The ERP system implementation project the IT Enterprise provided achievement of effective objectives of optimization of activity of consolidation

On Federal State Unitary Enterprise NGO of Automatic Equipment of a Name of the Academician N.A. Semikhatov, Yekaterinburg, the ERP system the IT Enterprise is implemented. Sergey Skvortsov, the head of department of system integration tells about the project.

Sergey Borisovich, for a start let's consider what represents Federal State Unitary Enterprise NGO of Automatic Equipment as an automation object?

Federal State Unitary Enterprise NGO of Automatic Equipment – is included into Federal Space Agency and is one of leading enterprises of Russia in the development areas and productions of management systems for rocket and space technology and also the automation equipment of technology processes in the different industries of the domestic industry.

The enterprise provides a full fabrication cycle of creation of original automated control systems and complexes from development of the idea before production and service maintenance of a product. In the test center of the enterprise there is a possibility of carrying out a full range of tests for climatic and mechanical influences.

Products of Federal State Unitary Enterprise NGO of Automatic Equipment are widely applied at the sea, in space, at the metallurgical enterprises, power plants, in housing and communal services, on transport, in an oil and gas complex. Our devices and management systems successfully function not only in Russia, but also in the countries of the FSU and beyond. It is difficult to list all product range of the enterprise. Each management system adapts under specific requirements of the customer.

Today at the enterprise about a half of personnel is engaged in Research and Development, and the second half – pilot production. Pilot production - rather conditional, historical term as foundry, stamping, machine-assembling and instrumental productions, the workshop of printed circuit boards, mounting assembly shops and test divisions provide also developmental works and production of the batch production making a considerable share of an order portfolio. Complexity of products - up to 20,000 parts and assembly units, a cycle of production from 1 to 18 months.

What motives of the decision on implementation of an industrial enterprise management system?

Our enterprise has a rich history of automation, length almost a floor of a century. If to list briefly stages of development of an ACS of NPOA the following will turn out: Since 1970 – own developments of different function for BESM-6, Elbrus, the EU a computer, first of all - tasks of management of Research and Development; 1992-1998 – transfer of tasks to PEVM; 1998 – 2006 - development of new applications for maintaining and processing of "classical" DB of ASUP (DBF); 2004 – 2008 implementation of a PDM system on MS SQL; 2006-2008 - transfer of ASUP on MS SQL; 2008 – beginning of system implementation of the class ERP IT Enterprise.

For the last decade several generations of a different CAD are mastered, the computer network of the enterprise is created, integration of a CAD with PDM is executed, numerous applied tasks for project management, preparation and production planning, financial and accounting are developed and implemented.

As the 90th years for development of an ACS of the enterprise were almost lost, already at the beginning of the 2000th we realized a problem of limitation of own opportunities. The problem became aggravated tough terms of accomplishment by Research and Development and process of rapid growth of production volumes. Rates of development of new tasks did not manage to meet to growth requirements. We just grew up from, apparently, the "scrappy" automation which is quite developed and coordinated to business processes of the knowledge-intensive production.

Case here at all not as programming or in the power of computer aids. A basic reason - resistance shown to an information flow by a chain "the person-machine-person-machine …" and unacceptable actuation time of this chain. The dynamism of all management processes, need of decision making in the conditions of diversity of behavior, need of the choice of the most rational (economic) option requires emergence of solutions which should be capable to answer the question "what will be if?". And the necessary quality of the received assessment cannot be reached without access to up-to-date information and capability quickly it to process.

Thus, were the main reasons of need of reorganization of the existing ACS: insufficient integration of the executed functions, need of creation of a common information space, ensuring information processing in real time.

Why when choosing ERP system you stopped on the offer of Information technologies corporation?

We considered the different systems with rather broad range. It were both the big western and Russian systems. After comparison of different offers, visit of the enterprises understanding came that the only option accepted for us is the system the IT Enterprise (www.it-enterprise.ru) which was in commercial operation at a number of large similar engineering enterprises. At the same time a pacing factor was our strong belief that at implementation of complex CIS the phrase "cadres are the key to everything" is relevant both for suppliers, and for customers. The highly professional developers and implementers who are working in this company, having extensive work experience on industrial enterprises of Russia and the CIS were and remain the key moment. At the same time the competent technical solutions put in a system basis allow it to develop and be complemented constantly all with new and new opportunities.

In what advantages of transition to the industrial automation system?

It was clear to us that whatever we had good programmers and how many them was, ourselves will not be able to write an ERP system of industrial level for acceptable time. Most valuably in these business applications the fact that they contain experience of many enterprises. For example, at seminars on a system the IT Enterprise we with colleagues from other plants exchange the ideas, questions like "and how at you are set there?". As in the IT Enterprise there are a lot of "best practices" and techniques, we had an opportunity to get acquainted with them and to select the most optimal for us.

What did you face at the first stages of implementation?

We quite realized how important for the integrated ERP system preparation and tough formalization of the normative reference information (NRI) is. We improved many years NSI ASUP, knew e shortcomings, but believed that by the beginning of the project we have the acceptable level of its quality. Therefore we were going to begin with a wide complex of works on modeling and to pass quickly to system implementation. But working with consultants of Information technologies company and we, specialists of an ACS, and specialists of functional divisions were quickly convinced that our NSI system is insufficiently perfect. Therefore the project started with creation of uniform NSI – the qualifier of resources, the database of specifications and technology processes and the NSI many other elements which were created and approved during the project. At the same time we took and transferred to the database the IT Enterprise at most of information from our systems. The plan for the enterprise for approval of NSI by divisions was developed. The plan extended at inclusion in the project of new functional tasks which required additional reconciliation of NSI.

Tell how project management of system implementation the IT Enterprise was organized?

Project management is exercised using two-level organizational structure. In general the organizing committee consisting of specialists of the enterprise and Information technologies corporation manages the project. From our party it included most of heads of the highest level who supervise subprojects, profile for them. For implementation of subprojects the working groups are created. The CEO is at the head of committee. It was entrusted to manage operational issues in the organizing committee to me. The staff of the management of system integration (MSI) of the order on the enterprise were included in the working groups and were responsible for implementation of the modules fixed to groups.

In project management the regulation of works is important. How it was organized in your project?

The regulations on project management - the Project charter - are the most important element of the agreement. The main idea consists in at first to describe business process, and then to move further. Long-term and operational planning of the project were fixed in plans and protocols. This methodology seriously changed psychology and style of work of our employees and concerning interaction of an ACS with functional services and concerning perception of process of implementation and use of a system. These changes happen also in psychology of workers "at the machine", those who using tools of our ASUP did not think of subtleties of information technologies.

Our enterprise of decade developed the system of standards of the enterprise for planning and management, however the implementation project of ERP gives volume understanding why so detailed and scrupulous planning is necessary.

The volume of the managerial project documentation is not one ten documents and hardly holds in three big folders. And it disregarding the fact that a huge number of intra factory protocols and regulations is approved. The most important that they are executed – here too the psychology of personnel changed.

CEO Shalimov L.N.: "We consider a system implementation project the IT Enterprise as the project of improvement of activity of consolidation, business process optimization, cost reduction. The coordinated work of employees of consolidation and Information technologies company provided achievement of main objectives of the project".

Tell in more detail how training of project participants was organized?

The Information technologies corporation offered training methodology which was effective. In the beginning specialists of corporation trained a key project team: directors, programmers and "functionalities" from the working groups of the project. Further there was a key user training (the head or the leading specialist of division) for each system module the IT Enterprise in an educational class of the enterprise or directly in workplaces. These employees became the most active to users of a system and involved in work of the employees. Certainly, and to other users we helped, or provided target training in the vital issues and also in cases of completions or changes of functionality of a system

What it is possible to tell about effect of ERP system implementation?

We started the project when we the only end-to-end system had a system of accounting in which paper documents, i.e. last events were processed. There were also independent local systems of an inventory control in supply and in production department. Discrepancies between information in an accounting system (accounting) and operational data on production were parried by detailed and detailed accounting in divisions. Project production and the notifications on changes accompanying it, operational technical solutions, a set of alternative replacements according to design and technology documentation, require the big tension, efforts and high qualification of personnel, but does not exclude errors which directly influence both agreement performance and product cost.

The management of the enterprise set the task to provide effective planning and accounting.

The IT Enterprise included complex implementation of the ERP system the following directions: Design and technology preparation of production, Purchase management and sale, Inventory management, Production management (MRPII, MES), Financial planning and budgeting, Calculation of planned and actual cost and other modules.

We complete process of transition to the integrated automated multi-level planning and accounting now: from formation of plans of implementation and production before issue by each section of production division of tasks on parts and nodes and before formation of delivery notes on movement of parts and assembly units. Further increase in efficiency is implemented in deeper resource planning. Unit of planning should become not section of workshop, but each workplace any more.

For IT department the fact that we got rid of scrappy automation began – to accompany with big effect a single system much more simply. More simply, of course, relatively – it is impossible to do without skilled staff.

Whether the technique of production planning of MRPII is implemented at the plant?

Yes, we create the production schedule, we plan tasks for all accounting points in a system the IT Enterprise. Proceeding from the production schedule we calculate the purchase plan and we manage process of providing with materials and component parts.

Specifics of our project is also the layered hierarchical structure of planning. The operating plan of production - is replenished according to dresses on production. The plan of production of devices - contains the selected key positions of structure of products, allows to separate planning of a product into parts and to separate areas of responsibility. The plan of production of tsekhokomplekt - regulates target completion dates of repartitions. The MRP plan - contains the complete information about the made product, is data source for formation of a document package for workshops.

The system implementation project the IT Enterprise included training of our leading specialists in modern techniques and management concepts by the enterprise. The gained knowledge was used during the modeling and business process reengineering and further development of a system at the enterprise.

What, in your opinion, interfered with the implementation process?

I will give, in my opinion, the main bottlenecks of our project:

• 1. In spite of the fact that Federal State Unitary Enterprise NGO of Automatic Equipment treats military industrial complex and has a perfect quality management system, standards of the enterprise do not contain regulations or instructions for business processes in application areas. As a result in the project of a business process model were built from scratch.
• 2. STP, RD, describe "that", but "as" has only the qualitative description - during the modeling and business process reengineering it was necessary to reveal, analyze and in details to formulate technology.
• 3. The existing earlier local business process automation was sewed on "piecewise electronic paper and telephone technology" – it was necessary to get used to the formalized processes and interdependence in uniform information and operational space.
• 4. Absence by the beginning of the draft of uniform reference books for production, accounting, financiers or their different organization (owing to historical realities) – it was necessary to review and carry out standardization of reference books of different sections of activity
• 5. Problems of support of change management of KD and TD in Research and Development – organizovyvlsya data purification process, mastering of special tools of a system and its adaptation under tasks of the enterprise.
• 6. Specialists of services and workshops were given the current full-time job - they have always no time, it was necessary to fix responsibility of services on subprojects, to plan work and to strictly maintain operation schedule.

Characterize technical aspect of implementation of the ERP system

In operation there is the 9th version of the ERP system the IT Enterprise which is based on three-level architecture. In a system the IT Enterprise works over 300 users (planning, finance, supply, workshops, warehouses). DBMS – MS SQL of 2008. A database server and application servers – a blade server of IBM, dual-processor Xeon storage system of EMC. Network - optical fiber, the twisted pair cable, places – ADSL.

What further plans concerning expansion of the project?

In the IV quarter 2010 the project on implementation of control functions by document flow, office-work and control of execution of documents based on the corresponding system module the IT Enterprise started. In the long term - projects on quality management, Research and Development project management.

That you advised our readers?

Carefully you approach the choice of a system and solution provider, do not recede at implementation project implementation – the result will surely come.