Taking The First Steps Towards Optimizing American Manufacturing

Possibly the biggest question in American manufacturing is ‘How do I implement a successful IIoT/PdM Strategy in my operation?” The even bigger question is “Why do you want to?” As in life in general, the motive behind your visions and execution are vital to the result. Below are the five key steps that I’ve learned through working with companies executing a successful strategy.

#1 - Determine the problem you’re trying to solve (accepting that there is one) and what is most critical to address.

Admitting there is a problem is what I have found to be the most important initial step. There are people with issues and there are people who don’t want to admit they have issues. Once you can set your pride to the side and admit that your operation isn’t the shining example of world class excellence, you can move on to identifying the actual issue you need to solve. Some examples of this I’ve seen are: trade expertise on the decline, lack of a maintenance strategy, and a reactive mentality. Determining the problem you’re trying to solve is imperative. Ask yourself these things below to determine if developing a strategy will help you move away from your current state:

• What will solving this issue result in? (What KPI’s are impacted)
• Why haven’t I taken the steps to solve it already?
• Is this issue something I can fix with an IIoT/PdM strategy?

The biggest hurdle to jump through may be “Can I afford to spend the money on this?” If your problem is costing your company over a million dollars a year, would you spend $100,000 to fix it? I would bet the answer is yes and is why using this guide will help you eliminate this issue. Quantifying the cost of the issue will allow you to make some important distinctions on what you can allocate to fixing the problem. If you’re trying to fix an issue that doesn’t affect your output, costs you very little downtime, and generally won’t improve your operation – it should be the last thing on your list. If this issue is making your organization bleed money, get left in the dust by competitors, and makes you lose sleep thinking your boss will show up at any moment to give you your brown box – it’s most likely something you should focus your time on. Let’s take your assets for example. Identify the most critical equipment by using criteria like what are the implications of this machine going down, how much is it to fix, and what is the potential for collateral damage. Then based on that information, they should be broken into some criticality classification. Class A assets are the most critical. B are important but easily fixable, and C are the ones you rarely have issues with. It will also put you in a position to gauge what resources you can allocate to fix the issue.

#2 - What is my function in all of this and who else do I need on my side internally?

Depending on your role, your function in this strategy could be very different. Are you the corporate executive trying to pave a way for your entire company or are you the maintenance manager making a name for yourself in the proving grounds? You need to find out what your role is in the project and what roles you need others to fill. Do you have someone willing to take this project head on and be your ‘champion?’ (or is that you)? Is there a plant liaison to help bring issues to light and tell stories of success on the front lines? Do you have executive support to help give ideas and approvals in a critical time of determining your operations trajectory? All these roles are vital, but the most important is utilizing the people that are directly interfacing with the root of your issue. They understand the equipment, how it runs, what best practices are currently being utilized, the process, and what things are useful to help run more efficiently.

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.” - Babe Ruth

As Babe Ruth so brilliantly put it, no matter how good you are, there are others that need to be actively involved to ensure your strategy is successful. Identifying those key players who are going to make up your team, and play together, will be a pivotal step to success.

#3 - What outside resources can you call on to make sure it’s successful? (key technologies, software, partnerships)

Everyone has a limit of capabilities. They only have so much time, attention span, knowledge, and skills to complete the task at hand. Will it take multiple people to execute or do you need some guidance with outside help at the same time? Let’s face it – you’ll need help in one way or another. Three things you need to determine are:

• What technology or product is going to help me get the necessary insight into my equipment and its condition?
• Do I have the knowledge, trade expertise, and manpower to allocate to the successful use of these products and technologies?
• What am I looking for in an outside partner to help manage this technology?

#4 - The grass isn't always greener - sometimes you have to water it!

You’ve laid it all out on paper and have decided the change you want to make, the technology you want to introduce, and the people that are going to help get you there. Now it’s time to act. You’re improving uptime, meantime to failure, meantime to repair, and your team is laser-focused. If it was that simple, everyone would be doing it. As roadblocks come up, go back to your plan and make sure you make note of the things that worked and didn’t work. Did your technology work but your maintenance team fail to act or vice versa? Continually improve your process and plan. Mistakes will be made but how you learn from them, tweak your strategy, and rise from the ashes is all part of it. Once you iron out the issues you will unexpectedly run into it, keep moving forward. You’re using a successful PdM strategy to catch failures? Great! Now utilize it to optimize your equipment, extend life of your equipment, or just make general informed decisions about your processes.

#5 - You’re well on your way to a successful IIoT/PdM strategy – how do you share your story with the world? (Training/Development too)

Kudos to you! The hard work is done – you’ve done the leg work to put your operation on the trajectory to world class results. How did you do it? What were the hurdles? How did you overcome them? Whether you’re a maintenance manager, plant manager, or corporate executive – there are certainly others in your company and or industry that would love to hear about the work you’ve done, struggles you have faced, and the benefits you’re reaping. Tell your story and elevate the people that helped get you there. Use your experiences and information to train and educate the masses! Everyone from the boots on the ground to the C Suite of the company should know about your journey (both the highs and lows) and how implementing the things you’ve done are going to make everyone there that much better.

American manufacturing is the foundation of our great country and you should be proud to have the opportunity to optimize it. While you're planning, competitors near and far are already executing. Seize the opportunity to make your operation the shining example of hard working, forward thinking American innovation!