Manufacturers are accustomed to threading the needle – keeping costs in check, maintaining tight margins and addressing new requirements from customers, suppliers, partners, and regulators – even as they navigate uncertain markets. It is well known that information technology plays an important role, enabling mission-critical operations while simultaneously empowering manufacturers to use their data to improve decision making, satisfy compliance requirements, and more.
Not surprisingly, manufacturing IT professionals oversee a sizable IT estate. Their responsibilities span ensuring the seamless operation of everything from back-office software to the PLCs that drive factory floor machinery, as well as the APIs that interconnect these systems. In many cases, leveraging analytics solutions to stitch together data from disparate systems can be a more practical and effective approach than direct integration, depending on the specific problem being addressed.
Keeping this intricate network running smoothly is no small feat. On top of this, there are new solutions spanning from COTS applications to AI innovations that must be vetted to ensure that the organization remains competitive.
In many industries, few organizations are in a position to replace the entirety of their existing IT solutions and infrastructure. Instead, they must balance the deployment of new innovations with the proper stewardship, maintenance and use of legacy systems.
For this reason, two questions remain ubiquitous in manufacturing IT:
- How can stakeholders determine when it is time to replace IT assets?
- And how can they ensure that new solutions are implemented effectively?
The answer to each of these questions is unique for each organization. But several fundamental considerations are broadly applicable to all manufacturers and in every sector whether they are stamping metal components or injecting plastic parts.
Knowing When It Is Time to Replace Legacy IT
Regrettably, many manufacturers feel compelled to replace IT systems that, while older, remain a pragmatic option that’s well-suited to their organization. It is for that reason that the first, and perhaps most important consideration when considering the replacement of legacy IT, is to know that new technology may not be the answer.
It should also be determined if existing systems are being fully and correctly used. When adoption is lacking, people are often the root cause.
For these reasons, a balanced assessment of existing legacy IT assets is crucial. In that effort, several questions and red flags are particularly pertinent and indicate that existing assets warrant further examination and potentially a replacement:
- Is IT struggling to keep everything up and running? IT teams that oversee a patchwork quilt of legacy IT systems often spend much of their time working to keep things up and running rather than improving systems. Are they working every day to maintain APIs to integrate what were originally designed as standalone systems? Are PLCs a constant source of frustration? Constant issues are an indicator.
- Are core systems properly supported? If not, significant security and operational risks arise. Over the years, many IT professionals have skillfully customized core ERP and operational systems to enhance their effectiveness. However, routine maintenance is often neglected due to fears of breaking customizations that no one in the organization knows how to repair. This issue is becoming increasingly common as experienced IT professionals retire and outdated programming languages fade into obscurity.
- Are your manufacturing operations less competitive? Are your margins suffering because you had to fly in an expensive resin when the inventory management system failed? Is your business more difficult to work with than competitors with more modern, integrated portals and dashboards? Are you unable to vie for new business with some prospects because of stringent third-party security requirements your legacy systems cannot satisfy?
These are but a few of the many questions manufacturers must ask. IT assets should also be thoroughly inventoried and assessed for their performance, ease of use, reliability, flexibility and alignment with cybersecurity fundamentals.
Implementing New IT More Effectively
Once it is clear the business needs new IT, several considerations warrant particular attention regardless of whether the project focuses on one function or is a more extensive digital transformation. These include:
- Does the business have a defined digital strategy? A defined strategy and detailed business case are essential to ensure that the resulting IT assets will deliver the desired return on investment. Whether the goal is to enhance operations, augment staff performance, improve the customer experience, streamline compliance efforts, improve data protection, or achieve other imperatives, a clear plan is essential for success.
- Is your data ready? The old adage “garbage in, garbage out” is even more applicable today, particularly when considering AI. It can take months to assess and validate the accuracy of data gathered over years, but a thorough effort is crucial.
- Is the business prepared for the cultural change new manufacturing IT requires? Ideally, senior leaders from operations, finance, HR and impacted business functions are involved in any implementation of new IT. It is especially important that those on the factory floor who will use the new systems and facilitate the capture of mission-critical data be involved from start to finish, both to inform the scope of the project and to support its adoption.
Technology in general, and manufacturing IT specifically, must always align with business goals. In a time of unprecedented hype, particularly around the very real potential of AI, it is crucial that manufacturers view their current and future IT estate in a balanced and thoughtful manner, one which recognizes the utility and limitations of existing legacy systems, and the capabilities and costs of new alternatives.
