Agile Lean Product Development

Tesla, Inc. is an American automotive and energy company based in Palo Alto, California. The company specializes in electric car manufacturing and, through its SolarCity subsidiary, solar panel manufacturing.

Real Tech Inc is an Oracle implementation specialist and an Oracle platinum partner. Tesla has awarded Real Tech Inc to implement the e-business suite of applications in its headquarters situated in Freemont, California. The suite of applications contains modules like Inventory management, Order management, Discrete manufacturing (Work In the process, Bills of materials) and financial modules (Accounts payable, receivable, Fixed assets and general ledger). The duration of the project is estimated to be 1 year (on the higher side). The team consists of 6 functional consultants, one database administrator, one Project Manager, one ERP practice head.

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this project is to implement Oracle's business suite of applications for Tesla. The implementation will consist of replacing the existing application which is JD Edwards with oracle’s supply chain and discrete manufacturing modules. Oracle is a single platform that integrates multiple modules in order to enable the business to run on single software. The implementation will consist of the following modules:

Inventory (INV)

Purchasing (PO)

Order Management (OM)

Work in process (WIP)

Bills of Materials (BOM)

Implementing the above-mentioned modules will help the business in the following ways:

Reporting: Improves reporting of live transactions of the business.

Data Quality Helps in identifying the customer/suppliers that are not active and eliminate the records instantly.

Credit & Debit: Centralizes the credit and debit transactions in the organization.

Revenue: Provide the ability to recognize the revenue for a quarter.

Planning: Helps in reducing the carrying associated with the inventory.

Friendly UI: The application is user-friendly and welcomes customizations when required.

Increases revenue: Reduces the processing time of an order which ultimately contribute to increased revenue.

Dashboards: Provide executives with interactive dashboards that help in making quick decisions.

Customer satisfaction: Customer experience is amazing as the order process is quick and easy.

Competitor advantage: Oracle has a competitive advantage as the order to cash and procures to pay cycles are seamless and gives the business a holistic view of the live transactions.

1.2 Scope

The Scope of this project is to implement an ERP system for Tesla Motor Company. A breakdown of the scope is as follows:

1. Review Tesla’s current business process and objectives and come up with a list that addressed the current issues.

2. Map Tesla’s business process with Oracle's standard flows by accommodating Tesla’s key business initiatives.

3. Provide Tesla with an ERP Application Implementation Roadmap, which outlines all the programs that must be performed within a given time frame.

4. In situations where standard flows do not meet Tesla’s requirements, customizations will be done to the application to meet the requirement.

2.Project Overview

Tesla motor company will be implementing Oracle e-business platform version 12.2.3. This is the latest version that oracle hs to offer. This version is known to have very little bugs and Oracle has developed the necessary patches to overcome the bugs. The implementation is scheduled to complete in 12 months. Tesla motor company will replace existing ERP system like JD Edwards with Oracle by the beginning of 2020. The implementation methodology is Aim for business flows also called Show and Tell, which basically offers the customer with the best standard solution oracle has to offer. The AIM methodology is solution driven and the mapping of the business process with the standard Oracle process is done in the design phase of the project. multiple runs of conference room piloting (CRP) sessions are done to minimize customizations and provide the customer with a clear prototype of what the actual system might look like in the future.

Tesla is one of the fastest growing electric automobile giants in the world. The integration within the current systems are not seamless and are prone to data integrity issues. In addition, the executives do not have the luxury to view dashboards that show the values based on live transactions. Finally, the need to implement a robust application is for supporting the growth of the company and minimize the time and effort to involved in closing the financial periods of a given month.

Business Goal 1: Minimize the time to close the inventory accounting periods for the month

· Project Objective - Identify the stuck transactions that are stopping the periods from closing

· Project Objective - Need to provide seamless integration between the supply chain and financial modules.

· Project Objective- Provide instant alerts/ reporting of any system issues that may prevent the closure of the periods.

· Project Objective 2.1: Reduce the order booking time and capturing the payment.

· Project Objective 2.2: Reduce the time to locate the inventory and pack the order.

· Project Objective 2.3: Reduce the logistic time to ship the order to the customer.

Business Goal 3: Reduce the lead time to process a purchase order.

· Project Objective 3.1: Reduce the time to source a vendor.

· Project Objective 3.2: Reduce time to create a purchase order and have it approved.

· Project Objective 3.3: Reduce time in receiving the item from the supplier by providing seamless communications with the supplier.

Real tech will be implementing Oracle’s business suite of applications for Tesla. The implementation is estimated to complete in 1 year. The implementation will follow the traditional waterfall approach for successful completion. Stakeholders will be included in testing and signoff in every phase of the project. The project will advance to the next phase only after a formal signoff is received from the stakeholders of Tesla. Tesla will be using the supply chain, manufacturing and financial modules offered by Oracle. The single integrated platform offered by Oracle will help Tesla capture the end to end business transactions like procure to pay and order to cash in a single system.

Below are the primary product objectives of oracles business suite of applications.

· Reduce the time taken to close the financial periods and create financial statements for the executives for review.

· Show the accurate system quantity and adjust if the physical quantity and the system quantity do not match.

· Reduce the lead time to create and fulfill a sales order placed by the customer.

· Reduce the lead time to create a purchase order in the system.

· Provide effective communication methods between the supplier and buyer to ensure timely delivery of the purchased goods.

· Integrate the finance, supply chain and manufacturing modules to streamline the order to cash and procure to pay flows in the system.

· Reduce the time to collect manufacturing data and come up with reports.

Constraints:

· Key users and super users must quickly learn the software to perform a live transaction in the new system.

· R12 is a new release and this release may have unidentified bugs.

· Increase in maintenance to support two systems in the early stages of the project until the cutover is done.

Assumptions

· There is a challenge of communication among the different departments within the organization.

· expertise in the deployment and configuration of a single global instance

· The business owners must sign off on the solution documents before the project can progress to the next milestone.

Dependencies:

· The progress is dependent on the stakeholders to test the prototype and identify gaps or bugs if any.

· The servers must arrive before the start of the project.

· The solution documents must be signed off by the super users before the next milestone can be accomplished.

· The stakeholders must actively participate in meetings and provide feedback on the product before advancing to the next phase of the project.

· Standard work instruction must be created by the SMEs and provide training to key users.

2.8Schedule and Budget Summary

· BOM- Bills of material

· WIP- Work in Process

· CRP- Conference room piloting

· UAT- User acceptance test

· DEV- Development

3.Stakeholder Register

4.Schedule Component

4.1 Purpose/Overview

Project scheduling is a vehicle for communicating the tasks that are currently worked on by the resources in a given timeframe. To ensure successful delivery of the work that is currently being worked on, a scheduling document must be created.

In Addition, a schedule is kicked off once the tasks are assigned in the work break down the structure. The tasks can be scheduled in an automatic or a manual way. In an automatic schedule, the tasks are automatically scheduled when the schedule of a single task is adjusted.

Milestones help review the progress of the project. Milestones mark an important event in the project that needs to be met in order to achieve successful progress in the project. Milestones are benchmarks that help identify the potential roadblocks and the risks associated with the project.

Another important component of scheduling is sequencing. A task may not always require another task to depend on. A task can be independently worked on based on the type of sequencing. There are 4 types of sequencing:

· Finish to Start (FS)

· Start to Start (SS)

· Finish to Finish (FF)

· Start to Finish (SF)

Schedule Baseline

Schedule Control

5.1Overview/Purpose

The purpose of this RACI matrix is to provide structure and clarity on the tasks assigned to the respective stakeholders. RACI makes sure that the assigned tasks are assigned to the correct stakeholders based on accountability and responsibility. In my project, I have identified the most important tasks that need to have more visibility for the stakeholders and listed them in the RACI matrix based on the priority and sequence of events. Each task has at least one stakeholder who is responsible for the successful implementation of the task. The RACI matrix is discussed with all the stakeholders before the start of the project.

5.2 Resourcing Strategy & Assumption

The resourcing strategy of the project is done by a Real tech who is the implementing partner for Tesla. Real tech will source all the project members that include business analysts, technical consultants, testers and project managers. Tesla has awarded the Oracle Implementation project to Real Tech and the duration of the project is scheduled to complete with one year. The implementation team will be present throughout the implementation and support of the project. In addition, the implementation team has a few offshore resources in India to support the development work, which includes forms of customization and report building. The project assumes that there will not be any changes to the schedule of the projected on all the stakeholder's review and approve the project schedule. The procurement arrangements like the servers and office equipment must be procured before the start of the project. The project manager of the implementing partner is the focal point of all schedule negotiations and resource allocation to the tasks. The project managers must consider the key performance indicators of the project to endure quality work is being done and delivered on time.

5.3 Resourcing Development

The resources on the project are both on site and offshore. The on-site team is responsible for the requirement gathering, design, implementation, and post-go-live support of the project. The offshore team are responsible for customization and report the development of the project. The implementation of the project assumes that the off-shore team will be available during the on-site working hours. In addition, the offshore team must be available 24/7 during the maintenance phase of the project (support). All on-site team members must have access to Microsoft products and experience with testing and automation. Moreover, the team is required to have a working knowledge of Visio to design flow charts that may be presented to the sponsors for review and approval of the process document.

6.Risk Management Plan

.1 Review of Risk Management Plan

A common misunderstanding is that IT is wholly responsible for implementing the ERP application. Stakeholders and change management managers must fully involve in the implementation and ensure the proper functioning of the application post “Go live”. Due to the nature of the testing, the managers may try to fasten the testing phase to meet the go-live date. Good testing will ensure a healthy system post go live. The testing of the application is broken down into 3 phases namely

· Unit testing

· Integration testing

· User acceptance testing (UAT). we will discuss in more detail later in the document.

.1 Risk Identification

The Oracle ERP system is designed to provide information to all departments of the company in a seamless, uninterrupted and accurate manner. As multiple systems are integrated into the framework. The application is prone to a lot of risks. One of the significant risks is that the stakeholders do not communicate among the project members. This leads to inaccurate requirements, which finally lead to the failure of the implementation project. Most stakeholders simply neglect the fact that stakeholder involvement is important to build a successful ERP system.

Below are the risk identification techniques used in our organization to identify risk.

· Documentation review: The lesson learned documents are reviewed to understand what techniques were used to mitigate or completely avoid the potential risk.

· Brainstorming- A group of people that includes stakeholders and project team members are brought into a room and ideas are asked for potential risk.

· Review of Risk Register- The risk register is reviewed when a risk is predicted.The risk register will help us identify the root cause of the risk and the ways to respond to the risk.

· Probability and impact matrix- This matrix will help us identify the risks that require immediate attention.

6.3 Risk Analysis

The risk in the organization is analyzed based on the impact and probability matrix:

The response to risk can be prioritized and actioned based on the below table.

6.4 Risk Monitoring Plan

The is monitored by the below process:

· Risk identification: The risk is identified and documented before submitting to the project manager for review.

· Access: The risk is accessed and the prioritized based on the values derived from the above matrix.

· Control: The risk is controlled based on the mitigation strategies. In addition, the root cause is identified and updated In the risk register.

· Monitor: The risk is periodically reviewed and the mitigation strategies are kept in place to action the risk.

Below are the roles and responsibilities used to monitor risk.

7.Communications Plan

7.1 Overview/Purpose

The purpose of the communication plan is to ensure the Project Management Improvement Project provides relevant, accurate, and consistent project information to project stakeholders and other appropriate audiences. By effectively communicating the project can accomplish its work with the support and cooperation of each stakeholder group.

The communication plan provides a framework to manage and coordinate a wide variety of communications that take place during the project. The communication plan covers who will receive the communications, how the communications will be delivered, what information will be communicated, who communicates, and the frequency of the communications.

The following outlines the targeted audiences, the key communication messages to be delivered, and the method for delivering the information, the communicator, and the frequency of the delivery.

7.2 Communication Message and Delivery (Matrix)

7.3 Communications Guidelines

7.4 Escalation Process

An action n plan is first developed to action concerning matters in an efficient manner. The issue or concern must follow the communication path in order to quickly direct the issue to the concerned person for resolution. The escalation must clearly identify the process to action the issue. Before escalating the issue, the users must perform their due diligence and spend some time before escalating the issue. Documentation of the issue provides a great resource to resolve the issue in the future.

The escalation process:

1) Document and review the issue with the teams in the weekly status report.

2) All team members must first escalate the issue to their immediate manager before letting the higher-ups know about the issue.

3) The issue must clearly be documented by describing the mitigation strategies to resolve the risk.

4) All escalation must have the approval of the immediate managers.

Flow chart of the escalation process:

. Procurement

The purpose of this document is to define all procurement related activities for implementing Oracle for Tesla motors. This section of the procurement management plan will outline all the procurement management activities and resources that are required for implementing the software. The document will also give an idea of the risk involved in procuring the software.

The procurement strategy used by Tesla is called Fixed- Price Contract. This type of contract is also called Lump- sum contract. The reason for choosing this contract is that there is no uncertainty in the scope of the project. The purchasing module in the Oracle ERP software will help improve the procure to pay cycle in the organization. The ERP implementation partner is bound to finish the implementation within one year at the cost of $350,000. The implementing partner bears the risk of completing the project within the schedule. The benefit of this contract is that both the buyer and the seller know the scope of the project and the cost of implementation.

Most of the times the sellers tend to give out the lowest bid at the time RFQ and later try to make more money by adding extra scope to the current project. The procurement manager is often involved in negotiating with the sellers for reducing the price of the items and provide the items as soon as possible. The due date on the purchase order is the date when the buyer requires the product and the promised date is the date when the seller can promise the product to the buyer.

Below is the list of items that are required to be procured-

· Rack server for the software implementation

· Printer/ scanner

· Car for consultant travel

· Laptops

· Tables

· Chairs

· Internet

· Onsite office room

· Office supplies- paper, pen miscellaneous items used in office

· Outside consulting services

· Oracle license

· Consultants for implementation

· Security

· System maintenance

· Hardware and software installation

Key Players involved-

Raj- Buyer

Kevin- Buyer

Collin- Senior buyer

Govind- Procurement Manager.

The process of procurement takes place as follows:

The below process is fully processed in the purchasing and Accounts payable module in Oracle.

RequisitionRequest for quotationQuotation Purchase order Receipt of goods match receipt to invoice make payment.

The procurement process is initiated when the requester places a requisition in Oracle. The requisition is sent for approval to the procurement manager, once the manager approves the requisition, the buyer will create a request for quotation. The buyer will mention the item, quantity, target price, due date for the quotation in the RFQ. This RFQ is sent to the suppliers and the supplier’s response to RFQ is a quotation. The buyer will receive multiple quotations based on the RFQ and approve one quotation based on the best price and delivery. The buyer will now create a PO and send it out the supplier. The supplier will send goods to the buyer based on the purchase order. The buyer inspects the goods that were received and then pay the supplier for the goods accepted after inspection.

The procurement manager has a vital role in the procurement process. The procurement manager is responsible for vendor analysis. He must also build a good relationship with the vendors that provide goods and services on time. A good relationship with the vendor will help the business save time for procuring any item. The Procurement manager and the vendor must work together to adhere to the fixed contract terms mentioned in the procurement contract.

Procurement schedule-

The company will procure goods and services form its vendors as and when it is required. Below Is the table that explains all the items that need to be procured.

In the absence of the manager, the below employees have the authority to approve the purchase orders.

Vendor performance-

This section describes the metrics to be used for procurement activities associated with the project. These metrics may include but not be limited to: methods to ensure the project stays on schedule regarding procurement activities, and methods used to compile data on the performance of various vendors in order to assist with future procurement activities.

Points are given on the basis of performance 1 being the least and 5 being the highest. The total score can be produced by the sum of criteria 1+2+3+4+5.

The time line for submittal proposal-

Procurement process and timeline-

· The buyer's will and the supplier quality and engineering team will review the vendor list.

· The statement of work and cost and time is requested from the selected vendors.

· Vendors have 1 day to respond to the request for information.

· The procurement team will submit the contract within 6 days.

· The negotiations if any are handled by the buyers.

9. Cost

9.1 Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide is to showcase the elements of the cost management plan and the process to introduce a change in the current cost management plan. The elements of the cost management plan constitute a detailed view of the money allocated the resources that were utilized in the course of the project. The resources are both man and material that was used in the implementation of the ERP software.

Cost Management Plan

A cost management Plan defines cost baseline, modifies it whenever necessary, and uses it for monitoring and controlling cost. A project cost management plan generally includes descriptions, procedures, and responsibilities for items such as Costs included, activity resource estimating, cost estimating, cost baseline, budget determination, and cost control

9.2 Estimate Cost

The cost estimate is a process of providing an estimate of the resources of that will be used throughout the duration of the project. The project manager is responsible for maintaining the resource sheet with up to date expenditure of resources. The project manager is responsible to submit the resource sheet to the sponsors when necessary. Below is a list of resources that are used in the completion of the project.

Full-time employees’ cost

Temporary employees’ cost

Office supplies

Oracle software license

Oracle support fees

Offshore team expense

Hardware cost

Third-party software installation fees

9.3 Contingency Reserve Project Purpose or Justification

The contingency reserve is an independent cost that is set aside in case of overcoming issues related to unforeseen circumstances. Although the funds are made available, the project manager is responsible for documenting the expenditure and getting formal approval from the sponsors before utilizing the funds. A buffer of 15% is kept aside as apart of the contingency reserve.

9.4 Budget

The budget gives the actual money incurred in the utilization of resources. The budget is explained below

Quarterly Budget:

Cost Control and Monitoring

9.5 Performance Monitoring

The costs incurred in implementing the ERP software will be monitored in a periodic manner by comparing the actual cost vs the planned cost listed in the above table. The project manager is responsible for monitoring the costs on a weekly basis and report the discrepancies to the sponsors. The report will give a clear idea to the sponsors if the project is over or under schedule. Before the start of the project, 10% of the entire project cost is allocated toward a contingency reserve. At the time of an unforeseen event, the project manager should get approval from the sponsor to overcome the unfortunate event.

9.6 Project Reports