Stack Digital Case Study:
NZ Post
NZ Post is all about making delivery easy for their business customers, so that customers can get back to doing what they do best – building their business capability. With a complete integrated solution, NZ Post offers these customers supply chain management, leading edge technology and the most comprehensive distribution network available.
The challenge
At the core of the New Zealand Post strategy is a single integrated supply chain that moves items safely, at the lowest cost to the service standard the customer has paid for. To make this vision a reality, NZ Post needed to have rich end-to-end data that flows seamlessly across their network systems, their partners and those of their customers.
The existing Transport Management System and Warehouse Management legacy systems were unable to support this data-driven vision. Following a robust evaluation process, NZ Post decided to invest in the Oracle Supply Chain Management cloud platform, with specific focus on the Oracle Transport Management and the Oracle Warehouse Management System, formally the LogFire WMS system. All they needed now was an expert team to deliver it, led by a trusted Project Manager.
- End of life legacy Transport Management System
- Warehouse Management System not fit for purpose, difficult to integrate and unable to optimise
- Data not integrated, no consolidated billing for clients and staff not trained in all necessary systems
- Needed project delivery capabilities across both supply chain and I.T. to help manage both the client and vendor relationship
How Stack Digital helped
Disciplined and Empowered Project Team
The project was delivered by a project team made up of personnel from NZ Post and an implementation vendor. In addition, Stack Digital (formerly Techspace Digital) – who specialises in assisting companies to develop their business and technology resource capabilities – was approached by NZ Post to find a senior Project Manager with proven technical expertise in these areas to lead and drive this work. This would give NZ Post specialist capability in both supply chain and IT to ensure full accountability, and help manage the relationship between NZ Post and the implementation vendor.
Stack Digital worked with NZ Post to define and agree the business deliverables, to ensure this tightly timebound and cost sensitive project would succeed.
Stack Digital accessed its data base, mapped and recommended a select number of candidates and worked with NZ Post to provide advice and guidance on the selection.
Project Capability Improvements
Stack Digital appointed Catherine Jenkin as the Technical Project Manager. Catherine was able to be independent and look at the project holistically, taking accountability for the delivery of the project including budgets and outcomes. Specifically, Catherine worked closely with the NZ Post team to improve;
- The PMO review and augmentation process
- The delivery capability internally ensuring a BAU team was upskilled to continue management of the project
- Management of process re-design and consequent change within the affected functions which needed to be managed quite deliberately and in a considered way
- Programme management / QA / governance functions across the project
- Manage and provide advice regarding the vendor commercial terms and deliverables
- Provide support and advice for new client on-boarding, including personally overseeing and managing their set up, transition and integration within the programme
Recommendation
- The appointment of a proven expert, independent Project Manager through Stack Digital, ensuring both client need and candidate fit were met
- Project delivery process improvements including staff upskilling to ensure BAU capability within NZ Post.
The results
NZ Post is well on the way to having world-class Transport and Warehouse Management Systems that respond and operate based on the needs of their customers. In addition, feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive, with the new systems significantly improving their performance through improved management information and data-led decision making.
Catherine Jenkin has been instrumental to the project success with staff commenting:
“It’s been a great experience working with Catherine. Despite project challenges, she keeps up with the project team with a positive attitude and professionalism to deal with project stakeholders”.
“I’m slowly able to release my temps and am confident that we’ll be able to get away with only one temp per day instead of the usual 2–3 that we used to need to meet SLA. Thanks for making our lives easier”.
“Catherine managed the project well, and we could not have gone live without her. Her focus was to ensure the business is ready and can run themselves, and be BAU, putting herself out of a job!”
Strategically, this project unlocks and creates capability that NZ Post can use to win in the market and create a true differentiator in the market place
What our clients say
NZ Post is all about making delivery easy for our business customers so that customers can get back to doing what they do best – building their business capability.