Road Mapping Digitalization Initiatives
One of the key aspects of our DxArchitecture services offering is formulation of a digitalization implementation and deployment roadmap, based upon definition of a body of business process scenarios detailing the manner in which digitalization will be applied to your day-to-day operations. It may seem that the ideal deployment methodology is to have all functionality in place at once, in as little time as possible. However, the reality is that due to various reasons, including budget, resource constraints, change management considerations, and risk to the business, a phased approach is typically the more pragmatic and successful approach. There is generally no 'one size fits all' path forward. The roadmap we work collaboratively with your stakeholders to formulate must consider a variety of factors specific to your situation, some of which are as follows:
- Perceived ROI - Ultimately, ROI is the primary consideration. Any capability implemented and deployed must have some sort of return on investment. Certain capabilities will likely warrant a higher deployment priority due to the perceived ROI we determine as part of our DxArchitecture services offering. Based upon our analysis, various issues and opportunities may be factored into this determination, such as asset utilization, first-pass quality, accurate raw material inventory estimation, changeover time reduction, and a multitude of other factors.
- A strong roadmap also considers balancing 'quick wins' with longer-term benefits. For example, if the capability with the highest ROI also requires a substantial investment of funds / resources, we may balance this with shorter-term quicker wins to foster support for the initiative as you work toward these loftier longer-term goals.
- We are able to aid in ROI formulation based upon not only our rich experience working with other customers, but also direct interaction with your stakeholders, including various roles within the manufacturing facilities. This direct interaction reduces invalid assumptions, misconceptions, and hidden agendas that can often lead to the wrong priority focuses as digitalization initiatives progress, wasting both time and valuable funds.
- Digitalization capability dependencies - Certain capabilities may be required to support others and thus must be implemented first. As an example, there may be a desire to establish OEE dashboarding on the shop floor to provide visibility that will improve asset utilization. However, doing so may first require establishment of schedule / product visibility so that the system knows what is being produced, how much should be manufactured, etc. in order to provide meaningful metrics. Consistent downtime fault reporting from the assets may also need to be implemented first to better quantify OEE asset utilization.
- Supporting data availability - There may be a body of prerequisite data needed that must first be established. For example, there may be a desire to deploy machine learning functionality to better predict asset failure. However, such functionality will require a body of historical data that can be evaluated by the algorithms. Therefore, this may need to be deprioritized while functionality is put in place to gather the data in question and a body of representative information can be built up over the course of a longer time period.
- External application dependencies - Is there a planned initiative to implement an external system, such as an ERP, that will require implementation of supporting manufacturing digitalization functionality to ensure proper execution. For example, does the ERP require real-time production and consumption information that requires tandem implementation of an MES? Is there an opportunity to establish certain MES functionality on the shop floor in advance of the ERP deployment to derisk the overall implementation, for example to give operations experience leveraging the MES before the data becomes of critical importance to ensuring proper ERP execution?
- Infrastructure and IT considerations - Are there legacy applications in place that present risk to the business, due to lack of support availability, instability, security concerns, or incompatibility with planned IT/OT upgrades? Replacement or augmentation of these applications may warrant the highest priority as a result. In turn, are there legacy applications that are stable and work well, allowing their replacement to be de-prioritized?
- Is there an opportunity to run the new system in parallel with legacy systems for some time period to prove out the functionality of the new system without risk to the business, both to ensure the new system is accurate and give operations experience leveraging the new system? Will this place undue burden on operations that counters these benefits?
- Compliance requirements - A certain set of functions may be of highest priority to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, regardless of perceived benefit to the business or ROI. For example, FDA or environmental reporting.
- Budgetary considerations - There is likely only so much budget available in a given time period (quarter, year, etc.). We will work with your team to understand these budgetary constraints and determine the best way to apply the budget at play to ensure the most value for this budgetary spend is obtained.
The logistics in deploying the functionality to the shop floor must also be considered. It may make sense to deploy to certain lines or areas first in order to pilot the functionality, work out any kinks, and ease training & change management logistics. However, some functions may need to be deployed across the facility at one time to reduce confusion or to ensure cutover of dependent systems. For example, a capability like OEE visualization may be able to be deployed to a single area or line in a pilot capacity, but maintenance management functionality may need to be deployed across the facility as a whole so that maintenance technicians that work across the facility need not follow different procedures and utilize different applications depending on where they are working.
It may also be possible to deploy a capability in a more basic form, and then continue to add functions as the project progresses, so that initial ROI is obtained but this ROI increases as users become more comfortable. For example, perhaps initially the user is provided a few manual quality data points to input in order to apply statistical process control (SPC) to make a determination concerning process stability. At some point, it may be possible to automate this data collection and add numerous other quality data points to provide a more accurate view of plant stability, as well as introduce resolution procedures that can be followed should an out-of-control scenario be detected based upon learnings as these initial SPC non-conformances are dealt with.
Another important consideration is that roadmaps are not static in nature and must be re-evaluated over the course of the initiative. Priorities and goals will often shift throughout the course of the project for various reasons. A strategic business decision may drive shifting priorities, such as focus on a broader product portfolio, or introduction of a product with more advanced supporting digitalization requirements. Mergers and acquisitions may warrant a focus shift, either to bolster acquired business units or leverage established systems and processes they may bring to the table. Our periodic governance cadence & agenda allow these direction shifts to be discussed at a leadership level and propagated down to the project team so that priority changes can be made in a timely and efficient manner.
Deployment of a certain capability may also provide ancillary benefits that were not able to be accounted for initially, that in turn de-prioritize other capabilities or require other capabilities to be brought forward. For example, perhaps deployment of more standardized preventative maintenance procedures has led to better product quality, reducing the need for quality data capture and SPC implementation to determine product quality control root cause. However, the improved asset utilization has led to raw material inventory consumption challenges, necessitating implementation of real-time consumption reporting. Our project governance process allows these findings and results to be propagated up from the project teams to the leadership level, enabling changes in direction to be seen and acted upon as warranted, rather than continue to push forward a stale plan.
In both cases, our budgetary framework agreement approach allows for an efficient re-allocation of project dollars, enabling quick reaction to roadmap changes, ensuring that project momentum is maintained to refocus on the shifting priorities.
Formulation and execution of a large-scale digitalization initiative roadmap can be an overwhelming proposition for an organization. However, our proven DxArchitecture consulting processes help to demystify this undertaking, via application of pragmatic strategies to ensure your digitalization goals are met in an efficient, value-driven manner.
