Building a Successful Deltek Costpoint Manufacturing Implementation

A successful Deltek Costpoint manufacturing implementation requires more than system configuration. Cross functional involvement, early data planning, thorough testing, and continuous training help government contractors build internal capability, reduce rework, and establish processes that can support the business well beyond go-live.

Highlights

• Implementation Strategy. Successful Costpoint manufacturing implementations prioritize quality and completeness over the fastest path to go-live, with sufficient time devoted to design, configuration, testing, and training.
• Cross Functional Involvement. Subject Matter Experts from Operations, Supply Chain Management, Finance, Accounting, and other affected functions should be involved from the beginning so business and system decisions reflect the needs of the entire organization.
• Data Readiness. Data mapping, cleansing, and migration should begin early and remain a central focus throughout implementation because data quality directly affects system readiness and usability.
• Testing and Training. Testing should address normal processes, unique business requirements, and corner cases. Training should begin during discovery and continue through configuration, testing, and end user preparation.
• Post Go-Live Support. Implementation planning should extend beyond go-live and provide support as teams complete new processes and transactions for the first time in the production environment.

Why Implementation Strategy Matters

While I would argue the same is true for all ERP implementations, implementation strategy matters immensely for a successful Deltek Costpoint Manufacturing implementation. Rushed or canned approaches tend to create problems because they cannot adequately address all the variables within a manufacturing business. The phases of the implementation need to be intentional, with an emphasis on quality and completeness rather than simply finding the quickest path to go-live.

The fast and low-cost approach can lead to future reimplementation, which ultimately requires significantly more time and money. Clients who understand this from the beginning are better positioned for long-term success.

Training Should Begin Early

Your implementation strategy should have thorough design and training as core elements of the process. Training is not simply something you do at the end, just before go-live, nor should training focus only on teaching end users which buttons to click to complete a task.

Training begins during the discovery phase, when the business starts learning what Costpoint can do and how the system operates. It continues throughout configuration, when the individuals involved learn how and why the system is being set up to meet the organization’s design requirements. That learning continues into testing, when those designs are put through their paces to confirm they support the business as intended.

Throughout these phases, training is already taking place, even if it is somewhat informal. Your Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are absorbing significant knowledge about how Costpoint works and how the business will operate within the system. Final training then solidifies and formalizes that knowledge rather than introducing it for the first time.

Building Internal Costpoint Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

Identifying your internal SMEs at the beginning is critical. These individuals need to remain involved throughout the project because their education starts on day one. The goal is not simply to teach people how to complete specific tasks. It is to help them understand how the system thinks and operates so they can develop into internal Deltek Costpoint SMEs.

Those SMEs can then help train the broader user population, support ongoing operations, and care for the ERP system after implementation. Building internal SMEs requires effort, but it helps reduce dependency on outside consultants and gives the organization greater ability to use Costpoint to its fullest potential.

Key Elements of a Successful Implementation

At a minimum, a successful Deltek Costpoint Manufacturing implementation strategy should address the following:

• Cross functional SMEs should be identified and involved from day one, representing the different areas of the business, including Operations, Supply Chain Management, Finance, and Accounting.
• Adequate time should be devoted to understanding both the current and future state of the business.
• Configuration should be collaborative and designed around both short-term and long-term business needs.
• Data mapping, cleansing, and migration should be a central focus throughout the project and treated as a gate to implementation success.
• The project timeline should allow for thorough testing, including test plans that address unique business processes and corner cases.
• SMEs should receive dedicated training that builds their understanding of both the system and the underlying business processes.
• Post go-live support should be included in the implementation plan, particularly for the new processes and transactions the organization will perform for the first time during the initial months after go-live.

Building Internal Capability for Long Term Manufacturing Success

Redstone GCI supports government contractors throughout Deltek Costpoint Materials and Manufacturing implementations by connecting system configuration with the way the business actually operates. Our consultants assist with business process analysis, manufacturing and Finance and Accounting alignment, data mapping and migration planning, configuration decisions, testing, SME development, and post go-live operational support. Because our team brings direct experience managing supply chain and manufacturing operations in industry, we help contractors evaluate not only how Costpoint can be configured, but how those decisions will affect day-to-day execution as transaction volume, staffing, and organizational complexity increase. The objective is to establish a manufacturing environment that works at go-live while also building the internal knowledge and processes needed to support the system over the long term.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• What makes a Costpoint Manufacturing implementation successful? A successful implementation requires intentional planning, collaborative configuration, clean and properly mapped data, thorough testing, and effective training. The implementation should consider both current business requirements and how the organization expects to operate in the future.
• Why should internal SMEs be involved from the beginning? SMEs help ensure that configuration decisions reflect how different areas of the business actually operate. Early involvement also allows those individuals to build Costpoint knowledge throughout discovery, configuration, testing, and training.
• Why does training begin before final end user training? Team members begin learning how Costpoint operates during discovery and configuration. Testing reinforces that knowledge by allowing SMEs to work through the processes and system designs they helped develop before formal training is completed.
• Why is data migration so important in a manufacturing implementation? Manufacturing operations depend on accurate and usable data. Treating data mapping, cleansing, and migration as an early and ongoing priority helps reduce problems during testing and improves readiness for go-live.
• What should Costpoint Manufacturing testing include? Testing should confirm that the configured system supports normal transactions as well as unique business processes and corner cases. The project schedule needs enough time to identify problems, evaluate results, and make corrections before go-live.
• Why is post go-live support part of the implementation strategy? Many processes will be completed in the production system for the first time after go-live. Supporting the organization through those initial activities helps reinforce training and address questions as employees begin operating in the new environment.