9. Introducing new equipment

The change may involve new machinery, computer terminals and other peripherals. This requires a number of people to manage the change.

Purchasing

The purchasing department need to ensure that the cost of new equipment is within budget and will be suitable for the task. For example, there may be a bidding process where vendors are invited to propose their equipment along with their costs.

The winning bid may not be the cheapest one because of other factors such as quality, reliability, reputation, timing, life time costs and so on.

Logistics

Once the equipment has been ordered, the logistics staff need to ensure that it will arrive on time for the rest of the project. Delivery delays are notorious for adding costs to a project.

Installation

Once on site, suitably qualified staff need to have the right tools in place to install it safely. The change management planning should make sure that staff are properly qualified to carry out the task.

Testing and maintenance

Once the equipment is up and running, it should be thoroughly tested by users and the maintenance team to ensure it works as intended.