Getting people and EMI systems on the same page

Our common industrial temptation is to focus on the “easy” engineering part of management systems while deferring the more difficult people part of incorporating the system into the daily work life. However, we need to give organization and workforce issues the same attention if we are to develop successful and sustainable manufacturing management systems.

The system needs to be easy to use and well enough embedded into company culture that it survives time and employee turnover. This is not just for our internal needs, but to meet commercial standards that define manufacturing quality and safety management systems such as ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 22000 both of which demand systems that are sustainable from one audit to the next.

EMI is a significant part of the infrastructure. It delivers the role-specific reporting that empowers each person to successfully do their job in the context of enterprise goals. Experience tells us that successful implementations commonly are one part technical and system issues and two parts organization and people issues. Therefore, the winning strategy to EMI and manufacturing management systems actively combines easy to use and implement technology with people skill development.

Rob Bansek, Business Solutions Architect for SightBridge Consulting, develops this strategy in his presentation, “System Implementation for EMI – Go Live is Just Another Milestone”. He maps an EMI implementation path using Discover, Align, Enable and Sustain (a variation of the Deming PDCA cycle) to illustrate a means of success.