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The wider use of online meetings during the lockdown shone a spotlight on the opportunities that embracing the digital world can deliver. Just as Zoom calls close the gap between the physical and digital to make collaboration easier, there are gains to be made by manufacturers who recognise the potential of digitised work routines.
What emerges from organisations who have embraced digital technology for 5 or more years, is that the gains come from using the technology to break down barriers which are embedded in their business processes. For example production plans based on assumptions that are incorrect but never challenged. Work arounds to systems that are too complex to use, Performance management processes that are time consuming but add little value.
In other words, the delivery of gains from investment in advanced technology is a journey of systematic improvement rather than a plug and play experience.
It is a journey where success depends as much on mindset as it does on the choice of technology. For example much of the hype about the use of advanced technology concentrates on data mining. This is characterised by finding nuggets that are hidden in the data. Those that adopt this mindset focus on the technology and not on what happens after the nuggets have been found. This common mistake is the reason why many remain trapped in pilot purgatory.
Those who do this well adopt a mindset which is more akin to Data Farming. Their mindset is one of learning how to develop the resources available to you. Harvesting the gains rather than
This is in line with research into why some organisations succeed when applying continuous improvement frameworks such as Lean, TPM and Six Sigma, whilst others fail. The research identified how the gains achieved from improvement depend as much on leadership mindset as they do on the choice of tools and techniques. The research lead to the creation of the LeanTPM process which integrates the three roles below into a single workplace learning programme.
Summary of Lessons Learned from the successful implementation of advanced technology.
- Leadership (Leverage to change what you have to what you want)
Develop a priority list of what your operation needs to deliver better customer value:
Define a problem finding process that surfaces barriers to that value
Start small, learn fast. (Plan Do Check Act)
Create a road map to get the basics right, test and deploy (or kill off) ideas. - Improvement (Frameworks to make improvement opportunities visible)
• Adopt a simple rapid approval stage gate process
○ Refine goals and metrics to engage the workforce with getting the basics right
○ Identify legacy pain points and match to potential mobile solutions
○ Use practical application to select and refine winning solutions - Execution: (To develop shared competence)
• Engage those in the workplace
○ Engage users with refining the new ecosystem
○ Encourage curiosity about what could be possible
○ Use workplace learning projects to develop front line leadership and team capabilities.
To learn more - Download the attached briefing note or
- Book now on the 1/2 day awareness session "Using LeanTPM to lever gains from advanced technology."
