Multiple surveys have shown that roughly 80 percent of MES-type projects fail to move forward past the initial pilot. One of the main reasons for this is because best practices are often not followed, and selecting the best technology platform is not an easy task without first-hand experience. As a result, single-point solutions are often implemented to solve the immediate problem or gaps identified, without the larger, long-term picture in mind. While these solutions may solve the immediate problem, taking a short-sighted approach can lead to a less-than-ideal future architecture containing many different software solutions that need to be assessed, selected, trained on, maintained, and integrated to obtain contextualized information between various data silos.
A best-in-class, agile MES platform solves these issues in addition to establishing an infrastructure for more efficient future expansion. To do this, Polytron takes a holistic, proven approach that starts by developing a digital transformation strategy tailored to each manufacturer’s specific needs and opportunities to improve productivity. This blog explores our approach in more detail, including how we are uniquely positioned to partner with manufacturers throughout their entire digital transformation journey.
Getting Started
Before diving into our approach, it’s important to recognize how this is different from the ways we see many manufacturers attempting to solve these challenges with limited success. Many identify a business challenge and call a software provider to purchase what they feel is the best solution to solve the immediate problem. This process is repeated as new challenges arise. In other cases, projects are identified and implemented without thinking about all the best practices including business drivers, stakeholder alignment, and people/process/technology considerations.
Instead, the best success rate we see for MES projects is when we start with our discovery and alignment process. This involves a series of virtual meetings where we learn about your business drivers, current gaps, and technologies in use now to begin identifying opportunities. We then prioritize high-level requirements based on which opportunities will deliver the greatest ROI while considering impact, cost, and timeline. Best practices, successful case studies, and proven and innovative technology platforms are also discussed as the phased implementation road map is developed. A technology demo is then conducted to provide users with a feel for what the solution will look like and how they will interact with it.
Based on our experience, we know that these discussions must be tailored to your specific team. Your C suite and your engineering management have different key concerns and want varying levels of technical detail on a solution. We can clearly deliver the information they are looking for and answer the questions most important to each stakeholder group. At the end of this discovery and alignment process, we will recommend the next steps appropriate for your journey, whether that involves more in-depth discussion through a multi-day workshop or outlining an agile project implementation road map.
A Partner for Your Digital Transformation Journey
It’s tough to be successful when you try to take on too much at once, which is why we believe phased implementation of MES projects as part of a larger digital transformation strategy is the best approach. We work with manufacturers to identify all their business opportunities and then determine which project will result in the highest ROI and should be implemented first. Then, we implement that first solution (which can happen at multiple facilities if appropriate) while providing support throughout the entire project. As your digital transformation partner, we then identify the best project to pursue next and will remain committed to providing support throughout the entire multi-year, multi-phased implementation.
We also provide user adoption support to ensure operator success. We make sure we are there to proactively address operator issues and provide training so that operators do not lose confidence in the new system.
Our Proven Approach to a Successful Smart Manufacturing Strategy
Implementing a Technology Stack Designed to Evolve
As the capabilities of MES have grown, so has the importance of having a technology stack rather than one-off solutions. As part of our commitment to leveraging best practices and proven solutions in every implementation, we’ve spent countless hours evaluating all aspects of various MES technologies. When we recommend our customers commit to a specific platform, they need assurance that the platform provider is agile and prepared to adapt to the rapidly changing needs of manufacturers. Your business is dynamic with constantly evolving needs, so you need a partner and a platform that will evolve with you while leveraging latest proven technologies. Together, these reasons are why we’ve placed the TrakSYS MES platform at the heart of our MES implementations.
Beyond the flexibility to tailor TrakSYS to include the exact functionality you need, we are confident that the creators of TrakSYS, Parsec Automation Corporation, are committed to evolving their product both based on customer needs and changes in the market. For example, when the company learned that many customers were struggling to efficiently manage their workflows with paper-based processes, and were lacking insight into what was really happening on the plant floor, they developed a digital solution within the existing TrakSYS platform called Visual Workflow. Now, manufacturers can digitally track and visualize all steps of their processes and have best-practice-based workflows that provide next steps based on real-time events.
Why You Can Trust Polytron as Your Partner
At the core of our business is decades of experience providing solutions for complex manufacturing challenges, allowing us to develop targeted expertise and a proven best practices-based approach. As a result, we’ve received multiple System Integrator of the Year awards, are CSIA certified, and have earned the trust of many Fortune 500 companies.
In the next part of this series, we will highlight the business results several manufacturers experienced with MES projects after bringing Polytron in to develop a strategy and guide them through their digital transformation journey. In the meantime, learn more about our MES offerings, MES best practices, or contact us if you have any questions.
