Legacy Systems are Agony

We’re talking about legacy through to March. It’s still the first quarter of the year and now’s the time to make a change to support your team. If you want the year to be different, you need to do something different. Introduce a new system and watch your team work with more efficiency, more skill, and more communication.

I’m making that sound easy and it’s certainly not easy. In fact, these choices are quite difficult. But not choosing is worse. Definitely worse.

Today, we’re talking about legacy systems, and they are the bane of our specific existence. Manufacturers are using everything from white boards and Post-its to the Microsoft Office suite of tools to a supervisor or foreman running around organizing it all in their head. These are all bad choices for one reason or another, but most specifically because they’re neither flexible nor scalable. Whatever process your team is using right now is limited by that pinch point – that person or system that is maxed out at its current position. Add more team members, more jobs, different work, a new machine, or even a new process and you’re bound to break something. Let’s hope it’s not the team member that’s keeping it all together for you, because that one’s going to hurt the most.

A legacy system is software (and hardware) that is old. It’s past its prime and functions slower and less securely than new technologies that are out there. Even a system from 5 years ago is bound to have aged past the point where your team finds it useful. (Note – this doesn’t mean you should scrap your software tools every 5 years, but you should absolutely have a path forward with your software vendor that includes regular updates to stay both safe and speedy.)

Legacy systems are difficult, nigh impossible, to replace sometimes. Or so it seems. You’ve become dependent on them and what they do for your team. You’re well aware of what they don’t do. The gaps. The slowdowns. The areas where they fall short of what you both need and expect a system to do.

Production Operations

If you don’t make a change, however painful that decision might be for you, you are changing your future anyway. And not for the better. Choosing not to move is putting your team and company into a situation where you’re using tools that are less productive than you need, require more time and budget than you have, and sadly fall short of what’s possible.

This year is the year to move forward. With the uncertainty of the changes ahead that you don’t have control over – whether it’s where you produce your goods or where you obtain your raw materials and how much that will cost you – you can change what’s possible inside the four walls of your facility so you’re ready for it.

Paperless Manufacturing

Look for a system that addresses your core needs. Okay, let’s take a step back. Identify your core needs. If you need some help here, look for a vendor that can help you navigate that conversation. Make sure they have sufficient experience in the industry to be knowledgeable enough to assist. Once you’ve got your list, understand what you’re willing to be flexible on.

You may not, for instance, find a system that can print your labels with your exacting standards and the logo that you want on them, but perhaps it solves your production visibility issue. Which is more important to you? Which can you figure out an alternative for? (The answer here is to get a label printer and go with the visibility, of course.) These choices are better through the lens of: What can a human do and how long will it take? Production visibility is a full-time job for a person who has a lot of energy and understands your shop. Anyone in your office can print a label, if trained.

It sounds brutal, but it’s an accurate look at how you need to move forward. You will need to prioritize your needs and consider those that are lesser in prominence for you. What is truly going to save you time and money? That is your goal.

We’re looking at legacy components of manufacturing and next week, we’re going to dive into legacy information. That’s a tough issue that most people won’t talk about, but one that you should be very concerned with.