We offer an easy way to start a paperless manufacturing project today, giving you a kick start on modernizing production.
For many manufacturers, the decision isn’t which digital manufacturing system to use. It’s whether they should even start a project or not.
These companies struggle. They aren’t working toward process improvement. They wonder when the next disaster will hit because their systems aren’t working.
They know there are problems:
- They struggle with quality escapes, and aren’t even sure where in the process the problems are.
- They have no revision control of their planning, and may even be sending the wrong plans to the shop floor.
- They can’t accurately estimate work because they aren’t collecting or tracking labor or production data.
- They throw money away printing inefficient and error-prone work instructions.
- Production analytics are almost non-existent.
- Critical records and production data are kept on legacy systems or systems never meant for production such as spreadsheets or Access databases. Fixing it after a crash requires a hard reboot and a lot of prayers.
Focus on Manufacturing Production, Not Problems
It may sound ridiculous, but many companies struggle with problems such as these (or worse). They know something HAS to be done, but some believe it is easier to make it work a little longer, hoping someone else will tackle the project.
So the shop floor mitigates errors, flaws and problems. They react to problems, rather than proactively improving. It’s a vicious cycle of endless disaster recovery.
Many people cite risk – but it is riskier to do nothing. Waiting is a vicious money pit, sucking time and resources.
Others cite higher priority projects, but a digital manufacturing system has the potential to benefit the entire production cycle. It is worth investigating whether the software can provide a better solution to the higher priority projects.
We understand the first step is always the hardest. It’s a project that requires time, effort and a budget, but one with tremendous benefits and ROI.
Getting Started with Paperless Manufacturing
We can help. Here are 3 extremely easy steps anyone can take to start a paperless manufacturing project:
- Review your production needs. Even if you aren’t a manufacturing IT expert or a Process Improvement guru, you know what’s wrong. What problems waste time and money? What are people complaining about? List problems to determine the initial scope of the solution.
- Identify your potential budget. You need a rough estimate of how much you can spend on a solution. If you have no budget, and no funding, there’s not much anyone can do. But, if you believe a modern, easy-to-implement solution is worthwhile, then determine how much it might be worth. This will help narrow the potential solutions.
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Conduct a shop floor analysis. You need to start matching potential solutions with the list of problems. We call this a shop floor analysis (take a look at the button on the right). Have an expert review your needs and match them with solutions, giving you an idea of how you can solve your problems.
The goal is a plan so you can see how a solution might work. Put structure around the problems and start discussing with your team a better way of working on the shop floor.
Another goal is to break the solution into manageable pieces. For example, telling your co-workers, “We need an MES!” can be intimidating, both for you and for the co-workers. Telling them, “We’re going to automate our quality checks!” is much easier.
In the end, most companies find starting a project is much easier than dealing with the headaches and frustration of an out-of-control and inefficient shop floor.
Want to learn more? CIMx is now offering a shop floor analysis with an application engineer. In just 30 minutes, we can evaluate your shop floor and begin preparing a professional analysis of how a manufacturing solution can help you.
Send us a message and discover how modern manufacturing can make your life easier. We’re always happy to help.