15 steps to purchase an IT system ebook

About the author

I am a practitioner with a commitment to changing production to be safer, more flexible and allowing us, consumers, to be provided with better and better quality products. However, it is impossible to optimize production processes without transparency and access to reliable data, and consequently... without IT systems allowing product traceability.

As CEO of explitia, I design and implement advanced IT solutions for the industry. I cooperate with people managing production plants, supporting them in the field of technology consulting, digital transformation and change management. All of this is meant to increase the operational efficiency of machinery, reduce production costs and better use human resources. In my opinion, there is no greater waste than a wasted potential. Digitization, however, is an excellent tool that allows you to redirect human work to effective activities and to automate work that is important but does not provide real value to the company.

This is my mission. This is the knowledge and experience I want to share with you.

My experience has gradually been developing, from a passion for technology, through studies at the Faculty of Automation, Electronics and Computer Science of the Silesian University of Technology, to work as an industrial systems programmer, IT department manager, and now as the president of a rapidly growing tech company.

Professional work at many levels and areas has allowed me to understand the key challenges of various production sectors. As a mentor, I try to support young entrepreneurs and give lectures during industry events. I talk about the challenges of manufacturing plants, digitalization and business management and scaling in many ways my blog AdrianStelmach.com, YouTube channel: Digitalizuj.pl, and also on my LinkedIn profile.

If you have questions or just want to talk, write to me: [email protected]. I will be happy to contact you.

Table of contents

Preface

Introduction

Is Excel not enough?

Is it possible to do our job without stress?

Step 1. Defining the problem

Step 2. Workshop – Invitation of experts and development of a road map

Step 3. Assessment and creating a requirements book

Step 4. Calculation of total implementation costs

Step 5. Budgeting

Step 6. Workshop for the staff

Step 7. Call for tenders

Step 8. Comparison of solutions

Step 9. Negotiations

Step 10. Building a project team

Step 11. Implementation of a pilot project

Step 12. Workshop summarizing the pilot project, collecting feedback

Step 13. Updating the requirements book

Step 14. Project rollout on the target scale

Step 15. Summary and estimation of the project

How long may the entire process take?

Summary

How much does it all cost?

Acknowledgements

You will find me here

Preface

Why I wrote this book?

Working in the sale of dedicated IT solutions allowed me to notice that buyers often make the same mistakes. I have seen identical patterns many times, which often ended in a disaster that I only learned about after some time. I have lost purchasing processes many times. I made offers many times, and in the end someone turned out to be cheaper or won in a different way. My mission is to educate and demystify the issues related to the digital transformation of Polish companies. I decided that my first book publication should be devoted to purchasing, because at some point, in one form or another, it has to happen.

B2B purchasing is very complicated. The larger the company, the more inertia the process moves. It is less controllable and subject to an increasing number of parameters assessed by decision makers. I don't envy buyers because I know that the seller always has some substantive advantages over them. After all, it is easier to specialize in one product, know it inside out, and realize what levels of discounts you can afford. It is extremely difficult to conduct the process of purchasing an IT system, despite the fact that until now it was mainly physical parts or elements of machine equipment that were purchased. At some point, the purchasing procedure should come down to comparing items based on the same criteria. For example, if we buy a TV, we have parameters that we can compare - size, resolution, number of media slots, appearance. In the case of dedicated and organization-specific software that is to be integrated with the entire factory environment, the process is particularly complicated. Honestly speaking, it seems to be the most difficult to sell, but also much more difficult to buy.

How can you compare software that is created on the basis of a concept created within the organization by people who are creating it for the first time? A concept that has not passed any specialist filter, has not been scrupulously compared with available market solutions and is, in fact, a kind of "concert of one’s life". Every person and every company manages the best they can and uses the resources they have. There is nothing wrong with it. Quite contrarily, this is natural and advisable. Do you have to employ a full-time MES application architect to buy such a system? I do not think so. Just follow the pattern I present in this book and give a chance to the process that has been tested on hundreds of cases.

Who is the book for?

For anyone who wants to develop, who wants to look at the purchasing process from a different perspective, and finally for people who work in organizations that are about to start the digital transformation process and want to do it well.

What makes the worth reading?

To develop, satisfy curiosity and optimize current activities. You may already be doing many of the things I describe here. Many of them may not be new to you. But if you find a few tidbits and use them, believe me - you will save your company a lot of money.

I tried to be concise as I don't like long-winded books. I wanted it to be nitty-gritty and have a structure that clearly shows what to do step by step, according to a tried recipe.

If you disagree with something, think something is missing or just want to talk, write to me: [email protected]. I will be happy to contact you.

Introduction

The sales process should actually be adequate to the purchasing process, which depends entirely on the ordering party. Each company has slightly different standards and procedures (both on the sales and purchasing side). I have noticed that while there is a lot of talk about how to sell effectively (you can find many experts in this field and training courses dedicated to this issue), there is rarely any mention of how to buy.

Do not get me wrong. I don't want to say that there are no purchasing specialists on the market. I have no doubt that if you work in the purchasing department of a manufacturing company, you probably know your job very well. You have already successfully conducted many negotiations, you have successfully acquired machines, you have delivered many components and you have established cooperation with a new logistics line. However, purchasing IT software that is designed to meet the needs of your brand (it is not the universal Microsoft Office) is something a little different. Mainly because such an IT system is acquired relatively rarely. Regardless of whether you are a lean manufacturing specialist, purchasing specialist, production engineer or production director, if you are involved in the process of purchasing or implementing new IT software in your company, I encourage you to read the entire document.

Is Excel not enough?

Depending on the stage of development of your production company, what industry you operate in and on what scale - you probably face different challenges. Collecting production data is no longer the privilege of the largest market players. It is slowly becoming a necessity and an obligation for all companies. You may ask whether, in the era of well-functioning Excel, you really need a system into which data does not need to be entered.

Excel is the best manager tool – I have no doubt about it. It is a great tool. However, it may be of no use when the data entered is incorrect or questionable. Based on an Excel spreadsheet, you calculate OEE from the previous day, based on a report manually completed by the machine operator. Are you sure that you can fully trust him, considering that he wrote down the required information after eight hours of hard work and is tired and dreams of leaving the hall? Such a case sheds a slightly different light on the problems that every production plant struggles with - regardless of the sector in which it operates, regardless of its size, number of employees and scale of revenues. The reality is that even the best analyst in the world will not achieve anything if his analyzes are based on false data. This is not about suspecting employees of dishonesty or consciously wanting to cause harm. Rather, it is about our human weaknesses. Man, by his nature, is a fallible being, and with the lack of time and in the face of divergently interpreted goals, it is easy to make mistakes. After all, what is most important? To complete the production process and improve efficiency by 3%, or to correctly record downtime with an accuracy to the second? I believe that each of us wants to do our job to the best of our ability, but does it mean that we all have the best tools available?

Is it possible to do our job without stress?

Considering the above, it is easy to say that it is the responsibility of every production company to implement an IT system that would help to reduce the risk of human error.

In this publication, based on my experience, I will try to present a well-organized process of implementing an industrial IT system at every stage: from the idea of purchasing such a solution to the training of its staff. I do not want to go into technical aspects here. I would prefer to focus on correct communication and the process itself, which - if implemented according to the steps below - is most beneficial for all parties involved (organization managers, employees and integrators). Since blood is thicker than water, I will use the example best known to me, i.e. the implementation of the MES system. The entire process presented here can actually be applied to the implementation of other IT systems as well (including ERP).

Analyzing the luckiest cases in which I had the pleasure to participate, and the most problematic ones that taught me a lot, I decided to gather all my experience in the process of acquiring an IT system. I have developed a scheme of effective action divided into 15 steps. Their order is quite important, but you can skip some of them if you feel that the criteria describing them have already been met.

You should - as in any decision-making process - start with answering the question "why?". What is the reason you want to implement a MES system in your production plant?