Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1539960
22 SMT007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2025 tion and ease of use of these applications—and their positive impact on daily efficiency—have also opened up our industry to the advantages of being more soft- ware-driven. Those are internal drivers. An external driver might be acquiring new con- tracts from customers with more stringent data vis- ibility and access requirements than before. Now, growing and maintaining revenue is tied to data systems. It's no longer sufficient to deliver a fin- ished product and say that the customer's require- ments were met. They now want a record of what actually transpired during the assembly process. What is the consequence of deciding to delay implementation? Bluntly, you're missing out on a window of oppor- tunity. North American electronics manufactur- ers have been experiencing a bit of a slowdown recently. The general agreement is that it's tempo- rary, making now the time to implement software tools to ensure improved productivity and efficien- cies for when things pick up again. It's harder to upgrade when the pace on the floor is breakneck. Your competition is likely already doing it. Small- to mid-sized electronics manufacturers are mod- ernizing their software tools. You don't want to lose a potential new customer because you haven't pri- oritized modernizing your production operations. Assuming a company is ready to take action, how does Cogiscan know a customer is ready to inte- grate? What critical prerequisites must be in place before start- ing a successful customer implementation? At minimum, leader- ship needs to com- mit to this as some- thing the organi- zation wants and needs to do. We want a level of con- sensus and maturity from the team: We need to improve our operations and do more with what we have. Are our machines performing effi- ciently? Are we getting the most out of our invest- ment? What needs to change to improve, and how can we measure that we've improved? This sounds a lot like the stories about W. Edwards Deming and continuous improvement. He wouldn't teach his course unless he had that level of commitment in the C suite. He started with the CEO. As a manager, without data, there's no way to know what's happening. Management must be commit- ted to getting those tools and providing that type of visibility. A huge part of being ready is a cultural shift and a commitment from leadership. We've found that the success of a project has a lot to do with the willingness of the customer to dedicate the right resources to it. Are there any automatic red flags regarding their level of preparation? These projects require full collaboration from the customer and the software partner; it's a true part- nership endeavor. We've found that the success of a project has a lot to do with the willingness of the customer to dedicate the right resources to it. Your software partner should have a clear list of prereq- uisites and requirements to ensure you're prepared for the installation. If you have questions about how to meet these requirements, ask the partner. They should have the recommendations and resources to help you get what you need, whether that's a dedicated server or required machine ports that need to be opened. Be upfront about internal constraints, provide help deploying the system, dedicate people to learning it, and promptly communicate issues if they arise. Lastly, a clear commitment to following up on the suggested remedies can make or break solving unexpected issues. Smaller EMS companies with limited program- ming resources have shared that programming the integration modules is the scariest part, aside from picking the right system. How do you address that concern? Is there such a thing as a company too small? There's a solution for almost everyone. Smaller companies should look for a turnkey partner that Dav ina McD onnell