Mark in Action: Mohammad goes above and beyond for BMW

Operational Excellence Manager Mohammad Awais Nisar was awarded a Mark in Action after stepping into a 12-month secondment role to manage the transition of the BMW Plant in Oxford to a new SAP system.

This project was of the utmost importance for BMW to continue building cars in 2023, and set the standard for following operations in their business.

Having been a permanent Unipart colleague for just seven months, Mohammad was trusted with the huge responsibility of travelling alone to Munich, developing a detailed project plan, and delivering a successful Go Live, with the agreement of taking no annual leave during the project.

He explained: “I was working for the VZ3, which is the external warehouse based in Cowley DC, providing lineside delivery to BMW Plant Oxford. The project was transitioning the VZ3 SAP system from R/3 to S/4 HANA - it had a lot of layers to it. Initially there was a project introduction, followed by Business Integration Testing, User Acceptance Testing, Go Live, and finally the Hypercare phase. Throughout all of this, I also had to receive specialist training myself in order to support the VZ3 with the Go Live, and provide training to our operational colleagues.”

A key aspect of this project was training colleagues on the new system. Mohammad said: “I think the most important thing we did was raise awareness about the upcoming change nice and early, months in advance. We drip fed content and tutorials all throughout the lead up to the Go Live and we made sure that the end users were aware that, although this is a change from what they are used to, ultimately it will benefit them with increased efficiency and simplicity of our key processes.”

Mohammad created SOPs for all the main warehouse operations, produced a 170 page training manual, and was available across the AM and PM night shifts during the Go Live to expertly answer any questions.

Mohammad’s work exceeded the expectations, significantly enhancing Unipart’s reputation with BMW.

He explained how being trusted with this project has benefited his development: “It was an incredible honour. I knew the magnitude of the project, with failure not being an option, and I was humbled that my leadership thought that I was capable enough to execute this project to a high standard.

“This project, and most importantly the support of the BMW contract leadership team, in particular Tris Maskens, was a catalyst for my personal and professional development. Not only did he trust me with this project, but he supported and encouraged me every step of the way. I was able to develop my project management skills, as well as interpersonal skills, building strong relationships both internally, within different areas of UL, and externally with our customers.”

Going forward, Mohammad aims to continue delivering excellence for the customer. He said: I am currently working on the Hyperoptic contract in Cowley as the Operational Excellence Manager. We conducted an overdrive in Q1 that resulted in significant cost savings and process efficiency gains for our customer, and I am looking forward to holding another one in Q3 of this year.”

There is still time to submit your Mark in Action nominations for consideration for the next ceremony on Thursday 4 July 2024. The deadline for nominations to be submitted is Wednesday 22 May.

If you aren't sure whether your story is a Mark in Action or not, then you can contact Mark in Action Manager Katie Geddes who can advise and support you through the nomination process.

The full Mark in Action ceremony from March 2024 is available to watch here.