There is no substitute for good requirements, good specifications, and a good selection process in any IT project. Especially those projects that are complex and touch so many people and disciplines, like MES projects.
I often liken MES projects to building a house. It isn’t enough to go to a custom builder and give them requirements like this:
- 5 bedrooms
- 4 full baths
- 3 car garage
- 5,500 square feet
- Oh, and we want this to be our dream home.
NO, NO, NO! We all know that a builder would laugh you out of his office and say, “Come back with some architectural blueprints, some specifications, and a budget.” Even if the builder was a Design Build firm, you would expect the clock to start then, and to pay for the design of your new home!
However, so many times I see companies trying to do the same thing with MES projects. Requirements go something like this:
- OEE
- Tracking and Genealogy
- Reporting (including drill-down and ad-hoc reports)
- Schedule dispatch
- Label printing
- NO, NO, NO! There is no way the customer is going to get what they want. There is no way they are going to get an apples-to-apples comparison from different vendors.
In coming posts, I will explore how manufacturing companies can do a better job of laying out requirements. Who knows, maybe we will even post some templates!
