Business System Consultation Center - Our Business System ColumnVol.157 2024.11.01 Takahashi Minoru

Systems are still very much a human world

Thank you for your interest and continued support.
This is Takahashi from the Marketing Plan Research Laboratory.


Whether developing a custom system
or customizing existing systems,
it is common for your employees and the system integrator’s SE
I believe this is a common practice.


Who should serve as the point of contact?
I’m sure you’re already aware that selecting the right person within your company is crucial,
Are you aware that selecting a systems company’s SE and ensuring a good fit between your company and the SE
Are you aware that this is just as important?


As soon as your company, as the client, makes a request,
the system integrator will assign a SE of their choice for the design phase.
The larger the system company,
they have more opportunities to assign less experienced SE to the site for training purposes.
In the case of smaller system companies, due to staff shortages,
there are cases where they have no choice but to
to the site for training purposes.


The reason your company pays various fees to the systems company
is strictly for the sake of the company’s survival.
It is certainly not your intention to pay money
to support subpar SE—is likely not your intention.


The criteria for selecting an SE are not that difficult.
They should be able to communicate clearly with minimal misunderstandings, demonstrate a willingness to understand your company’s operations,
and have no technical issues (i.e., finished products or prototypes operate as intended)—
—standards of that level are sufficient.
This should be broadly similar to
in abstract terms.


When commissioning a systems company or holding meetings with them,
please make an effort to assess the quality of the system company’s SE.
If you anticipate that an SE falls into the “inferior” category,
requesting a replacement SE at an early stage—or, if that proves difficult, considering a different system company—
will likely be a key factor in further improving the system’s cost-effectiveness.


More specifically, it would be advisable to take the following actions:
・Ask the employee serving as your point of contact for their candid feedback on the SE’s performance
・If the system vendor sends a junior SE, insist that a veteran SE accompany them
*Note: If the vendor is a reputable major company, they should assign a veteran engineer without being asked
・Persistently (and earnestly) convey to the system vendor
to the system integrator


Speaking from our perspective as a systems company,
may sound self-serving and a bit presumptuous, but
the key to system design—the main player—is the system company’s SE.


If you adopt an attitude of simply handing everything over to your employees or the system company,
it becomes difficult to identify problems early on, so
so I recommend starting as early as possible, as mentioned above.


That's all, Thank you for reading.

------------------------------

■ Previous / Next Column ■

＜＜＜ Next Column Vol.158 - The best remedy for system aging: don't change the person in charge 2024.12.01

＞＞＞ Previous Column Vol.156 - The key figure in system design is the SE at the system company 2024.10.01

Back to Column List