CONSILIO has stood for high-quality, holistic SAP consulting since 1997. One of the ways the company achieves these goals is through intensive in-house training, which prepares junior staff for SAP certifications, for example.
This year, CONSILIO's management team came up with something new to raise the level of in-house training even higher. To this end, the "rookies" retreated for five days to the designated project rooms to work in pre-selected teams to build a model factory for bumper production from scratch. The only tools they used were standard SAP tools - similar to problem-solving at a hackathon. At the end of the week, the juniors were available to answer questions from the departments. As in a pitch to a customer, they had to explain why they had solved the task in this way and not in a different way. Sparring partners included CONSILIO's management, partners and technical leads - truly experienced managers. This was also noticeable during the presentation, where the speakers had to face critical questions from the audience.
The purpose of the entire undertaking was to deliberately create a stressful situation so that the juniors could draw the greatest learning effect from it for their later project tasks.
Task model factory: WMB manufactures bumpers
The customer WMB is an automotive supplier and specializes in the production of bumpers for the Audi A3. It has already been using SAP R/3 for a long time and, with the new implementation, would like to take the opportunity to rethink its processes holistically. For this reason, he would particularly like to see how the different process parts interlock. Specifically, he is interested in the integration of sales planning with S&OP, production, and sales from stock, including financial processing. For better planning, he has commissioned CONSILIO to create a prototype (system demo) that includes an integrative E2E process for planning, production and sales of bumpers, guided by SAP best practices.
Key points:
- Greenfield implementation at WMB
- Production bumper Audi A3
- Integration
- Sales planning and S&OP
- Production
- Sales ex stock
- Financial processing
- Creation of prototype (system demo)
Structured teamwork is important
The Model Factory project presented CONSILIO's juniors with a difficult but not insurmountable task. To master it, it was essential to look at the processes holistically - i.e., across modules. After all, if a sub-process works in one module, this does not mean that it will work in the same way in upstream and downstream processes. Good communication and coordination are essential here. Since the juniors specialize in different areas such as IBP, SD, PP & MM, FI/CO, EWM and PP/DS, they first had to come up with a resilient structure that would link the individual areas in a meaningful way. To do this, the team initially assigned roles - i.e., who is a project manager, who is a subproject manager, and who is a staff member. Using this framework, they were then able to establish efficient action of the interlinked process steps, which also took appropriate account of the specified time frame.
Positive Feedback
The CONSILIO management agreed that the juniors faced a difficult task with the model factory. However, thanks to their high level of commitment, structured project organization, very independent working methods and teamwork, they mastered the challenges with aplomb. At one point or another - such as the timing of the final presentation - the experienced managers still saw room for improvement - but this is quite normal for newcomers who are still at the beginning of their careers.
Repetition guaranteed
The Model Factory project was an exciting undertaking in which everyone involved learned a great deal. The juniors approached the difficult task freely and presented a smart solution with the means at their disposal. At times, they were supported by mentors who gave a tip or two in seemingly hopeless situations. It was interesting for the advisors because they were able to observe a fresh new approach and also see where their students' strengths and weaknesses lie and how they can provide them with more targeted support in their individual development.
Crowning finale
After five exhausting days, the participants were finally able to collect their merits, because the end of the project also marked the end of the Consulting Academy. And CONSILIO wouldn't be CONSILIO if this wasn't celebrated extensively. The management invited all rookies to dinner and bowling together in the evening. The start of the well-deserved weekend could not have been more successful.
