How do you get from where you are to where you want to be without ending up as another expensive digital failure story?
In Parts 1 and 2, our CEO, Bill Remy, and iObeya’s Paul Culling laid out the problem (too many manufacturers stuck in 1985) and the promise (what digital transformation looks like when it actually works). Now comes the practical part:
How do you get from where you are to where you want to be without ending up
as another expensive digital failure story?
Because here’s the thing, we’ve seen plenty of companies try to digitize their management systems and struggle. Not complete failures, but definitely not the smooth success stories they had in mind. The difference between the companies that nail it and the ones that don’t? It’s not technology. It’s the approach.
Let’s talk about what separates the winners from the “we’ll figure it out as we go” crowd.
Why Companies Struggle (And How to Avoid It)
The biggest trap we see is that companies try to do too much at once. They’re changing how people work AND digitizing everything at the same time. That’s like trying to renovate your house while you’re still living in it — technically possible, but way more complicated than it needs to be.
Here’s the reality: if your management system isn’t well-defined and consistently followed, digitizing it won’t magically fix those problems. You’ll just have digital chaos instead of paper chaos.
And then there’s the “system integrator” trap. You end up cobbling together point solutions, trying to make everything talk to each other, playing IT department instead of focusing on what you do best — running your operation. That’s not your job, and it dilutes your time and resources from the work that actually matters.
The Human Side of Change
Paul puts it perfectly: “Humans don’t like change — except when they know why they’re making the change, what it means for them, and how it will impact them in a positive way.”
When you tell your frontline teams about a new digital system, the first question they’re asking is: “Is this one more thing I have to do? What comes off my plate?” That’s a fair question, and you better have a good answer.
The magic happens when you can show them that the new system makes their jobs easier, not harder. When supervisors can pull up a problem-solving template in seconds instead of hunting around for flip chart paper. When good ideas from the morning meeting stay visible all day instead of getting lost in the shuffle. When five or six people can collaborate on solving a problem together — in real-time — instead of one person struggling with it alone.
The Right Way: Crawl, Walk, Run
The companies that get this right follow what Bill calls the “crawl, walk, run” approach:
- Start with the basics. If you have a paper system, refine it first. Get it working the way you want it. Don’t try to digitize something that’s broken.
- Prove it on one line. Pick one production line, one area, one team. Get the digital system working there — narrow and deep. Learn what works, what doesn’t, and how your specific operation needs to adapt it.
- Then scale systematically. Once you’ve proven it works, roll it out using the “prove and move” method. Each new area builds on what you learned from the last one.
This isn’t just smart implementation strategy — it’s smart change management. You’re building believers one success at a time. The skeptics start coming around when they see their colleagues’ jobs getting easier and performance improving.
Start With the End in Mind
Before you even think about technology, spend some time creating a vision of what success looks like. What does a day in the life of a supervisor look like with the new system? How about a plant manager? A frontline operator?
Bill talks about avoiding the “data buffet” problem — where you have access to tons of information, but you’re overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Instead, focus on the critical few things that actually make a difference in your business performance. It’s not about tracking everything; it’s about tracking the right things.
Turning Metrics Into Motivation (A Real Success Story)
Here’s how this plays out in practice. Bill worked with a client on changeover time reduction in a manufacturing cell. Through a couple of Kaizen events, they cut setup time by 80%. But here’s where it gets interesting.
They put changeover time as a critical metric on their SQDC board so they could stay focused on what mattered most. Now when they had a rough changeover, everyone could see it. When they had a good one, everyone celebrated. The team started getting competitive about it — “We’ve got a changeover coming up Tuesday. How can we beat our best time?”
Even after TBM left, the team kept improving incrementally on their own. They took ownership of the process, used the data to see their progress, understood exactly when they were winning, and knew what to work on next. That’s what a good management system does — it creates that continuous improvement mindset that keeps going without you having to force it.
And here’s the kicker: when you digitize that same system, everything that’s important to the business, to the customer downstream, and to your operations and production teams gets realized faster and moves the performance needle quicker. The visibility is instant, the collaboration is seamless, and the results compound across your entire operation.
For the Skeptics
Look, if you’re still not convinced about digitizing your management system, here’s what we suggest: do a proof of concept. Pick a small, defined area. Give it two to three months. See what happens.
If at the end of that period you don’t see the value, no hard feelings. We shake hands and go our separate ways. But if you do see the results — and most companies do — then you’ve got the foundation to scale it across your operation.
Time to Make the Call
Digital transformation doesn’t have to be scary, expensive, or disruptive. When you combine proven methodology with the right technology and the right expertise, it becomes a natural evolution of what you’re already doing.
The 80s management system served its purpose, but it’s time to move forward. The companies that make this transition now — the right way — are going to have a significant advantage over the ones that keep putting it off.
Ready to get started? The proof of concept approach means you can test the waters without diving into the deep end. And that’s exactly how the most successful implementations begin.
