Growing your business or bringing your next solution to market is no small task! Deadlines can loom large in the mind of any discerning technology leader, along with managing costs and growing revenue. That’s why, when you launch or scale your solution, you can’t afford to cut corners or be inefficient. Often, it’s not just going live that’s important, but also the many actions and milestones to get there. Did your team use its resources of time, personnel, and budget as effectively as possible?
There are many ways to partner to fill gaps and assist with workloads. The question is when it comes to maximizing your efficiency, who stands to help you the most? Consider your organization’s three most precious resources: time, money, and personnel. Below, we examine each of these commodities in detail, looking at how they can drain your efficiency and how the right system integration partner can restore it.
Time
Time is the one resource you can’t recover. One of the easiest ways time is lost is through inconsistency. Ensuring that requirements are captured and documented, workflow processes are created, and systems are in place to ensure that each step of the manufacturing process aligns with exact build requirements are key to consistency. Without this methodical and controlled process, it’s not only challenging to meet customer expectations but also to scale. As a result, it’s challenging to plan, and that in itself may lead to delays. The best system integrators adhere to both industry and internal standards to ensure consistency and predictable output.
In addition, like all things, relationships matter. How deep and broad their relationships are with leading technology providers ensures quick access to engineering to manage any needed customizations as well as things like supply chain to ensure availability of components. Time is often lost making the right connections and getting to the right contacts that can help move each project to the next step. Ensuring deep relationships with industry leaders will streamline design and procurement processes, while quality standards will save valuable time and reducing risk downstream.
Then, once your solution is tested and ready to launch, you need to be able to get your solution in the hands of your customers without delay. This requires expertise in logistics and trade compliance, as well as inventory in the right places to serve your market. Look for a systems integrator that can help you map out an inventory strategy and comply with international regulations and paperwork.
Money
As the saying goes, time is money, and therefore the wasting time is followed closely by wasting money. While manufacturing standards are essential in saving you time, they also play an indispensable role with money. It goes hand-in-hand. Often best manufacturing practices lead to less wasted resources. And not to mention, predictable, repeatable processes are usually budget-friendly.
Staying on budget starts in the design phase. There is significant value in managing performance and cost to deliver right-sized solutions to meet market demand. You certainly don’t want to pay for hardware or storage that you don’t need. Instead, you need platforms that fit your current needs and can scale for growth.
Also, consider how proper inventory and logistics management apply to your bottom line. Once those initial orders start rolling in, the last thing you want to happen is low customer satisfaction due to missed shipments or costly delays. Building to stock inventory helps meet SLAs and ensures quick order fulfillment.
Depending on the distribution of your customers, choosing a partner with a larger global footprint offers flexibility and cost savings. Often, building in multiple locations ensures that you can quickly meet domestic and international demands while also reducing costs and time. In addition, having a solid front-end regulatory and back-end trade compliance team also ensures that product is fit to ship to anywhere you do business and meet specific country compliance requirements. Finally, once your systems are deployed, consider having a strong support network with Forward Stocking Locations (FSLs) to ensure components and solutions are in-country, minimizing costly delays when it matters the most.
Also, if your sales model relies heavily on demonstration or evaluation equipment, it’s crucial to have a system in place to manage inventory. Expect from your systems integrator the capability of handling this as well. Managing this correctly saves considerable money by reworking inventory and planning appropriately.
People
Last but certainly not least is your staff. You’ve undoubtedly worked hard to find and train your personnel, so you know how precious of a commodity they are. Do you want their time, or yours, spent on non-core functions? Their talents are best spent creating innovative technology, evangelizing it to the marketplace, and securing market share. Non-core functions are best handled by skilled staff specializing in those areas that can flex and scale with your business. The best systems integrators fill skill gaps seamlessly so your people can get back to doing the jobs they know and do best.
Empower Your Organization to be More Efficient
Most leaders are always looking to save time, money, and human capital. The question is, do you have a strategic system integration partner in place to make it happen?
