A telecoms company had to deliver and install their equipment with a tight timeframe. There were many different types of equipment with specific software and coding requirements. A tough contractual position and poor suppler relationships had driven the company into a corner. They were already paying liquidated damages but these were likely to get much higher unless some key processes could be repaired.

With thousands of pieces of equipment to install in hundreds of locations it was always going to be tough to manage. But this was further complicated by the specific nature of the equipment types, software and coding. All suppliers were hostile as previous working relationships had all but collapsed.

The first step in this instance was to break some barriers. Some disputes between suppliers had caused a log jam and it was clear that progress was going to be very slow unless this was broken. By completing some details studies and analysis of some installation activities the log jam was indeed broken. The irrefutable facts of the situation removed all room for subjective debate that had been causing the problems.

The next issue was the supply chain. Moving equipment from A to B is never really an issue, it is usually which equipment from which A to which B and when is normally the problem. This case was not unusual in that this problem existed. The unusual part was the method being used to manage the data – one man and one hundred spreadsheets. It was clear from the position that enormous volumes of activity and poor supplier relationships would cause this to fail very quickly.

3t arranged a series of workshops with representatives from each of the suppliers. A compelling story was presented showing how the processes, as they stand, would fail. Over a series of sessions processes were designed that all concerned could adopt. The one-man pinch point was removed and each supplier supported their part of the process.

Being realistic, everyone accepted that the unforeseen would happen from time to time (that’s why they call it unforeseen I suppose). A second set of processes called out-of-control action plans were also written to support the primary processes so when the unforeseen does happen everyone know exactly how to respond.

This just left the data problem. 100 spreadsheets are not known for their integrity in multi-user environments. Timescales were too short to source and implement any form of ERP and so a bespoke database was supplied by 3t to solve the immediate issue and allow the supply chain to function in line with the demands of the newly designed processes.

The outcome was a more robust supply chain and a better working relationship between the suppliers. It would be tough to assign benefits as the supply chain had not really started and performance could not be baselined. It was certainly a case of avoidance without supply chain processes catastrophic failure would be likely.