Waste Management Inc – USA

Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” – a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.


Waste Management Inc – USA
Project :
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation
Date : Mar 2008 Cost :$100M USD

Synopsis :
Enterprise Resource Planning system implementation fails to meet needs. Waste Management claim vendor used a dummy prototype for pre-sale demo while asserting that the solution was an out-of-the-box solution that would require no customization.  In the words of Waste Management “Unfortunately, Waste Management ultimately learned that these representations were not true.”

Contributing factors as reported in the press :
Alleged misrepresentation, underestimation of the complexity involved

Reference links :

  1. Who’s to Blame For Failed ERP Project that Prompted SAP Lawsuit?
  2. Waste Management sues SAP over ERP implementation
  3. SAP, Waste Management Settle Lawsuit (added Jun 2011)