By Gregory A. Farley

During the APICS Conference last October, David Greenfield (editor of APICS—The Performance Advantage) and I were treated to an eye-opening roundtable discussion. A handful of manufacturing professionals — academics, software vendors, consultants and practitioners — gathered at 7 a.m. to discuss issues in implementing manufacturing management software solutions. That discussion will be excerpted in this magazine next month.

The interesting thing is that the discussion never got around to implementation. In fact, it barely got to selection. These bright, lucid and energetic professionals discussed for nearly two hours the fact that many prospective users lack the fundamental knowledge of manufacturing required to assess their information system needs. The bottom line, according to the roundtable participants, is that the power of today's manufacturing software solutions outstrips the abilities of their potential users. In a nutshell, how can these manufacturing professionals expect to solve their problems with software where they can't see that a problem exists? How do you define a solution when you can't define a problem?


Doing more with less
And that is why technology makes me feel so dumb. The more I learn about what technology can do for me, the more I realize that I don't know how to apply it to its greatest advantage. Technology promises to solve problems that I didn't even know existed. Part of that dichotomy arises from the fact that we expect computers to make us more productive by allowing us to perform more (and more varied) functions than had previously been possible.

My own experience in the field that I know best — magazines — illustrates the concept. In my first professional job, as an assistant editor on a regional office products magazine, I wrote departments and edited press releases. My typewritten copy was handed over to senior editors and designers, who marked it up, specified column widths and type specifications, and delivered it to a typesetter. I'd proofread a photocopy of typeset galleys (long strips of type) and return them. The designers would cut up the galleys, run them through a waxer, and then stick them to a layout board. The boards would then be delivered to a printer where they were photographically converted to film, then printed.

In my last magazine position, as editor of APICS—The Performance Advantage, I did most of those jobs on my desktop computer. Editors today (in smaller publishing companies, at least) have to know design basics. They should have some handle on composition, proportion and color and know the fundamentals of magazine layout. They should know the basics of typography and image editing. Today, one editor with one powerful desktop computer can do the work that used to require an entire staff. Of course that editor probably spends less time editing and more time doing the ancillary chores that used to be done by others. And the editor has to master the software that makes the job easier, too. So we're being asked (and expected) to do more with less, and we are. And certainly in many cases we're doing it all less well.


More resources, fewer managers
And the same thing is happening within the realm of resource management, too. More and more of you are being asked to satisfy more demanding customers with better products in a shorter time frame, and adherence to deadlines is crucial to success. It's a crazy world where production professionals are being asked to wear hats once reserved for the marketing specialists, the human resource professionals, the purchasing managers. Those of you who remain in your downsized and reengineered companies know that learning the basics in these areas takes time and brain cells.

I'm guessing that some of the efficiency we've gained from computer technology has left many of you feeling dumb, too. Or harried and distracted, at least.

Trust me. I feel your pain.


The silver lining
We're fortunate, in some aspects, to be living and working in this slice of the "information age." What we do now to master (or thoughtfully manage) the myriad new duties we face will help to shape the dissemination of information and the delegation of responsibilities that will characterize industry in the future. We're the test subjects. How we react under pressure will help technologists and think-tank types determine new educational concepts and teaching and learning processes.

Software vendors, too, are watching us closely, and working to make our jobs easier by building more industry-specific knowledge and best practice templates into their systems.

Frankly, I believe we're coping well with the new responsibilities. We've siezed upon the World Wide Web as a source for all the information we might ever need about any subject, and we're beginning to focus on using it as a tool for making our working lives easier, as a tool for communication, a conduit for marketing and product information, and even as a recreational pastime.

So why does technology make me feel so dumb? Because I let it. And technology can make me feel smart, too.

Copyright © 2020 by APICS — The Educational Society for Resource Management. All rights reserved.

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