ScienceDirect
IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-3 (2015) 106–111
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
2405-8963 © 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Peer review under responsibility of International Federation of Automatic Control.
10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.06.066
© 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. INTRODUCTION
Over the past 25 years, enduring empirical evidence
demonstrates the significant impact of Business Process
Reengineering (BPR) on organizational performance
(Altinkemer, Ozcelik, & Ozdemir, 2011). Well beyond firm-
level performance, research has also shown how Supply
Chain Management (SCM) practices require BPR within an
operations strategy and inter-organizational benchmarking
perspective (Herzog, Tonchia, & Polajnar, 2009).
Typical BPR case studies address highly complex projects
where readiness assessments clearly show prior challenges,
such as organizational resistance or lack of project alignment
with strategy (Abdolvand, Albadvi, & Ferdowsi, 2008). Yet
even in the most favourable conditions, supply-chain
reengineering may face the possibility that project plans are
entirely flawed, where projects transition from optimistic
inception and elaboration phases, to failed redesign and
testing phases (Guimaraes & Paranjape, 2013).
We conducted research with a goal to developing Information
Technology (IT) Project Management (PM) methods to deal
with these unsuspected challenges in BPR. This paper
discusses one particular factor, which is how messy data may
be a hidden failure factor that BPR projects typically may not
detect during the planning phase. Our case study deals with
SCM within the supply chains of two major urban hospitals,
involving $2 million in minimum stocks for drug inventory.
We used a mixed research method, gathering qualitative data
on pharmaceutical supply-chain practices with interviews,
observations, and internal documents analysis. We then
performed statistical analysis on their inventory database
systems, at all steps of the supply chain (e.g., prescriptions,
orders, receptions, inventories, in-process, and delivery). Our
project addresses the issue of the feasibility of the hospital’s
Data Warehousing (DW) integration, especially at the stage
of Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL).
Our findings demonstrate that even the most rigorous
planning for supply chain reengineering may rely on too
many core assumptions built on inputs that could not have
been detected until attempting to integrate data schema. We
conclude with suggestions for modifying project-planning
methods within supply chain management, particularly
related to circumstances where messy data due to varying
generations of information systems is a prevalent challenge.
We prescribe an iterative and emergent Enterprise
Architecture (EA) audit and verification method that may
serve to guide reengineering project planning and execution.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Process reengineering has typically relied on the introduction
of more integrated and innovative IT in organizations.
Systems integration, especially in the era of cloud computing
and big data, remains a priority to develop more flexible and
real-time EA.
We briefly review the literature on reengineering and systems
integration, especially in the case of DW, with particular
attention to healthcare SCM. We identify to what extent
prevailing project management methods allow for an early or
later detection of messy data across systems. We identify the
latest EA verification methods to assure the feasibility of
process innovation.
2.1 BPR for SCM
Planning a BPR project for improving SCM processes may
present challenges. In the particular case of healthcare
Keywords: Supply Chain Management (SCM), Business Process Management (BPM), Decision Support
System (DSS), Extract Transform and Load (ETL), Data Models, Verification of Information System.
Département des sciences administratives
Université du Québec en Outaouais
Gatineau, Québec, Canada
(e-mail: veronique.nabelsi@uqo.ca, stephane.gagnon@uqo.ca)
Abstract: This paper discusses how messy data may be a hidden failure factor that Business Process
Reengineering (BPR) projects typically cannot detect during the planning phase. Our case study deals
with Supply Chain Management (SCM) within two major urban hospitals, involving $2 million in
minimum stocks for drug inventory. Our project addresses the feasibility of the hospital’s data
warehousing integration, especially at the stage of Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL). We conclude
with a proposed system architecture audit and verification method that may serve to guide reengineering
project planning and execution.
Detecting Constraints in Supply Chain Reengineering Projects:
Case Study of Data and Process Integration in a Hospital Pharmacy
Véronique Nabelsi and Stéphane Gagnon