Tom Dawes, CEO of Valuechain, explains how real-time data creates continuous improvement and help businesses redeploy staff to more value adding activities
Data on its own won’t add value, but with the right systems and processes in place, it can create real capacity for improvement and change.
That’s the verdict of Tom Dawes, CEO of Valuechain, a manufacturing software company which specialised in embedding industrial best practice in the supply chain.
Dawes explained: “We help companies connect people, plant and processes. So capturing real time data to make real informed decisions, getting the right data to the right people at the right time. Whether that’s in the four walls of your factory or in extended supply chains, access to real time accurate data is key.”
“Data on its own doesn’t add any value”
But Dawes warned that simply collective facts and figures would not add any value to aerospace businesses. “Data on its own doesn’t add any value,” he said.
He added: “If you are not extracting value from that data by making informed decisions to improve your business it is just a waste of effort and a waste of expense”
Dawes said that lessons learned and lessons logged were “absolutely critical in aerospace” with data insight helping companies with risk management and real time continuous improvement.
“The first steps for any aerospace company is to capture your ‘as is’,” said Dawes. “Understand where your you are as a business. Understand where business processes are and where you capture your data from. If you have got very fragmented business processes, very fragmented systems, lots of manual data manipulation, that’s going to be a very good starting point.”
Automated processes create capacity for change
Replacing manual data processes with automated system can result in redeployment of staff to solving other business challenges. “If you can address that, you can create some capacity for change. If you create capacity for change, then you can invest that time and effort into more value adding activities.”
“It’s about streamlining and connecting your systems and processes, redeploying people to more value adding activities.”
