Embedded Technical Team for a Multi-Market PLM Programme
A Complex Rollout, a Tight Programme, and a Gap in Delivery Capacity
A multinational food and beverage group needed to replace fragmented, manual product development processes with a unified enterprise PLM platform. The scope covered everything from raw material and formula management through to finished goods compliance, regulatory labelling across multiple markets, and integration with existing ERP and CRM systems.
The prime vendor, a top-tier global systems integrator, was engaged as the lead implementation agency. They had the client relationship and programme governance covered. What they needed was a specialist technical team who could take real delivery ownership of the implementation workstreams, operate without hand-holding, and integrate seamlessly into their PMO structure from day one.
That is where AquSag came in.
Embedded in the Programme, Accountable for the Work
AquSag deployed four specialists directly into the prime vendor's delivery structure: a Project Manager, Business Analyst, Senior Developer, and Junior Developer. This was not a support team sitting on the periphery. AquSag attended steering committee reviews, used the prime vendor's templates and governance standards, and held direct accountability for all assigned workstreams.
"We needed a subcontracting partner who could embed without friction and hold their own workstreams independently. AquSag operated exactly the way we needed. They were accountable, consistent, and did not require managing."
Programme Delivery Lead, Prime VendorThe Project Manager served as the single point of contact between AquSag and the prime vendor's programme leadership, with clear escalation paths and weekly status alignment. Any out-of-scope request was flagged before any work began. Nothing was built without formal sign-off.
| Function | AquSag's Accountability on This Programme |
|---|---|
| Project Management | End-to-end workstream coordination, milestone tracking, prime vendor liaison, escalation management, and formal change order governance |
| Business Analysis | SME workshops, gap analysis, BRD authorship, and facilitation of formal client sign-off before configuration commenced |
| Technical Delivery | Full PLM platform configuration, ERP and CRM integration development, CRP facilitation, UAT issue resolution, and hypercare coverage |
Scope Across the Full Product Lifecycle
AquSag's team configured and delivered the complete functional scope of the PLM platform. The breadth of what was covered, across product types, approval workflows, regulatory markets, and system integrations, made this one of the more technically demanding subcontracting engagements in the programme's history.
- End-to-end specification lifecycle for raw materials, packaging, formulas, and finished goods, including experimental material promotion workflows and parallel approval routing
- Nutritional, allergen, and formula reporting templates across multiple product categories
- Regulatory compliance engine covering allergen cross-contamination, additive limits, contaminants, and dietary status requirements across 14 countries
- Safety Data Sheet authoring for 20+ country regulatory frameworks
- Nutritional fact panel configuration for all required regional markets
- Role-based security model covering access, edit, and view rights across all in-scope functional areas
- Bidirectional ERP integration using the platform's standard connector framework
- CRM data sync and SSO configuration using the client's existing authentication infrastructure
- ETL-based data migration covering format definition, cleansing standards, upload templates, and validation cycles, with 100% data coverage achieved at UAT entry
- Custom and standard reporting suite delivered within agreed scope and man-day budget
A Disciplined, Phase-Based Approach. No Surprises.
The programme ran on the prime vendor's iterative methodology. AquSag's discipline on scope governance, nothing built without a signed BRD and all changes managed through formal Change Orders, meant the programme stayed clean even as requirements evolved through the build phase.
AquSag's BA team led SME workshops across all functional areas, documented requirements, performed gap analysis against the platform's out-of-box capabilities, and authored the Business Requirements Document. Nothing moved to build until the BRD was signed off by both the client and the prime vendor, a step that saved significant rework downstream.
Full PLM configuration across all in-scope modules, run in iterative builds. AquSag maintained internal QA gates before submitting any deliverable. Conference Room Pilots were facilitated per build to give the client's team visibility and keep sign-off moving at pace. Any scope changes that emerged were immediately documented as Change Orders before touching code.
End-to-end System Integration Testing across the PLM platform, ERP, and CRM. AquSag owned the integration development and coordinated validation with the client's internal IT team who managed the middleware layer. UAT was run by the client's team. AquSag managed issue triage, resolution tracking, and sign-off facilitation throughout.
Production cutover, final data migration validation, and business simulation testing by the client's end users. AquSag remained fully available through the hypercare period. Zero critical defects were raised, a clean go-live that reflected the build quality maintained throughout the programme.
What the Prime Vendor Got From the Engagement
From the prime vendor's perspective, AquSag absorbed a significant portion of technical delivery risk on a complex, multi-scope programme without adding management overhead. A few things stood out from this engagement that are worth highlighting for prospective SI partners.
- Workstream accountability from day one, not just resources following instructions, but a team that flagged issues proactively and managed their own deliverable quality
- Zero budget surprises. Every scope change was captured in a formal Change Order before work began, giving the prime vendor full cost predictability to pass through to their client
- Clean handover. The regulatory compliance scope for 14 markets was fully configured and validated before go-live, meaning no post-launch remediation work
- A natural AMS pathway. The same AquSag team that built the system was available to transition into ongoing maintenance, removing a common risk point at programme close
Four Things That Made This Engagement Work Cleanly
Embedded, not adjacent
AquSag sat inside the prime vendor's PMO and governance structure. Same templates, same steering committee cadence, same escalation paths. There was no translation layer between the prime vendor's way of working and AquSag's.
Scope discipline from the start
Nothing was built without a signed BRD. Every change that emerged during the build phase was documented as a formal Change Order before any code was touched. This gave the prime vendor complete cost predictability to pass through to their client.
Single accountability per workstream
AquSag's Project Manager owned the relationship with the prime vendor's leadership and held accountability for all assigned workstreams. The prime vendor did not need to manage individual developers or chase status updates.
Built-in AMS continuity
At programme close, the same team that configured and delivered the system was available to transition directly into ongoing maintenance and support. No re-onboarding, no knowledge transfer risk, no gap between build and run.
Running a programme that needs an embedded delivery team?
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