Question:
Good Day all,
I have a customer who is interested in implementing APO so
in general I need to get an idea of how big the project is.
The customer has 100 Customers, 1000 FG's and multi level Boms and Routings.
I know that APO is hosted on its own server so there is a cost there.
But in general
1. What is the impact to business process? i.e. are there major redesign requirements.
2. How long would it take to config the solution?, is there a lot of complexity involved.
3. How long would it take to complete the Master Data and Training.
4. Are all the interfaces to R/3 available or is there programming requirements.
5. Generally what would a team be made up of, in other words would 1 APO consultant do it all
or do you need WM, MM & SD consultants with APO experience.
6. Finally what would the overall timeframe be 2 months --> 10 months?
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Regards
Anthony
Answer:
Anthony
The questions you are asking need more information before anyone can answer them for you.
APO consists of many "modules" such as Demand Planning, Supply Network Planning, Production Planning/Detailed Scheduling, gATP etc etc. So it depends on how much (or little) of APO you intend to use. Also are you linking it to an R/3 or other OLTP system.
Within each "module" it also depends on the level of complexity you require. For example if you are doing manufacturing, do you do process/discrete or REM ? Do you have shelf-life or similar issues ? Do they do promotions ? and so on.
As for numbers of consultants, taking the three main components of APO, I would recommend at least 1 DP, 1 SNP and 2 PP/DS consultants, plus a BASIS person for half the time and I would seriously consider a full time ABAP person for ease of connectivity between R/3 and APO.
As for business process change, it depends on how Au-Fait your customer is with Advanced Planning concepts (beyond MRP II concepts). Most customers do not understand the balance required between stock on hand and service levels for example as they tend to be either make-to-stock or make-to-order historically.
Hopefully that lot helped, sorry it is not a straight answer but there are too many variables involved
Best Regards
Parksy
Answer:
I fully agree what Parsky was saying. I worked in couple of projects, where DP is implemented in 5 to 6 months. If SNP is involved its gone to more 1year. Its all depend on the complexity of business process.
Kumar
Answer:
I agree to Kumar and Parksy. But, remember it requires lot of changes in the processs. Let's not only talk about software implementation, but it is implementation of new processes. Its about doing business faster and making supply chain more responsive, hence would require many changes. I am involved in an implemntation wherein initial timeline was 8 months, and now the new schedule happens to be more than 12 months.
But, before going for APO, pls chalk out your processes and what help you want from APO tool to assist your planning. Only then can you figure out more accurate time to configure APO.
Rgds,
Prashant
_________________
Prashant
(APO Consulting)
Answer:
It really depends what u want to Implement. If your business requirements are really basic then implementing DP and SNP should not take more than 4 to 5 months. We did DP SNP implementation for one of the fortune 500 chemicals company (for one country in Europe) with 1000 Finished goods, 5000 same as products. in 5 months
Thanks
Vinayak
Answer:
It really depends what u want to Implement. If your business requirements are really basic then implementing DP and SNP should not take more than 4 to 5 months. We did DP SNP implementation for one of the fortune 500 chemicals company (for one country in Europe) with 1000 Finished goods, 5000 same as products. in 5 months
Thanks
Vinayak
Hi vinayak
It would be help full if more of information is given to me on how exactly you went about in chemical company
As one of our client is thinking about implementing APO I would be interested in knowing the basics abt APO as our client is also chemcial company
thanks in advance