Create the world's first Web-enabled Supply Chain
The Situation
Nortel, a global telecommunications company at the time, like others in their industry, had a supply chain that ran into the thousands (3500+). At the time of the undertaking, it was a period of explosive growth in the industry that was also being compromised by unevenness in each telecom company’s supply chain partners’ ability to deliver. This owed both to the number of suppliers and the often paper-based exchanges for order and tracking information. Many competitors were also suppliers to one another.
Two of the major players, Nortel and IBM, recognized the problem and the need to act. They, along with five other firms, formed a consortium called E2Open to create the worlds fist web-enabled supply chain.
The Task
Another division within Nortel had been tasked a year earlier with getting it off the ground. As progress was slow, I and a colleague were asked to step in an run with it.
We met with the EVP for Global Supply Management and were asked if we could pull together an implementation plan.
The Action / Approach
We took the following actions:
– Visited all of Nortel’s manufacturing facilities as well as visiting all of the partner companys in the initiative
– Developed an incremental business capability release strategy for the roll-out instead of making it about the technology or deploying as a “big bang”
– Defined the portfolio of projects required to create and implement www.e2open.com (now the world’s largest electronic components web-hosted supply chain marketplace) across Nortel, IBM, Solectron, Seagate, PowerWave and i2Technologies.
– Conducted business development for take-up of the deployed system with Nortel suppliers (PowerWave and Solectron)
– Sold the required change concepts to suppliers and coordinated their efforts with Nortel and their partners across North America
The Result
– Deployed a Web enabled supply chain to Nortel Calgary and ten (10) suppliers ahead of schedule and on budget using common and streamlined procurement processes that resulted in significant reductions in order duplications
– These projects enabled the integration of the supply chains as well as the exchange and tracking of digital asset information across hundreds of suppliers on four continents ranging in size from small businesses of less than ten people to large multinational companies such as IBM and Panasonic
I was commended by both IBM and i2 (the two main technology partners) for my innovative management approach that focused on business capability delivery rather than technical functionality. I also received a Pride Award from Nortel’s EVP for Global Supply Management.
