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Focus on the problem , not the technology Adopting technology for technology ’ s sake is unlikely to generate genuine improvements . Smart manufacturers focus on the problem they want to solve . All technology comes with a learning curve , so it is critical to focus on an issue that those on the shop floor and the top floor agree needs addressing to overcome the inevitable cultural inertia that happens when adopting new technology . How manufacturers use technology can be subtly different for different challenges , so that focus helps to ensure it delivers clear and immediate benefits .
Start small , then scale Nothing kills technology initiatives like over-ambition . Moving too fast too soon creates more risk , wastes resources and causes projects to grind to a halt as people struggle to see the wood for the trees . Smart manufacturers focus on quick wins first , such as boosting productivity and reducing energy use in a small number of manufacturing cells or production lines . This can be used as a springboard to inspire further improvements . Cloud technologies make it easy for manufacturers to start small with tools such as machine monitoring , enabling them to make initial process improvements on a handful of machines , and replicate that success factory-wide once they have the knowledge to do so .
Measure everything objectively The adage about managing what you can measure is truer today than ever . Still , production decisions in many factories continue to be informed by a combination of gut feeling and hearsay . Most manufacturers don ’ t know their productivity levels accurately , why they ’ re losing productivity , or what to prioritize to improve . Proactive manufacturers start with an objective view of what ’ s happening on the shop floor that they may observe in real-time and over periods of time . They establish benchmarks to evaluate progress , highlight unknown issues and support better resourcing and technology investment decisions .
Make progress part of company culture It is impossible to overstate how influential culture is when adopting technology . Forward-thinking manufacturers encourage a culture of innovation and make an effort to make new technologies part of the furniture . FourJaw customer , Hydrafeed , for example , quickly made analytics part of its culture through weekly meetings in which managers and machine operators reviewed production data together and used it to determine how they could boost performance in the next
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