Slow Your Roll: The Case For Incrementalism In Solution Adoption

Since 1999, Bill Rokos has spearheaded the development of Parsec’s manufacturing operations management (MOM) platform, TrakSYS.

​It happens every year. In early January, fitness centers are inundated with new customers eager to make good on their New Year’s resolution to be healthier and more active. But before long, they stop showing up and gym attendance drops. Maybe the new members dove into their new fitness regime too aggressively, setting unrealistic expectations for themselves.

When we first sign up for a big challenge, we might feel invigorated at the promise of improvement. But after a time, we realize that what we’ve signed up for might not be suitable based on where we are today. It’s easy to become laser-focused on the idea of the “after” in any transformation project, but you can’t lose sight of the process itself or what will be required to get to the other side.

As it turns out, “New year, new me” probably won’t set anyone up for success in their personal fitness journeys. A slow and steady approach would likely yield better, lasting results. The same holds true for manufacturing technology adoption.

The Improvement Imperative

Manufacturing leaders are under a great deal of pressure to be as efficient as possible. Disruptions are the new normal, and the organizations that can’t find a way to operate through them will quickly fall behind their peers. Today’s competitive edge belongs to those who can minimize waste, reduce unnecessary costs, optimize quality and maximize throughput.

Improving overall efficiency is a complex process and potentially a significant undertaking. Luckily for manufacturers, there are numerous software solutions on the market that directly support more efficient operations. They tap into data sources from all over the facility to help manufacturers get granular in their understanding of machine performance, quality shortcomings, operational bottlenecks and more. These solutions offer comprehensive transformation that can certainly help drive better, more efficient outcomes.

But leaders must approach adoption methodically. If they dive in headfirst with the goal of getting to the other side as soon as possible, they could actually end up doing the opposite.

The Risks Of All-Out Adoption

Whether manufacturing leaders opt for a series of stand-alone solutions or a singular, all-in-one platform with several modular capabilities, they shouldn’t try to adopt everything in one fell swoop. In their quest for speedy transformation, leaders could be signing themselves up for prolonged inefficiencies, clumsy workarounds, poorly integrated data, a mistrustful workforce and more.

As an example, consider a manufacturer experiencing consistent operational inefficiencies. In an attempt to tackle the problem from all sides, a decision is made to move forward with optimizations for production, quality and maintenance management all at the same time. But leaders haven’t actually pinpointed where the inefficiencies take place in the value stream, and they haven’t confirmed whether their chosen optimizations would actually address the problem.

With three solutions being implemented at once, the facility moves beyond inefficient and toward inoperable. Rather than isolating one variable and leaving the rest constant, the facility has introduced three dynamic variables, all of which influence each other. Production data becomes unreliable, quality assurance goes out the window, and machinery performance thresholds are off-target.

Shop-floor workers become overwhelmed at the prospect of learning three new systems at once. They don’t know how to use the new tools and start using workarounds like side spreadsheets to keep orders moving. Productivity drops, and data integrity is compromised since there are now multiple sources of truth.

Clearly, this implementation didn’t go as planned, and now our example facility will have to do some serious damage control before it can get back on track. The issue here wasn’t wanting to implement all these solutions, but trying to do everything at once.

The Benefits Of Incrementalism

With a thoughtful, modular approach, leaders can transform their business the right way and hit time-to-value quickly.

If our example facility had better paced itself, leadership would’ve started by conducting a detailed audit of their operations. They would conclude that the primary bottleneck is in quality management; they’re generating too much waste and doing too much rework. Working with a system integrator, they choose a modular quality management solution that can integrate with their existing architecture.

With all other operations functions held constant, the quality implementation goes smoothly. Speed bumps are easy to identify and resolve, since only one facet of production changed during implementation. Quality management becomes much more proactive and precise, and shop-floor workers get up and running with one new tool in their arsenal. Once the dust has settled, management decides that they’d like to pursue further efficiencies, and they add maintenance management and production optimization to their long-term road map.

Taking things one step at a time ensures your foundation is solid and can withstand the additional pressure of new capabilities. As each new solution is implemented, your facility’s efficiency improves and compounds.

Step By Step

As manufacturing leaders research solutions and consider the appropriate implementation timelines, they must choose their technology partners wisely. The right partners—the ones who have robust experience—will support and encourage a paced, phased implementation schedule and prioritize accuracy above speed. Any vendor or integrator who promises a one-and-done implementation with rapid, wholesale transformation is likely inexperienced, just trying to close a sale or both.

Manufacturing optimization should be a high priority, but not at the expense of operational integrity. Getting technology adoption right the first time will support not only short-term continuity but long-term success.

Whether you’re signing up for a gym membership or a large-scale technology implementation, it’s always worth it to take your time, remind yourself that it’s a long-term process and choose the right support system to help you get there.