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Owners and operators of retail warehouses, distribution centers, fulfillment operations, and parcel handling facilities are increasingly leveraging external resources for automated system design and implementation. Many are choosing to work with a system integrator partner, either for the first time, or for the first time in a long time. Yet not every collaboration is destined for success. Whether you’re new to the system integrator approach or hoping to avoid a repeat of past negative experiences, here’s DCS’ list of secrets to successful integrator partnerships.
Nearly 70% of all customer/integrator partnership failures can be attributed to misaligned motivations. Often this is due to a lack of definition of—and therefore agreement on—the desired outcome. To create the foundation of a mutually beneficial relationship, both your company and the integrator must reach a shared understanding of the project’s goals, existing supplier partners, business principles, and past experiences.
The ideal way to do this is through in-person, face-to-face meetings. In addition to gathering the necessary details about the project’s objectives, it also allows for a better assessment of chemistry on both sides. These discovery interviews provide an opportunity to gain a more in-depth understanding of capabilities and learn from each other’s experiences.
In-person conversation can also prove exceptionally illuminating about motivations. Particularly if the two sides engage in a whiteboard discussion to verify that the objectives of each align. The optimal match is one in which the company has clearly outlined its goals for the project—such as delivering better customer service, improving fulfillment accuracy, or reducing out-of-stocks—and expectations for its service provider. On the integrator side, the project should be energizing for its team, competitively profitable, and referenceable for future business expansion.
It’s also smart to invest in some due diligence into the integrator’s references, experience, capabilities, and objectives for their business within the next three to five years. Are they growing haphazardly or following a consistent trajectory? Do they continually develop their people? What are their retention rates? The answers to these questions help identify a system integrator partner who is invested in its customers’ success over a long-term relationship—because doing so creates a win-win opportunity for both sides. They can also help identify alignment between both organizations’ cultures.
The most successful relationships—personal and professional—are rooted in trust. One of the most effective ways to build trust at the outset of a partnership with a system integrator is through transparency. Be clear and concise up front about motivations and expectations.
How? Via proactive communications.
Specifically, it’s critical to work together early on in the project cycle to identify a project team and each individual’s roles and responsibilities. This is also the time to establish a framework for how to handle situations and issues as they arise. Automation system design and implementations are complex endeavors. It’s highly likely that the unexpected will occur at some point (or at multiple points) during the project. However, if the two sides agree beforehand about how to handle those challenges, it creates a strong foundation for trust.
The progression of a project provides more opportunities to further build trust between company and system integrator partner. This is usually borne out by demonstrating reliability—that is, a high “say:do” ratio—wherein both sides follow through on their responsibilities. Being reliable validates both capabilities and commitment to project success.
Another factor in reliability is both sides’ willingness to be honest. Bad news doesn’t improve with age. Yet if both are committed to the success of the project and of each other, both must be willing to call a timeout, recalibrate, and reset a process together.
The old adage “you can’t manage what you can’t measure” applies just as much to an automated system design and integration project as it does to the various processes and equipment deployed within a facility. To further ensure a win-win in a customer/integrator relationship, it’s important to measure a project’s progress, development, and outcomes.
Work together to establish criteria and track associated key performance indicators (KPIs). Throughout the design and implementation process these might include deadlines, milestones, and budget goals. Post-commissioning, you might track throughput, accuracy, productivity, or associate adoption rates. Consider your company’s culture and objectives for the project, and develop a KPI that incentivizes and rewards your system integration partner for the deployment’s success.
If you’d like to learn more tips for partnering successfully with your automation system integrator, I recently discussed this topic on an episode of DCS’ Podcast: On Time In Full. Or the DCS team would be happy to share more about our approach to collaborating with customers to ensure smooth, effective implementations of their automated systems. Connect with us for more insights.
AUTHOR:
Jeremy Davidson
Vice President, Distribution and Fulfillment
jeremy@designedconveyor.com
