Project Implementation



Every business has unique needs and Commercial’s Project Managers are able to rapidly assess the needs of your business and will customise our systems and processes to meet your project implementation requirements. It is the decision of your Project Manager when your contract will be set live and this is based on a detailed understanding of your requirements and any identified risks associated with your project implementation.

They will work with you to define your requirements and ensure that your implementation is delivered on time and is fully operational. Commercial have a 100% track record of delivering new account implementations within the agreed timeframes.

The care Commercial takes over new contract implementation makes it one of the company’s greatest strengths. Commercial’s approach to implementation is both rigorous and thorough and our Project Managers will take full responsibility of delivering the implementation as quickly and efficiently as possible whilst minimising business disruption.

By adopting a Project Management methodology that draws upon over 10 years experience of implementing new contracts within our industry, the project life cycle has continuously reduced ensuring a significant saving in time, cost and resources.

A number of key stages can be identified during project implementation:

Assign a Project Manager

Commercial will designate an experienced Project Manager to oversee the implementation of your project.

The Project Manager will liaise with you on a regular basis through phone, email and telephone conferences. Throughout the duration of the project the Project Manager will work closely with the Project Team to ensure that the design and implementation of the system runs as smoothly as possible.

Our Project Managers have extensive experience of successfully managing and implementing complex and sophisticated projects across multi site locations and users, including system integrations such as SAP, Oracle, Ariba and many other portals and across a broad range of industry types.

Project “Kick Off” Meeting

The project will start with a project "kick off" meeting attended by the Commercial Project Manager, and any of the client’s key personnel. In this "kick off" meeting the Project Manager with go through all areas of implementation, clarifying how the client would like to place orders to how the format of their invoice should look. The Project Manager will clearly outline what information the client needs to provide in order to set up their account

Customer Requirement Document The information provided at the "kick-off" meeting will enable a Customer Requirement Document for the account implementation to be created. This document is called an Implementation Agreement document. The document outlines all areas of account implementation agreed at the “kick off meeting” so that there are no areas of ambiguity during implementation. It is our experience that Customers must have the opportunity to comment on/amend the original specification . Amendments by the client at a later phase of the project can cause a considerable delay and incur additional time and resource.

Client Data Document This document is created by the Project Manager and sent to the client for completion. Based on the information provided at the “kick off” meeting and the Customer Requirement Document, the Project Manager knows exactly what data is required to set up both the online ordering system and Commercial’s finance system to ensure the account will operate to the agreed specification. Should a client have difficulty in applying resource for this task, Commercial’s Project Manager will arrange resource to assist the client in delivering this information. This document becomes a vital part of managing the account post-implementation and is passed to the Corporate Account Management Team who will manage the day to day housekeeping of the client’s data.

System Testing

Once the systems have been set up, based on the Customer Requirement Document and any additional client specific programming requirements, a comprehensive system testing program is undertaken.

Commercial would normally schedule 1 week for end to end testing. Testing takes place in a controlled test environment where an order will be followed from creation through to invoicing. The Project Manager will oversee all stages of testing and will be responsible for approving each area as it is tested. A Testing Scenario Document will be produced and is unique to each client. This documents each individual area and the different scenarios for testing.

Implementation and Post-Implementation Support

Assistance with the implementation will consist of support in a number of areas, not just setting up the new contract in accordance with current processes. Your Project Manager will work with you in a consultative manner, helping you identify any inefficient processes and suggesting new ways of working to eliminate time consuming tasks. They will also advise the best way of implementing an e-commerce solution based on your company’s profile.

For the first two months after the implementation of your contract, the Commercial Project Team will support the Commercial Account Team on a day to day basis until they are fully familiar with how your account operates. The Account Team will thereafter manage your day to day support services.

The Project Team’s involvement with, and commitment to its clients does not end with the implementation of the contract. In fact this is the beginning of an ongoing relationship which ensures the initial solutions continue to meet our clients' changing demands. The Project Team will very often be involved with any future cost saving projects such as electronic invoicing or new system integrations.

Training

All Commercial clients enjoy the provision of extensive on-site training as an integral part of the Project Team’s implementation service. Detailed training is provided for online ordering, product information and for all processes associated with ordering stationery. Training can take place at either a client's premises or the Project Team can provide telephone training for users who are unable to attend on site training sessions. These will be booked in advance of go live and at a date and time suitable for each individual user.

Training is carried out by Commercial’s Project Manager along with Commercial’s Corporate Account Manager and Business Development Manager, giving end users the opportunity to meet the team that will manage their account on a day to day basis. Training happens just before the account goes 'live'. In this way it is guaranteed that the users can commence using their new system at the earliest opportunity following their training.
This is backed up with a detailed, easy to use reference manual, written specifically to include and take account of your particular implementation practices.

From the outset, the Project Team’s policy is to offer total support to end users during implementation and post-implementation. We provide comprehensive support to assist clients and end users both with learning and understanding new systems and processes as well as providing a valuable service to our internal Account Team.
Typical training might include:

• Commercial Overview
• Environment
• Import Procedures
• Products
• Day to Day Contacts
• Delivery
• Helpdesk
• Online Ordering