Target Canada Software Issue

Target Canada should not have initially used new technology. If the company had used the software available in US stores, configured it to Canadian requirements, and established a team of subject matter experts to aid new employees, there would have been a better chance for success for the company in this new market. Instead, the company used new software for supply chain management and distribution center management with the hope that it would save time. The theory behind using the SAP system for managing the Target Canada supply chain was sound, but the company did not take into account the issues other companies had implementing the software. Senior leadership also did not allow for time to test SAP prior to initiating use in Target Canada or time to train new employees on the new software. They had no experts on the software and no way to simplify the required input of each item from each vendor into the system prior to opening the stores. Target Canada’s new technology platform to manage the distribution centers relied on historical data. Because this was a new market for Target, the historical data from US stores was input into the system. Unfortunately, this data was for a well-established brand that did not have the same competition as Target Canada did in both the grocery and household goods sales areas. The disconnect between the two systems was exacerbated by the employee’s inexperience with the software and the ongoing glitched in both software packages resulting in issues.