Are you ready to grow your company but hesitant to transition from spreadsheets and paper copies to software? You're not alone, and we understand your hesitation. That's why we want to help you understand how software can transform your work, making it easier, faster, cost-effective, and more efficient. This transition is not just about keeping up with the times; it's about positioning your business for sustainable growth and success in an increasingly competitive market.
Comfort of Familiarity
For many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the glass industry, spreadsheets and paper have been the backbone of their operations for decades. Spreadsheets and paper are familiar, easy to use, and seemingly cost-effective. However, as your company grows, these manual systems can become a bottleneck, hindering efficiency and scalability. The comfort of familiarity, which is hard to break, often keeps companies from exploring new, more efficient solutions.
Challenges & Benefits of Spreadsheets and Paper
- Challenge: Time-Consuming Processes
Managing stock and inventory, tracking orders, answering customer questions, and scheduling can become overwhelming as the business scales up. Spreadsheets require constant manual updates, leading to a significant time investment that could be better spent on strategic activities. Organizing and tracking all paper copies adds to the headache when customers have questions.
Software Benefit: Increased Efficiency
Software solutions automate many of the repetitive tasks that consume time and resources. For example, inventory management software can automatically update stock levels, generate reorder alerts, and even predict future needs based on historical data. Another example includes scanning software that helps track items as they move through the manufacturing process from arrival by supplier to delivery at the customer site.
- Challenge: Human Error
Manual data entry is prone to human errors. A simple typo can lead to significant issues down the line, affecting inventory management, customer orders, and financial accuracy. These mistakes, just to name a few, can be costly and damage your reputation.
Software Benefit: Enhanced Accuracy
By reducing manual data entry, software minimizes the risk of errors and perpetuation of this error. This leads to more accurate inventory tracking, order processing, financial reporting, etc., ultimately the company saving time and money.
- Challenge: Lack of Real-Time Data
Spreadsheets and paper records do not provide real-time data from which to plan for today, tomorrow, and the future. This can lead to delays in decision-making and an inability to respond swiftly to market changes or customer needs. As our industry advances at an ever-faster clip, software can provide you insightful data with which to make better decisions.
Software Benefit: Real-Time Data Access
Modern industry-specific software solutions provide real-time data, giving you instant access to critical information. This information enables quicker decision-making, better forecasting, and the ability to respond promptly to customer inquiries and market shifts.
- Challenge: Limited Collaboration
In today's interconnected world, collaboration with colleagues and customers is key. Spreadsheets stored on individual computers or paper records filed away in cabinets do not support seamless collaboration. This can lead to miscommunications, duplicated efforts, and/or delays in project timelines as team members struggle to access and share vital information quickly.
Software Benefit: Improved Collaboration
Software allows team members to access and update information from anywhere at any time, fostering collaboration and ensuring everyone is on the same page. This is particularly valuable for businesses with remote employees or multiple locations.
- Challenge: Confined New Employee Training
The shortage of employees affects all glass manufacturers, making efficient training essential. Younger, tech-savvy employees may find manual systems cumbersome and outdated. Relying solely on spreadsheets and paper can not only slow down the training process but also limit your ability to attract and retain younger talent who expect modern, user-friendly tools in the workplace.
Software Benefit: Scalability & Improved Employee Training
As your business grows, software can scale with you as can the ability to train your employees, record trainings, and adapt to each learner’s abilities. Whether you need to handle more orders, manage a larger stock and inventory, expand your operations, or training one or multiple new employees, software solutions can adapt to your changing needs without the need for significant overhauls. Furthermore, younger employees find working with software easier, which allows them to develop new processes non-native tech people wouldn’t figure out.
- Challenge: Limited Access to AI
Spreadsheets don’t easily tap into the power of AI, which means you’re relying solely on human analysis. While you and your team can spot trends and gain insights, this understanding is limited to your personal expertise or that of key employees. But what happens when a crucial team member leaves, or you decide to sell the business? Without AI-driven tools, much of that valuable knowledge walks out the door, leaving gaps that spreadsheets simply can’t fill.
Software Benefit: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence
It’s here and is the wave of the future! Modern software solutions is starting to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, providing powerful tools for predictive analytics, demand forecasting, and process optimization, just to name a few potential advantages.
AI can analyze large volumes of data to identify patterns and trends, helping you make more informed decisions. For example, AI-driven software can predict when equipment will need maintenance, reducing downtime, or suggest optimal inventory levels based on past sales data and market trends. This advanced technology can significantly enhance your operational efficiency and competitive edge.
Addressing Common Concerns
- Cost: While there is an initial investment in software, the long-term savings and efficiency gains often outweigh the costs. Additionally, many software providers offer scalable software solutions to suit different business sizes and budgets.
- Learning Curve: The transition from spreadsheets and paper to software may seem daunting, but modern software solutions are designed with user-friendliness in mind. Many providers offer comprehensive training and support to ensure a smooth transition. To this end, interview the software provider and ask them to outline the training and support processes. Don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions beyond price because training and support are vital to your continued success.
- Data Security: Concerns about data security are valid especially nowadays, but reputable software providers implement robust security measures to protect your data. Depending on the on-premise server or cloud-based server space you purchase, security could be your responsibility or that of the cloud provider. Once you choose your manufacturing software provider, include them in discussions with your on-premises or cloud provider, for example, AWS. Remember, when choosing passwords for machinery, please use robust passwords with complex character/number combos and not “Intermac1,” for example.
- Integration: Many companies worry about the transition from spreadsheet and paper to software. These worries can include, creating/becoming accustomed to new processes, mapping old processes into new digital processes, etc. No matter the worry, software implementation specialists can walk you through the transition. Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions and be involved in the transition. The more you know at the beginning, the better you and your team will be in the future.