3 Expert Tricks to Optimizing Your Industry 4.0 Adoption

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While adoption of Industry 4.0 is quickly becoming essential in today's industrial sector, the actual transition to implementation can be an uphill battle. Replacing machinery can be expensive, transitioning to new systems can be complicated, and retraining staff can take time. 

The task can feel monumental, but for Ryan Chan, digital transformation is both worthwhile and achievable. The Upkeep CEO and founder, chemical engineer, and production process professional explains in a recent Thomas Industry Update Podcast episode, hosted by Thomas CMO Shawn Fitzgerald, that Upkeep "takes the work out of work orders" by making the "days, lives, and jobs easier for field technicians" through digitization.

Upkeep is "taking everything that we learn... and turning [the issues] into preventable ones for the future," Chan says.

Here are Chan's tips for making your transition as seamless and approachable as possible. 

Remember That "Data Analytics Is a Long Game"

A common tip shared by Thomas Industry Update Podcast guests usually goes something along the lines of "data collection is great, but what really matters is what you do with that data." While data can hold a great deal of value for industrial businesses new to the digital world, data analysis can feel like learning an entirely new language, especially when you're handed a massive pile of raw data that's been collected over the course of a quarter or even a full year.

Chan recommends nipping that data onslaught in the bud by shifting your analysis from long-term to short-term, or even day-to-day. 

"The biggest tip here is that data analytics is a long game, and you have to look at it every single day," Chan advises. "You have to look at it on a daily basis, on a weekly basis. And I know that sounds tough. I know that sounds overwhelming. There are probably 500, maybe 1,000 different metrics that you're tracking."

However, Chan clarifies that you don't need to look at each of the 500 to 1,000 different metrics that are being tracked. Instead, he says, focus on just three at a time.

"If there are 500 different metrics you're tracking, each month [you should] choose one to three of them to work on, focus on, and improve. And then do it," he says. "Rally the entire team [on] those one to three different metrics, whether that's OEE, that's downtown, that's availability, that's mean time to failure, [or] mean time to repair. Have a core theme once a month [or] once a quarter. And then the next quarter, change it out."

Don't Fall for "Shiny Thing Syndrome"

Although new technology can be exciting, Chan cautions listeners to avoid one of the biggest pitfalls of adoption: Getting distracted by the appeal of exciting, new capabilities. Fitzgerald calls it "shiny thing syndrome." 

At Upkeep, "we think that it's not about choosing the 10 cool new technologies and trying them out," Chan explains. "It's about choosing one, maybe two, critical systems and using those to their fullest."

Chan's best recommendation for narrowing down those two essential systems for your business is to utilize the system you have; Don't blindly implement new technology.  

"What we sometimes find is that you actually might have that solution in place today, and it's actually not about new technologies," Chan explains. "Find the solution that works for you, the business leader, and also the team. It's not just a single person. A lot of people that we talked to in the industry get sold on data and reporting, but they forget about where the data is coming from, and really it's from the end-users. So, if you don't have buy-in, you're not going to get the reports and dashboards that you really want."

Prioritize Productivity, Not Technology

Chan understands that it's easy to get lost in the technology aspect of digital transformation, but he encourages businesses to prioritize the productivity of their own teams instead of the potential of the new technology. 

"When we talk about this Industry 4.0, really what it [means] is making the teams more productive," Chan clarifies. "So, as we think about how we can scale up to meet demand, I think one big opportunity for everyone is the adoption to technology. It might not be brand new; It might be the existing stack that you've got but utilizing new functions, features that you might not be using. Through that, you'll find tremendous productivity gains, and that'll help you scale up through this increase in demand that, hopefully, we all see in the next coming months." 

Image Credit: Photo by Stephen Dawson on Unsplash