Chapter 15 Chapter 7 Reliable Organization (2)

When excited about "there is such a finished product", Li Ning Company finally took the first step. However, Li Ning Company didn't know much about this new thing at that time, and the risk was high and the worry was great.However, it has taken a whole year to demonstrate and investigate, and it is no longer enough. In 1999, the company finally signed SAP's R/3 software version 3.1I and AFS version 2.0D. After a year and a half of exploration, things seem to have taken the second step smoothly, but problems soon came. In April 1999, after the company successfully launched the financial modules (FI financial accounting and CO management accounting), the AFS 2.0D version, originally signed and planned to be launched at the end of 1998, is still in the experimental stage and has not been officially released for a long time. SAP suggested that Li Ning Company choose its general version, but after repeated demonstrations by the project team, it was believed that the general version could not match well with the company's logistics management.At this time, news came from SAP: to abandon the launch of version 2.0D and wait for the launch of the new version 2.5 at the end of 1999.When it was nearly half a year beyond the original plan of full-scale launch in June 1999, there was still no news about the launch of the new version.

However, the project team has lost a lot of time due to argumentation and waiting, and is in a dilemma.At this time, the determination of the leadership of Li Ning Company to promote ERP solved this difficulty.The article went on to describe: "Under the pressure of the top management and time, they had no choice but to choose the second best solution: to implement the 1.0D version of AFS. This choice kept the most core part of the company: the management experience and management experience in the clothing industry. Thought. This insufficiently prepared decision caused many follow-up problems. For example, at the beginning of 2000, the financial system had to be restarted because it was out of touch with the original plan. It became possible and the new system went online smoothly.

Since then, the ERP project of Li Ning Company has lasted for nearly two years, and after various twists and turns, it was finally launched.Li Ning Company became the first clothing company in China to adopt SAP's R/3 system and add AFS clothing and footwear solutions. "First" naturally means taking unpredictable risks, including human risks, program correctness risks, and implementation risks.The conflict between man-management and systematic work norms is the most prominent point. Li Ning Company adopts a system-first approach to resolve this contradiction.Hosted by the ERP project manager, with the participation and signature of the company's middle and senior leaders, the project team formulated dozens of pages of rules and regulations, including 11 items such as the assessment system and reward system, and held a special kick-off meeting to implement them.

Fortunately for Guo Jianxin, "the senior leaders of the company have done a very good job in this aspect. For example, when the project promotion team held a meeting, almost all the management of the company arrived. The key is that the senior management has long realized that the implementation of ERP is a management project. , not IT projects". However, the implementation of ERP is not smooth, there are many problems, and the adaptation of personnel is a big problem.The grassroots staff found that the workload has even doubled. In the past, an order only needed to enter basic information, but now it needs to add a lot of information. These changes make it difficult for some departments to adapt.Therefore, Guo Jianxin, who was originally not good at words, began to lobby in various departments, constantly calling on everyone to study and discuss.

Regardless of all the difficulties, just looking at one detail can give a glimpse of the difficulties and hardships of implementing ERP at that time.The informatization department has a meeting system that, if the participants are late, they must stand and listen to the meeting with 60 times the time of being late.Guo Jianxin himself admitted, "This seems a bit ridiculous", but this kind of strictness is one of the extreme ways to ensure the implementation of the project.Guo Jianxin believes: "Project progress is sometimes measured in seconds, and any negligence may lead to system defects, making it difficult to achieve the original goal." After accumulating experience in multiple projects, this is Guo Jianxin's deepest feeling, and also The reason for his almost impersonal adherence to principle.It is in such numerous step-by-step persistence and standardized operations that the company's ERP can be implemented.

At that time, as an asset-light company, the specific operation process of Li Ning Company was: design and develop products, organize dealer order meetings, organize production according to order meeting orders, produce finished products into warehouses, and execute futures orders for sales and delivery.At that time, Li Ning’s new product development had two seasons in spring and summer. Distributors placed orders at the order meeting, and ordered goods for half a year at a time. The company organized product design and development for the next half year according to each order.This "futures system" has high requirements on the time schedule and price of products.After the introduction of the ERP system, the capital flow, logistics, information flow and other links in the entire operation process have been optimized.Moreover, after the ERP system implements credit control on the repayment, it ensures a stable and virtuous cycle of monthly repayment capital flow, which brings great benefits to the efficient operation of the company as a whole.