Marek Mrowiec 
Table of contents
Many small manufacturing company owners avoid changes and put off implementation of manufacturing production software for fear of workers protest. The lack of green light to continue development is covered up by different excuses usually financial ex. “we can’t afford it”, “it’s going to cost us a penny”, etc. The paradox is that many employees are scared of the consequences and their staff reaction: what if they won’t accept changes and run to work at rival manufacture? Find out what are the most common fears of manufacturing company owners and employees before implementation of manufacturing production software and why it seems to be much scarier than it is in reality.” 
Manufacturing production software – 5 common implementation fears
Manufacturing companies postpone development, because they are afraid that new manufacturing production software will result in their key workers quitting the job.Employee market and invaluable know-how
Even before the epidemic of covid19 has changed the world’s economy the production market was the employee market, where experienced cnc operators or printers were able to pick and choose among various job offers. That’s why company owners frequently coddled such precious production workers, not wanting to come into conflict with them. They also were aware of the fact that these people were the pillars of the company, seasoned and experienced with all business know how in their heads. If you don’t have manufacturing software in your production company you rely solely on the knowledge of key specialists; when they leave you lose that valuable database and expertise. What if while implementing new software you somehow offend one of your expert workers, or they could be against the proposed changes and decide to work elsewhere with your competitors? Who is going to show the ropes to new workers, share experience, give precious tips? Training of staff is time consuming hence expensive and it takes a while to pick all the tricks of the trade, especially where there isn’t an experienced foreman at hand to tech.Norms are a modern form of slavery
Generally many owners deliberately slow down changes at production, because they are afraid that people will quit if they start following production norms or when it is necessary to check in and check out when entering the company or starting work on the order. What if the staff sees the boss as a modern slave driver who only pushes them to the limits and establishes unrealistic working schedules, calculating every second of their work? Employees might think that such monitoring costs a lot and demand a pay rise. Where should the money come from?It is better to work than “click” at the keyboard
There also fear among the company owners that workers while entering different forms to the system or filling out forms for production orders will not have enough time to do their job, because they will spend precious minutes on entering data to the system. What if it is necessary to do overtime to complete all entries? What if the staff protests against changes because they will refuse to learn to “click” at the keyboard or fail to use the new system?Manufacturing production software is difficult
Additionally there is a concern that implementation process will be complicated and employees will protest. Not everybody wants to learn new things, so people might make it difficult for the boss to introduce new solutions. There are many blue collars working at the production hall and they might not want to learn sophisticated manufacturing production software, even if it was the easiest system on the earth, they will say it’s too difficult to make the point. It will be necessary to hire and pay for extra training for the staff, however there is no guarantee if they use the new system at all.Old fashioned employees
There is also an anxiety that older members of staff might not be able to grasp the basics of manufacturing production software, because they are not technologically advanced and computer savvy, but they are very important in the company because of the experience they have and invaluable knowledge.Production manufacturing software – implementation experience
When it comes to analysing the above fears you can draw a conclusion that successful manufacturing production software implementation is almost a miracle. Obviously there are some failures, but they are usually caused by totally different factors. Based on years of experience in SaaS consulting and different software implementation as well as optimization processes (since 2005) it is possible to say that majority of fears are unfounded. It is usually the opposite and many company owners are positively surprised by the effects of manufacturing production software implementation.Manufacturing production software is great
From Prodio’s practice it turns out that people react very well to a new system (as long as it isn’t a complicated ERP). When everything is clear and easy to understand like in Prodio very often workers themselves complement the software. From their perspective it offers more order and transparency. When somebody comes to work in the morning they can check which tasks they were assigned, which ones are due first and start working following the priority of things in the queue. There is no need to wait for the boss who runs frantically from machine to machine, suggesting last minute changes, giving contrary orders resulting in confusion and disorder. In the end it is an employee who takes the blame for all mistakes, does not pay attention, lazes around. Simple manufacturing production software makes sure such situations are impossible, because everything works round the clock and is in proper order.Honesty the first and foremost
Thanks to a good production management system employees know that they are supervised in an honest way. At the first glance it may seem strange, because monitored work should be an unpleasant duty, but the majority of people want to show that actually they do a great job. When they are committed to something they wish to prove themselves and do their best. The company owner’s approach to monitoring is very important: either he can present production control as a calculation exercise or pester them about proverbial 2 seconds delay or minute norm disproportion. It is clear that in the latter case the effect will be opposite to desired. Everybody wants to be respected at work, not just treated as slaves or used.Easy to understand production schedule with all parameters
Once manufacturing production software is implemented workers have access to a clear production schedule. They know parameters of products, can use attached technical drawings hence they are less stressed and nervous. It Is nothing worse than chaos at the manufacturing company, when the boss changes priorities all the time, so the employees don’t know whether they have updated information for orders. They are confused and stressed and work becomes more and more difficult. When you use manufacturing software such problems simply cease to exist: everything is updated, clear and sure. Tasks are visible on the production schedule, with the name of the worker assigned. There are technical drawings and important documents attached to products. When the employee follows precisely the production procedure and exact guidelines (they might contain a mistake made by the boss), he is not responsible for the eventual mistake and cannot be blamed for it. Workers are not responsible for their bosses’ mistakes.We can develop
In many small “garage” companies hiring up to 15 people, along with Prodio software implementation changes the employees’ attitude. People start to be proud of their manufacturing company and value modernisation. It is natural to compare, so frequently their small firm in comparison with a larger business next door seemed provincial: paper orders, always unhappy and screaming boss whereas neighboring firms enjoyed paperless and computerized production. That’s why changes are good: they show that the company is moving with the times. It is not often said loud, but employees are happy to work when their manufacturing company develops, values progress and they are proud to be a part of this growth (we have key-fobs to check in/out, we use bar codes, we are modern).We work faster
Manufacturing production software makes work faster. Many employees admitted that starting an activity equals one click at the screen and key fob check in, similarly the end of operation means entering the number of pieces made, clicking and checking out. This speeds things up compared to writing down orders in the paper notebook and asking the boss what has to be done next.We get a bonus
Simple production managing system provides basis for applying for a pay rise. It is transparent how many hours were spent on production tasks, how many pieces were made and what is the norm.Layoffs and quitting
Will your employees quit? It is one of the biggest fears mentioned at the beginning of this article. Unfortunately there isn’t a guarantee that they won’t hand in the notice. It did happen that after implementing manufacturing production software some of key workers quit. What is interesting, in the following months it became clear that usually resigned people who:- Firstly had something to hide. In one of the companies where Prodio was introduced, practically the whole night shift was extorting norms and cheating the boss, doing things “off the books” while he wasn’t watching. The production manager turned the blind eye for the whole practice. After Prodio system was introduced potboiling became visible, hence the resignation of staff. At the moment the company employs 9 people (compared with 21 workers hired earlier), who manage to do the same job brilliantly, and the owner cannot thank enough Prodio’s efficiency.
- Secondly, people who were the strongest opponents of changes, pointing out inefficiency of manufacturing production software, are the ones who are the weakest according to Prodio’s statistics. These are employees with the most unproductive hours, hanging around and doing nothing instead of working on machines. The wanted to have a safe and secure job post putting in minimal effort. That’s why they quit, when someone actually requires them to do something.
- Another group who might quit are “the grumpy people”. They are constantly whining and complaining. Nothing can make them happy and the glass is almost always half empty.They are toxic and can stirring up others, influence negatively the whole team and impede progress. Even if there are specialists among them they are the enemies of progress and you can only benefit from getting rid of them. There is no point in crying after them.
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Marek Mrowiec 
Marek Mrowiec 
Marek Mrowiec