The Go Live Fast Era

After watching software implementations in manufacturing environments for decades, it became easy for me to identify red flags long before the project went off the rails. These five issues popped up at the beginning of a project and almost always spelled out a disappointing end:

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  1. Big bang scope: Entire sites, or even networks of sites, are meant to go live in one shot, with an end-to-end solution that covers every process and department. Every user has to be trained, every scenario designed, and every edge case handled before anything can go live. That is extremely risky and almost always slow.

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  2. Tied to ERP timelines: Manufacturing systems are often forced to follow ERP. The rule is simple: MES or manufacturing platforms go live when ERP goes live. ERP projects are large and naturally slow. If your production system is chained to that timeline, you have accepted months or years of delay before operators see any benefit.

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  3. Data migration perfectionism: Key master data is essential. But many projects try to migrate every piece of historical data from every legacy system before day one. Teams spend months debating what to bring over and how clean it must be. In reality, you need solid master data and some active as-built history - not every record ever created.

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  4. Heavy integrations up front: Integration with ERP, PLM, and other systems matters. Insisting that every integration be fully automated before anyone can use the new system adds months of design, development, and testing. While interfaces are being built, the shop floor is still waiting.

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  5. On prem infrastructure bottlenecks: Traditional projects often start by ordering hardware, preparing data centers, and waiting for internal approvals. Until that is finished, there is no realistic environment to work in. That physical dependency alone can add weeks or months.

Since the biggest issues show up at the start, it goes to say that a different approach is needed at the planning stage.

For so long I would hear, "How do we turn everything on at once?"

This question inherently makes the process cumbersome. Instead, it's better to shift the central question to, "What do we actually need to start running real work?"

Here are some more questions that speed up execution:

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  Can we get the system up and running standalone for the first phase, without external integration?

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  Do we really need automated integration up front, or can we bridge manually while we prove value?

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  What is the bare minimum for data migration. Which master data and what scope of as-built history do we need to operate?

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  Can we go live earlier than ERP if both projects are in motion at the same time?

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  Do we need the entire factory, warehouse, or all sites to go live together - or can we start in one area and expand?

Leaders who answer these questions honestly unlock a new timeline. Go live in days is a possibility, not just wishful thinking.

The Go Live Fast Era is built on five principles:

• 1. SaaS based environments: We no longer need to wait for hardware procurement and installation. Secure environments can be spun up in a day or so while master data and initial configuration are prepared. A major physical blocker disappears.

• 2. Targeted, industry focused solution: Manufacturo is built from real experience in high complexity manufacturing, not as a blank framework. Once organization structure and part master are loaded, teams can start defining process plans in days and move quickly toward releasing work orders on the floor.

• 3. Modular, configuration driven architecture: You do not have to switch on the entire solution before go live. Many customers start with production and quality, then add warehouse, MRP, and other modules as they grow. Feature flags and configuration parameters let us keep the first scope tight and focused.

• 4. Soft go live and selective rollout: Instead of a single cutover for an entire site, we pick an initial area - a cell, line, program, or product family - and go live there first. Once that area is stable and teams are confident, we roll out to others in a controlled way.

• 5. Fast master data setup: For the first go live, we focus on the data that operators actually need: org structure, part master, process plans, and the recent history needed to run the selected scope. Bulk historical migration becomes a later decision, not a day one blocker.

Intentionality is key here. These principles are based on the collective experience of our executive team, involved in pushing countless platforms live in manufacturing environments. They are applied deliberately with each customer. So they can deploy fast while maintaining control.