Why Manufacturers Need to Look at New Frontline Workforce and Enterprise Optimization Project Deployment Methodologies 

The phrase “pilot purgatory” has become an infamous descriptor for many IoT, frontline workforce, and digitization projects, and it has been written about by virtually all top research and tech companies. The conjecture is that companies initiate and then get stuck in the pilot phase of their digitization, IoT, and optimization projects, which fail to scale and leave users, managers, the C-suite, and the shareholders frustrated. Different views have been presented on why projects get stuck in pilots and many theories have been presented to help companies avoid the pain of a stalled, slowed, or failed project.

Webalo reviews the key takeaways from the Gartner supply chain symposium/expo in June and September 2022, highlighting how  manufacturers can advance their supply chain optimization, smart manufacturing, and workforce management! 

In manufacturing, the frontline is responsible for executing tasks and following clear guidelines and SOPs. 

While doing so, they use their experience and judgement to ensure results are compliant with intended specifications and work instructions. Manufacturing operations evolve to incorporate more digital tech equipment like IIoT sensors, automation, and robotics. As it becomes more normalized to use advanced IT tools to extract manufacturing data, the frontline and the decisions they make on a day-to-day and minute-to-minute basis will play a key role in ensuring that optimal results are obtained from digital transformation and automation efforts.