More than ever, even in an increasingly connected world, Engineering and Manufacturing Aftersales Services are separated and siloed from each other.
Data surrounding Production and Aftersales spare parts are kept separate between teams and departments within the same business.
But what could the manufacturing industry be learning from app-to-app software in other industries where accessibility and ease of data management are the priority?
Why are Engineering and Manufacturing Aftersales siloed in the first place?
Traditionally, individuals in Engineering and Manufacturing are arranged by discipline.
Organised into Design, Manufacture, and Production departments, leaving Aftersales and Service to become a reactive afterthought to support the customers.
Not taking into account feeding Aftersales data back into product development.
Each of these departments is then incentivised and measured by profit, not the ability to work together.
Why do we silo departments like this?
- It's a ‘traditional’ business practice: Design, Manufacture, and Production have always been organised like this. A change from this poses some risk to the business - real or imagined - that a change from “how things are done” will somehow negatively impact profit or efficiency.
- Technical capability to integrate didn’t exist when the traditional business model was formed. Previously, data and information from these departments were created through drawings, PDFs or images that were then shared hand to hand. Legacy infrastructure like these don’t allow for integrated teams, unlike modern apps that do.
The outcome of siloed departments is that teams then try to do their best to fill in the gaps created from team to team.
Creating information and data that only exists in the processes and minds of those individuals in their silo.
Once they leave a business, it disappears with them, creating larger gaps in the data.
Or as one of our clients at Partful described it, it’s the “Wild West” of communication.
This problem is only compounded when Aftersales and Service information isn’t fed back into Research and Development, Design, or Marketing.
Customer data doesn’t get collected and legacy products end up moving throughout their lifecycle without proper data management, and without any department communicating about problems inside the legacy data.
This would pose a particular challenge when business acquisitions take place.
Do companies know the true condition and value of their legacy data? Is that data being harnessed?
Can it be used, or is the condition too patchy for use in the future?
Improving and maintaining the Aftersales and Service data, in tandem with Design, Engineering and Manufacture would unlock hidden value within the company and its existing departments.
Are your departments at war with each other?
“Department wars” happen when each department is only sending the bare minimum data over the fence to the next department - whether that’s a PDF or an Excel spreadsheet.
It’s usually just enough for the next team to pick up and go.
This happens when individual specialists have their skills limited into one silo.
If they can’t connect to other departments in the same business, then the information transferred from one team to the next is equally limited.
By pushing minimal information through departments, there’s no space to pick up problems as they begin to arise.
Digitisation and app-to-app software help specialists to collect and connect information requests to create decisions outside of their usual trends, and in turn, improve the quality of data being sent from department to department.
Including sending that information back into the product development loop and ultimately breaking down those silos.
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How do you change this mindset in the team?
Easily - if done right.
By using soft skills like communication and cooperation, as well as giving Design, Manufacture, Production, Aftersales and Service staff the time and opportunity to communicate with other departments regularly, departments and staff teams can begin to open their minds and change their working patterns.
Hiring specialised individuals for their skill set doesn’t need to change.
They only can understand the pains and pressures of the other departments and colleagues and they can begin to change the mindset of the team, department and business.
What can Design, Manufacture, Production, Aftersales and Service departments learn from App-to-App real-time data?
How will that open up the silos they’re in?
First, what is App-to-App real-time data?
These are applications that send and receive data within milliseconds.
For example: instant messengers like WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or Zoom. These are applications that don’t require page refreshing or reloading to see changes in data.
Using app-to-app real-time data from Design through to Servicing removes static uneditable information.
Like PDFs!
How many of us have seen a typo on a PDF after it’s been sent, and had to embarrassingly recall the email or send “PDF-2” with an apology?
Old systems have been built and evolved around historic ways of working and processes.
Designed by software developers and not the businesses that use them.
Data storage becomes optimised for performance, not for ease of access or accurately detailed notes.
Much like PDFs or Excel spreadsheets: they’re designed for performance, and not for easy sharing and collaboration.
App-to-app real-time data means any update created in the Design department is recorded and reflected in Engineering, Production, and Aftersales service.
The same applies if Aftersales, or any other department makes a note on a particular spare part.
No data is lost between departments.
These applications are led by the data and products they serve - allowing for fully accurate details to be recorded, maintained and referenced.
A great example of this is how there’s no universally accepted way to structure data inside a PLM.
Each business uses a PLM in a slightly different way - where users are restricted to recording an item or a part in a PLM as a “material”, meaning specific details are lost to the next user.
Suddenly when Aftersales are looking for a spare part, they’re met with huge lists of “materials” that aren’t relevant to what they need.
How do we integrate the old world and the new world together if the data is so messy?
This is where new systems for Small to Medium Businesses come in. Legacy products have gaps and weaknesses around their PLM, ERP, and PDM systems that leave an opening for new technology and new possibilities.
If a business is creating product data for one specific need that cannot be reused later down the line, or after a specialised staff member moves on, then the data becomes obsolete and any value in that time is lost.
This also contributes to a continuing cycle of this process happening over and over and ‘reinventing the wheel’ when a new product is designed when old data could hold answers.
Staff at these companies should be updating their software and approaching Engineering, Production, and Aftersales Services with I.T. at the forefront.
Changing the mindsets of departments to see the value of spending time on going back and improving legacy data, rather than producing more new products unlocks hidden value and data within their PLM and PDM systems.
Or better yet, using new SaaS and app-to-app technology and applications to consistently maintain data moving forward.
“But what other option do I have but my incumbent system?”
New softwares are entering the market quickly to make up for lost time due to legacy systems - at Partful we’re only predicting the current industry giants will only last the next 10-20 years if they don’t modernise and adopt app-to-app technology quickly.
These old industry system giants are still complicated to install, time-consuming for the team to learn, and if they don’t fit your needs then there’s the risk of losing data as you move from one system to another.
That’s why these software often requires you to hire an expert or designate one person as the “champion” to get the new process off the ground - this gives only one person in the team the knowledge how to use the software inside out.
New software, like Partful 2.0, doesn’t need a specified “expert”/”champion” to work - so staff turnover, holidays and personal time off don’t impact the department's ability to update data, product information or Aftersales data.
Using intuitive interfaces, live data pull-through and inter-departmental communication opens up time for Engineering, Production, and Aftersales teams to work together seamlessly.
Saving time and effort, but also reducing the strain on handling massive amounts of product data.
If you want to learn more head to the Partful Podcast, In episode 9 we go through this exact question with Jos Voskuil, from the Virtual Dutchman.
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