measures were put in place, they achieved data accuracy of 97 percent. The second variable to consider is Information Quality. This examines the desirable qualities of the system output such as its relevance, understandability, currency, timeliness and usability. The methods employees encountered delays in modifying bills of materials. Also, it took some time before they could understand what information the newly formed Master Data group required of them. This tells us that Information Quality was poor in the first phase of ERP implementation. As far as the Use of the IT project is concerned, Bombardier Aerospace needs to look at the degree and manner in which staff and users utilize the capabilities of the system. For instance, the amount of use, frequency of use, appropriateness of use or the purpose of the use. In the phase two, most users of the new system reacted positively to it but the project at the Mirabel plant was quite different. Sourcing agents could not approve a purchase order for a part if its contract did not contain a price or if the current price was different from that stated in the contract. This was a flaw in the system as far as its use was concerned. Another way to assess the IT project’s success or failure is by measuring the User Satisfaction. Not until after about one year after Go live, user satisfaction at the Mirabel plant was not good enough. Users from various functions complained about significant delays in getting answers to their queries. At the Saint-Laurent plant on the hand, most users felt that the new system made their job easier. The ERP implementation had different impacts on individuals. Employees in finance at the Mirabel plant were frustrated by the system. They had to make manual corrections to the general ledger if materials were issued incorrectly. At the Mirabel plant, the majority of users thought that the new system had impacted them positively. They thought that their inputs were taken into consideration and they virtually used the system in all instances. In terms of organizational impact, we are able to tell from the case that the project was a successful one. One of the primary goals of implementing this system was improve visibility and reduce the value of inventory held by Bombardier Aerospace. The BMIS contributed to reducing inventories by $1.2 billion in just less than a year after Go Live. Also Procurement became more efficient and integrated due to the implementation.