Report Reveals Conflicting Opinions on Manufacturing’s Biggest Barrier to Improvement

CINCINNATI, Ohio ― December 3, 2008 -

What’s stopping build-to-order and engineer-to-order manufacturers from improving their customization process? It depends on who you ask. IT considers barriers to customization to be an engineering problem (configuration errors); Sales considers the barriers to be an IT problem (inadequate and delayed documentation); and Engineering views the barriers as a Sales problem (customers not receiving enough information).

 

This is according to three separate 2008 research reports by software maker Cincom Systems (www.cincom.com/acquire) that delved into the state of mass customization and build-to-order practices based on surveys with IT managers, sales managers, and engineering staff at manufacturers of complex industrial, electrical, and transportation equipment and systems.

 

IT: Quality needs improvement

Of the IT managers surveyed, around 40% said configuration errors, inadequate documentation, and the customer lacking knowledge of options were the largest risk to increased customization at their companies.

 

“These issues relate to the industry’s continued reliance on manual methods for opportunity management and technical documentation,” writes Jim Wilson, Cincom Program Director and author of the report. Almost 75% of the companies surveyed said their product configuration and proposal generation were only partially automated or still done manually.

 

Engineers: Knowledge Management an issue

Engineers cite lack of knowledge of options by the customer (67 percent) and the field (44 percent) as the primary barrier to product customization efforts.

 

According to the surveys, the primary barrier to customization is the effective transfer of knowledge from the back office to the front office. Of the surveyed respondents, 43 percent indicated that inadequate systems are also a barrier to customization.

 

Sales: Industry leaders lack the customization struggles felt by others

Sales managers who considered their companies to be industry leaders or very competitive in terms of marketing and selling customized products were about half as likely as other respondents to perceive the ‘customer/buyer lacks knowledge of options’ and ‘products are too complex for the field to sell’ as barriers to their customization efforts. But for other companies, these two factors were considerable stumbling blocks.

 

“This finding further supports the premise that empowering the customer/buyer with knowledge of options and the sales force with systems that make it easier to sell results in industry leadership for the company making these concrete steps in the direction of customization,” writes Wilson.

 

About Cincom Systems

For 40 years, Cincom's problem-solving software, services, and people have helped thousands of companies all over the world grow and manage their businesses. For more information about Cincom's products and services, contact Cincom at 1-800-2CINCOM (USA only), send an e-mail to info@cincom.com, or visit the company's website at www.cincom.com.