Expensive Lessons in Manufacturing Software Selection and Training

By Sheldon Needle

Let’s begin with an obvious, but often forgotten premise, about software. No matter what you buy it is only as good as the people using it. And the people using are only as good as they are motivated and trained on how to use it. A beautiful software demo by a smooth salesperson does not automatically translate into software success.

I speak with various users of manufacturing software on a daily basis. Many are very disappointed with the software they now have and want to look for new options. In some cases, their reasons are legitimate and they do, indeed, need a functional richer or easier to use solution. But many will find that after changing software they are going to be just as disappointed in new software as they are with what they have. The reason is very basic. The users of the software simply are not properly trained or motivated to get the most out of it. This is a fact regardless of industry or company size. This article will explore why a new software installation can fail despite the best intentions of management.

A few years ago I worked with a medium-sized job shop manufacturer that had many jobs to complete in a short time frame. They were using a popular but somewhat out-of- date software that was expensive to maintain and where staff struggled to make it work. After speaking with them in further detail I found out that they were only using some financial applications and purchase orders – no MRP, scheduling, inventory control or work in process tracking was being done.

How could something like this happen when only a few years earlier they invested $85K to purchase a full blown manufacturing ERP system that included: quoting, MRP, scheduling, inventory costing, labor collection, supply chain, CRM and all the financial applications? It wasn’t that the software was unusable. The vendor has thousands of customers and many are satisfied with it. But every buyer is a universe of one when it comes to using that system. Some will do the necessary planning and dedicate the needed resources to make effective use of their new MRP or ERP software and some think they won’t have to do much of anything. They think that the software will run itself.

Here is any array of possibilities when things can go awry with software and what you can do to avoid the traps. Some have to do with the vendor and some are shortcomings of the users.

Lack of staff buy in - Company employees were not involved enough in the evaluation of the software or in the decision to purchase it and don’t feel a responsibility to support it. Be sure all key staff is involved in evaluating and trying out the software before you buy it.

Initial training or system setup by done by inexperienced or incompetent trainer – check their credentials before you start the project

Vendor does not provide training on a timely basis - Be sure that the vendor commits to providing training on a timely basis with penalties in the contract if they don’t.

Transition issues - Original staff that was trained left the company and new employees were not properly trained on the software to take their place. Have a transition policy in place.

Support and upgrades - Vendor support is poor and upgrades are buggy. Staff become disgusted and stopped trying to get answers and abandoned the system. Be sure a staff person is assigned to troubleshoot the problem and reestablish communication with the vendor to try and salvage the installation.

Software is powerful but too labor intensive to enter data - When evaluating capabilities prior to purchasing the software, be sure that operating staff sits down with scripted test data and go through all processes necessary to use the system. Examples might be for entering data in order to do quoting, scheduling, time and attendance labor collection, or manage bills of material.

Software is a mismatch for the size of the company - I once spoke with $1M company who spent $70K for very complex software that was totally beyond their ability to handle. That should never happen but some vendors will sell you whatever you are willing to buy.

Other training issues to consider
Several important lessons can be learned from other’s experiences. First, key managers should be brought in to initial meetings with the vendor trainers to give them an overview of the implementation process, all strategies involved and the time-frame.  Second, when the manager doesn't fully buy in to the process and understand the tasks and time-frame, they may not choose the employee they feel most qualified to learn the system and to train other people. Instead they may choose the employee they can most do without for the "train-the-trainer" sessions.  Without the supervising managers’ involvement, classes may be skipped by staff employees and the entire training process will break down.

Summary
Software is only useful if it is set up properly and used by motivated and well trained staff. No matter what you buy, you are responsible to see that the installation is successful based on getting a system suitable to your operation and one which is supported by not only the vendor, but company staff who have the time, training and support to make it work properly. Executive management involvement in the process is essential.

When a software installation fails, it is never the fault of the software alone. The users always own a piece of the problem.

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