The purpose of a User Requirements Specification is to clearly and specifically document the requirements for the machine, system, or upgrade that you plan to buy or implement for your winery. (For our purposes, let’s call it a machine.) The User Requirements Specification provides the project manager or engineer with her marching orders. ‘Go get us the machine to do what it says in this document.’
Project managers and engineers in large corporations and highly regulated industries know that the URS is the foundation upon which a capital project is built. But this applies to the winemaking process as well. Done correctly, the URS specifies a machine that will repeatedly and reliable perform its role in grape and wine processing or bottling. Equally if not more importantly, done wrong, you’re instructing your engineer to obtain a machine that is too much: too complex, too expensive, too big, or all the above. It can be like buying a big rig to deliver pizzas. The flip side is that not scaled correctly, you may have a machine that you outgrow too quickly.
Everything costs something. Be aware that every feature your team of users adds to the list as a ‘requirement’ is going to cost more money or more time to obtain. And, it will need to be tested to make sure it works as requested. Is it really necessary to have frames made from stainless steel or would powder-coated mild steel meet the need? Are servo-controlled positioners a ‘must have’ or would a couple of hand cranks work just as well? Do you need to collect and store thirty pieces of data on every bottle the system fills, or can you narrow it down to three to five critical parameters that should be monitored?
Learning to ask ‘why?’ can be a valuable tool. As your team develops its list of requirements, it doesn’t hurt to politely and respectfully ask Why do we need that?’ What makes this necessary? Is it something that the process requires or is it something that a member of the team wants because he thinks it would be cool to have? Does it fulfill a regulatory requirement? Does it make the machine more reliable or easier to maintain? Is the machine still safe to operate without it? Is it a ‘requirement’ or a nice-to-have ‘want’?
The Importance of Buy-In at the User Requirements Specification stage cannot be underestimated. There’s a reason more than one person signs off on a URS. Before a team member or user places a signature on the signature page, he has to be comfortable that what is written inside truly represents the requirements for the project, including his own. One of the benefits of having a cross-departmental team involved in authoring the User Requirements Specification is the ability to synthesize thoughts and challenge the requirements on a cross-functional basis. A good project manager will not ask for those signatures until she is confident that it contains only requirements, without the wants.
PAMC understands the importance of upgrading and / or choosing your new equipment wisely to handle the demands of your customers and your team. Check out some of our work in the wine industry and contact us to help you with your next project.
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