Meet Chris Dompert, Senior PICS Consultant

There are many consultants with hands-on experience with the software packages they implement. Others have a long history of industry experience. Others have an extensive background in technology & programming. Very few have all of these attributes—and that’s what makes Chris Dompert, a seven-year member of the PICS team, so unique.

Dompert began his career in the Electro-mechanical Engineering field for a data communications company and worked his way up to Manager of the Design Department. When the company needed to implement new technology to improve operations, Dompert developed systems for engineering, document management, bills of materials, purchasing and inventory control. Soon afterward, he became MIS manager and began working with QAD software, implementing the system through the company’s data communications, musical instruments and contract manufacturing divisions.

After that project was done, Dompert realized he found his niche. “I began looking to transition to an ERP implementation consulting career,” he says. Fortunately, he found PICS. Since beginning his PICS career, Dompert has led well over a dozen implementations, many of which have been extensive and complex.

Dompert’s value as a consultant lies in his experience. “I’ve been doing implementations most of my adult career,” he says. Because of his extensive experience in engineering, distribution and manufacturing, he can easily relate to the people with whom he works. Dompert says that he shares these characteristics with other members of the PICS team: “What differentiates us from people working at other service companies is our depth of knowledge and capabilities,” he says. “Most of us have worked in the manufacturing industry as QAD users and have strong management, application and technical skills.”

Q and A with Chris Dompert

Q: What advice would you offer clients facing a big project?
A: “It’s all about the team. No project is a success because of a single individual. When starting a project, enlist the strongest team members you can find and ensure they can be 100-percent dedicated to the project. Poor utilization of project resources can be the biggest obstacle to success and is very costly.”

Q: Do you have any suggestions for people assembling a team to handle a project?
A: “You need a good project manager. Project management often comes with a lot of responsibility and very little authority. For this reason, the project manager needs to have strong people skills and the ability to motivate people to work toward a common goal. You also need top management support and an active steering committee. They need to be more than talking heads or boxes on an organizational chart.”