For your IT, think strategy, people and processes

No amount of IT, whether CAD/CAM, ERP, or in these days of focusing on inter-company operations, supply chain systems, is going to fulfil its potential, or indeed its expectations, if it doesn’t match a business strategy and/or people haven’t got the big picture.” So says Professor John Bessant, recently appointed head of innovation at the Cranfield School of Management. And continuing his theme, he adds that for manufacturing SMEs, “the issues include not just embracing continuing improvement and training for the workforce, but top team development for the directors.” They may be obvious points, but the fact is they’re still being missed. What business strategy? What top team development? What education and training? Bessant has spent 25 years on improvement projects and IT in manufacturing – everything from conceptual design to production engineering, innovation on the shop floor and latterly across ‘extended enterprises’ – and while it’s getting better, time and again, he says, strategy and people are the causes of failure. His experience started at Ciba Geigy (now Ciba Speciality Chemicals) where, as a chemical engineer at one of its pigments plants in Scotland, he was engaged in a major project to drive a batch process into continuous mode. “I had the opportunity to see how the company managed the process of change from R&D into the pilot and on to full scale production,” he says. And the lesson: “It’s not like a fruit machine: you can’t put money in the top, pull the arm, and new processes and better products drop out the bottom. Even with all its resources that company didn’t always get it right.” From there, as a research fellow at Aston University, he witnessed the impact of the ‘microelectronics revolution’ of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s first hand, as manufacturers, foundries, metal bashers and the rest, struggled to jump on the bandwagon and apply new technology to improve production processes. Aside from the obvious manufacturing analytics, it taught him the importance of establishing real understanding between hard-nosed business leaders and the factory. It was also an object lesson in guarding against apparently worthy, but ultimately misguided projects, driven by inadequately questioned enthusiasm. “Government was saying ‘automate or liquidate’, but the technology benefits often turned out not to be as great as the expectations.” Why? “There was a wave of optimism… Manufacturers were desperate to have problems solved.... But if you buy some technological jewellery, and it doesn’t fit, it’s no good: if the systems don’t meet the business needs what do you expect?” That salutary experience he has carried forward into everything from flexible manufacturing systems to robotics, production management systems, MRPII, ERP and the rest. “Without new robust and formal processes involving sales, procurement and manufacturing you get computerised chaos.” And he adds the importance of simplification – the lessons from Japan which, for the last decade have shown that “you can do a lot of improvement just through reorganisation.” Bessant says he likes to believe that industry today is more enlightened: that manufacturing directors understand technology, and in particular IT, as both supporting improved processes and enabling them. But he worries that benefits are still being missed. “You have to see things from the business perspective. You’re not going to solve your supply chain problems with a supply chain optimisation system if you haven’t already sorted out your supplier relationships. Businesses all need a manufacturing strategy; bottom-up and operational excellence alone will not do.” Ultimately, he says, good IT projects are about people, skills and understanding the big picture at every level. “With ERP, for example, it’s all very well training users to know ‘how’ to perform their tasks, but they need the ‘why’, the involvement, to really change, and that’s still not happening enough.” His advice: first avoid the trap of looking at solutions before you’ve got a grip on the problems – in the context of the business strategy. “It should be a requirement of directors that they maintain ‘top team development’ to build breadth, awareness and vision,” he says. And next, “simplify what you have. Manufacturing is often chaotic because it’s grown up that way. We need to simplify, integrate and then computer integrate.” And then? “Training. It’s all about people and skills. If you want flexible integrated processes, then at every level you have to ensure you’re investing in continuing skill development. You can invest in all the ERP, PDM [product data management] and supply chain systems you like, but they won’t help if you haven’t got people who understand and have bought in.