Thread regarding 3M layoffs

Sap was designed for parts producers, like car manufacturers and equipment makers. The supply chain in these industries is vanilla compared to anything 3Ms far more complex processes and supply chains.

Sap repackaged its offering in the 1980s to try to su---r in chemical industry clients. But the software cannot handle complex scheduling for 100000 SKUs.

3M was taken to the bank, Ala the old saying "a su---r is born every minute"

For boomers this lyric from the band .38 Special comes to mind. "And my mind goes back to a girl that I met some years ago who told me [we got this].

Circa 2017 regarding sap implementation.

Anyone who thought SAP could ever work at 3M had no idea how much “custom made” products were sold by its largest divisions. Within 6 months of the first “go live” the variant configuration system had nearly crippled 3M’s converter business. And the idea that you could create a price formula for material and labor to cover all the various pricing you had for end use customers and distribution was sheer madness. It has taken the focus off making and selling and shifted it to firefighting, then people scratch their heads about why 3M can’t grow.

We have thousands of middle management employees who could take on the roles of superusers trainers, remember the same clowns that have degrees and college education, yes you are the ones who get the promotions and do jack $hit all day, MR, TIREMAN,HAMMES,VALE AND DI-KSON , you should be ashamed of yourselves getting more money than you will ever be worth and not understanding the vision that SAP was to bring to mother mining, the company has flatlined every year and how the he-l you are giving the shareholders too much in a dividend, MP needs to buy a new calculator. Anyway i am only a cleaner and this computer screen needs a wash so when Bob comes back from his break, go easy with the replies

They even named it POLARIS
Guessed it never guided the true north

In addition to SAP and the consultants, there are plenty of "high potential" 3Mers who leveraged BT to shoot up the corporate ladder faster than their capabilities. Remember, SAP was always touted as one of the three best development opportunities in the company. None of these people know what they're doing, but they've made a lot of money for themselves in any case.

SAP is a mess. In all my time having to deal with it, I have never, NEVER, found a single case of company being better for having implemented it.

The whole 3M ideas of superusers and train-the-trainer is possibly the d-mbest thing I have ever seen in my career. (and that is a tough competition) Here is how it works:

1. Let us implement a super-complicated, not fault resistant, very an-l-retentive ERP system into a very complicated, highly custom manufacturing firm with literally hundreds of thousands of finished good SKUs. Even more raw material and semi-finished SKUs.

2. Instead of actually training anyone on how to use the system, and paying for proper staff to be the full-time experts, we'll make the departments do it. I know we'll call them 'superusers', everyone will love it.

3. The departments, who are mostly understaffed already, put the superuser role on admin assistants and junior level employees. Why? Because nobody else has the time to go through the half-assed 40 hour training to buy a paperclip.

4. Oh, and by the way, if anyone, anywhere along the line messes up any part of the data input, the whole system comes to a screeching halt, but doesn't tell you what went wrong.

I really don't know what sort of blackmail SAP had on 3M leadership to keep this thing alive. Given what has happened it must of been really good 'kompromat'. Only SAP and the 'consultants' made any money on 3M's SAP.

We've all read the propaganda for years...

This company never learned its lesson from the politically charged and bungled roll out of six sigma under mcnerney 20 years ago. Back then, MBBs and BBs were chosen not based on experience or ability but rather "future potential" as leaders. The result? A mangled and unpopular and expensive program that Buckley had to unwind when mcnerney flew off for his next big gig at boeing.

There were undoubtedly better super users who lived in supply chain planning or manufacturing when inge started the SAP rollout. Instead, the Golden children were chosen to fill these roles as a "developmental" opportunity and given the duties over much more qualified employees. Throw in McKinsey and their "expertise" which is not in SAP but in designing organizations where more work is done by fewer people (which never works for long, but McKinsey cashes the checks anyway).

This failure was completely avoidable. The old 3M would have find the best person for the job, even if was a career plateaued 55 year production scheduler, and given them the resources and time to do it well. This person could have finished their career on a high note and maybe even worked for a bit as a contractor training others while starting the path to full retirement.

Advance 3M may have been the final straw that broke this 120 year old company's back. If only 3M had learned from the six sigma debacle. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.