Forward-deployed for warehouse & logistics: I take WMS/LES and AI systems from spec to go-live.

Delivery cases, field notes, and the tools I actually use.

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WMS implementation pitfalls

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Course map thumbnail 21 stations, 5 lines, 6 stages (Initiation, Blueprint, Implementation, Go-live preparation, Trial operation, Acceptance).The full station list follows the map as text. ✓ ! ✓ × × ! ✓ ! × ! ✓ × Example: a fictional project after answering

Your project tool tells you the progress. I tell you whether that progress is real.

If you run in-plant logistics WMS / LES projects in manufacturing, the things most often missed before go-live are on one map: 21 stations, 5 lines. Answer yes / no / unknown for your project's stage and see which stations turn red.

21
stations
5
lines
44
common pitfalls
5
minutes
Materials
Integration
Data
Management
Project delivery
5-minute self-check See a sample report

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L4 Every plant says it's special. Build all of it and you end up with one system per plant Management
L3 Development estimates rarely blow up on the hard features. They blow up on the parts you don't control Project delivery
L1b When a blueprint review turns into a round of Q&A, the problem is rarely the design. It's the jargon Project delivery
  • Materials:
    1. L8 Receipt & putaway, Trial operation stage, this stage has not started
    2. L11 Kitting & shortages, Trial operation stage, this stage has not started
    3. L9 Wave picking, Trial operation stage, not applicable
    4. L10 Material changes, Trial operation stage, this stage has not started
    5. L12 Consumption posting, Trial operation stage, this stage has not started
  • Integration:
    1. L13 Interfaces, Implementation stage, red: high-severity pitfalls found
    2. L14 Cycle time, Trial operation stage, this stage has not started
  • Data:
    1. L6 Location data, Blueprint stage, red: high-severity pitfalls found
    2. L5 Master data, Implementation stage, yellow: medium or low-severity pitfalls found
    3. L7 PFEP, Go-live preparation stage, green: nothing found
  • Management:
    1. L2 Black or white box, Initiation stage, red: high-severity pitfalls found
    2. L4 Control customization, Blueprint stage, yellow: medium or low-severity pitfalls found
    3. L20 Decision blockers, Implementation stage, green: nothing found
    4. L16 Key users, Go-live preparation stage, yellow: medium or low-severity pitfalls found
    5. L19 Risk & schedule, Trial operation stage, this stage has not started
  • Project delivery:
    1. L1 Eight commitments, Initiation stage, green: nothing found
    2. L1b Blueprint sign-off, Blueprint stage, yellow: medium or low-severity pitfalls found
    3. L3 Requirements & effort, Implementation stage, green: nothing found
    4. L15 Three go-live checks, Go-live preparation stage, red: high-severity pitfalls found
    5. L17 Trial & acceptance, Trial operation stage, this stage has not started
    6. L18 Prevent bypasses, Acceptance stage, this stage has not started

What I use

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Tools Software and services I genuinely use every day 16 items Learning Write-ups of courses, books and podcasts 3 items

Recently written

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Hundreds of thousands more and six months late, because the client changed leaders

The blueprint was signed and development was under way when the client's new leader wanted his own way. Why the signature didn't hold, and the two things I'd now settle at kickoff and sign-off.

· project-management · manufacturing-digitalization

When the shop floor and the system clash, why is it always the system that gives way

Once the hardware is in, almost every clash between the floor and the system ends with the system changing. A new series on 12 real changes, and three threads that keep coming back.

· project-management · manufacturing-digitalization

Every plant says it's special. Build all of it and you end up with one system per plant

Six common kinds of customization; printer drivers are the most forgotten. If standard config can do it, it isn't custom. Too much ends in one system per plant. Agree it upfront and sign it off.

· project-management · manufacturing-digitalization

Three things you can verify

All experience →
Credentials Certified

PMP — Project Management Professional

Certificate holder

PMP certified. The methodology underneath a dozen real projects, not a certificate on a wall.

  • The methodology underneath a dozen real projects — scope, risk register, change control, stakeholder matrix
  • My project plans and acceptance templates are written in this vocabulary
Credentials Certified

NPDP — New Product Development Professional

Certificate holder

NPDP certified, covering new products end to end — from spotting the opportunity to launch.

  • Covers new products end to end, from spotting the opportunity to launch
  • I use it on my own products to decide what to build first and what to validate first
Credentials Certified

CCNA — Cisco Certified Network Associate

Certificate holder

Cisco CCNA certified. Networking and infrastructure are the groundwork under every systems project I have run since.

  • Systematic training in networking, routing and infrastructure
  • On systems like WMS / LES it means I can talk to the ops and network people directly

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