Brave new world

For manufacturers, it may be time to think the unthinkable. That's the uncompromising message from Cathie Hall, operations director at mid-size ERP vendor K3 Syspro. For decades, she explains, the conventional wisdom in respect of technology adoption has been straightforward. Simply put, the traditional approach has been to map the business and its processes onto the available technology rather than doing it the other way around, in other words, mapping technology onto the business. The distinction, she says, may sound inconsequential, but it turns out to be critical. "The trouble is that the traditional approach tends to act as a constraint at times when technology is rapidly changing," says Hall. "Which is exactly what is happening at the moment. The result is that opportunities are being missed – opportunities to innovate better and faster, opportunities to work more efficiently and opportunities to meet customer needs in new and exciting ways." So what has happened? How has this come about? The answer, explains Hall, is that in rolling out new IT platforms, businesses have increasingly played safe and viewed their ERP platform as their sole source of business process technology. And that's understandable, she says. Because look at high-profile ERP failures, or businesses burdened with over-ambitious 'best of breed' IT infrastructures and the wisdom of staying close to the core ERP platform soon becomes apparent. It may be boring, but it's been a strategy that has been safe and dependable. "But the problem is that by confining a business only to the technologies offered by its ERP system, the solution space becomes defined by what that ERP system offers – made worse by the fact that there are very definite boundaries to ERP," she says. "In a handful of cases, it's possible that the ERP vendor community may collectively begin to offer a particular technology as standard, but, more often than not, it won't." In other words, a strategy of playing safe may instead turn out to be a strategy of playing uncompetitively, with businesses stuck with their ERP vendor's choices about which technologies to wrap inside the ERP envelope. So what's the alternative? Harking back to her original theme, Hall stresses that the answer is to reverse tracks and map technology onto the business and its processes. "Look around, and it's not difficult to see relevant and potentially applicable technologies which are more or less completely outside the scope of ERP as it's presently defined," she says. "So as things stand, the opportunities presented by those technologies are going to remain untapped for most manufacturers." In other words, she's urging manufacturers to think more expansively, look at technology offerings, consider how these new technologies might benefit their businesses, and then work out how to integrate them into their core ERP system. "It's about re-thinking – and re-defining – the art of the possible," she stresses. "It's about saying: 'Here's a technology that we could use, and all that's currently preventing us from using it is our own reluctance to step outside our ERP vendor's view of the technologies that we need'." Making best use of technology-derived data Granted, concedes Hall, this may involve manufacturers relaxing some internal strictures against adopting 'best of breed' niche solutions if such solutions turn out to be the most logical way to access the technology in question. Alternatively, of course, it may simply be possible to access the technology in question directly, by integrating it into the existing ERP system. Plus, she says, some forward-looking ERP systems – including SYSPRO – come with a myriad of tools which enable businesses to quickly and cheaply make best use of technology-derived data within the core ERP system. So which technologies has Hall in mind? And precisely what benefits might they offer? She begins ticking them off on her fingers. "Global positioning system (GPS) data from satellites provides pinpoint location data to within a few metres' accuracy," she says. "It's something that we all know and use in our everyday lives. But, in the world of manufacturing, the use of GPS data is rare. And at K3 Syspro, we can't see why that can't change." So how might a manufacturer use GPS data? Hall lists several possibilities. First, in the case of inbound shipments, logistics providers and shipping lines publish real-time GPS data. But it's rare for manufacturers to use this data to update inventory records or 'available to promise' dates. Indeed, MRP calculations and 'available to promise' dates might be left unchanged from the date originally requested from a supplier, or acknowledged by the supplier in response to an order. You can quote more accurate dates "With real-time visibility into where inbound shipments actually are, you can quote better and more accurate dates to customers," she says. "It's as simple as that." Second, she adds, another option is using GPS data to update the build status of large pieces of capital equipment where the equipment is moved from supplier to supplier during manufacture. Fanciful? Absolutely not, stresses Hall, pointing out that some K3 Syspro customers already use this facility. And thirdly, with more and more manufacturers offering a field service capability, there's the opportunity to use GPS data for scheduling purposes and, in the process, steal a march on the competition in terms of customer service. "Imagine a customer phoning up with a problem and being told: 'We have an engineer 10 minutes' drive away – he'll visit you right now.'," she says. "Typically, a field service engineer's van is equipped with GPS tracking capabilities anyway – all that's required is feeding it back to headquarters." Mobile is another opportunity-rich technology, continues Hall. "Mention mobile and manufacturers tend to think of field sales or field service personnel," she says. "But the opportunity is massively broader than that – warehouse personnel, factory floor personnel, engineering personnel – anyone who isn't tied to a desk, basically." But the trick, she emphasises, is to avoid being tied to a fixed concept of what a mobile device is. Simply put, she says, mobile means different devices for different people, performing different functions. Tablets in some cases, laptops in others, ruggedised scanners in others, and even a wrist-worn Bluetooth device, to pick up alerts. "Devices are getting ever smaller and ever more capable," points out Hall. "It's about equipping people with a device that is appropriate for the job they're doing, and the information that they need." Importantly, she adds, it's also about avoiding information overload of screens so cluttered as to be almost unreadable. Again, forward-looking ERP vendors – including K3 Syspro – are providing tools, such as SYSPRO Espresso, to permit customers to write 'views' of screens, appropriate for any device, providing just the information that is required. "The whole point about mobile is about being open to the possibilities it offers," she says. "It's about re-thinking how people work, and what we want them to be able to do, and how mobile devices – in any form – can help them achieve that." And that's true not just of mobile, but also of technologies in general, she stresses. Mobile and GPS are technologies offering opportunities today, but others lie around the corner, holding out the prospect of opportunities tomorrow. Right now, for instance, 3D printing looks highly promising. "Don't be confined by someone else's view of the technologies that are appropriate for your business," sums up Hall. "The best person to make that choice is you – so make it."