Parcel - August 2008 - (Page 21) skill sets and experience. Going the internal route clearly means that most tasks, short of equipment delivery and perhaps physical installation, will be yours and that you will have to account for them somewhere in your overall project plan. Outsourcing the project execution will certainly result in less day-to-day task responsibility; however, by outsourcing, do not assume that your role is purely oversight and check writing, though these will indeed remain your responsibility. Depending upon your selected solution provider(s) and their scope, your additional task areas will typically include: Steering Committee Participation — Task items commonly associated with this responsibility include active participation in initial project direction meetings and follow-on status and contingency planning sessions, review of published project update materials and assistance in the management of vendor relationships as necessary. Design Approval & Sign-Off — You know your operations and business needs better than anyone. As such, you should be required to approve and sign off on functional and potentially technical — especially integration — designs prior to movement to the next project stage(s). Acceptance Testing — Unit and system testing will likely be performed by the hired help, however final acceptance testing and participation in integration testing involving your existing systems will be yours. User Training — On average, “Train the Trainer” training is provided by vendors with the expectation that a repeatable and scalable program is delivered to the customer so that new hire and refresher training can be performed once the vendor is gone. You may be provided the opportunity to train your other floor users during the implementation cycle while the vendor is still there, but it is typically your task to do so. Facility Preparation — Task items generally associated here include labeling, electrical and data runs, signage as necessary, construction permits, etc. Startup Support — This is typically a task shared by the vendor(s) and the client and can provide for significant system experience in a compressed time frame. Lessons learned here can be invaluable in either validating the anticipated support model and structure or identifying necessary changes. The enhancement and upgrade list compilation will also begin here. » How long will it take? That clearly depends on the nature and scope of the project. All else being equal, the smaller, focused endeavor such as the addition of an automated parcel packaging system, the shorter the time frame that will be required to select and implement. On the other hand, deployment of an AS/RS system will require a bit more time. In addition to the complexity of the solution, anything involving construction or facility realignment will clearly have a significant time impact. www.PARCELindustry.com August 2008 21 http://www.datatrac.com http://www.datatrac.com http://www.PARCELindustry.com
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