Note: A version of this article appeared in the November, 1998 issue of Automatic ID News magazine.

A tip is something that someone else knows..... and that you would like to know because it would help you. There may be a million tips to adopting a technology, but these seven are the ones that you really want to know about.

Vision. If people are going to use AIDC or any other technology to improve things they must be able to make others "see" their dream. Since each person has his or her own set of problems, each hears a little different story when anything is explained. Using AIDC to improve systems, processes or activities is going to have to be explained and it is important to get everyone "singing off the same sheet of music." Develop a clear vision that can be expressed in terms that are meaningful to people who think in terms of corporate direction, financial impact and operational benefits.

Empowerment. You’ve probably come across the old gem, "We never have time to do it right but we always have time to do it over." Put another way, "We didn’t have time to figure out how the thing really worked but now that we have it, we’ll figure out how to use it." This may seem humorous but companies have millions of dollars and even lost good employees because they didn’t build learning into the budget. Time must be set aside for people to learn -- and not just in classes or on the internet. The people who will develop and use the technology need to be given the authority (power) with time (and budget) to experience AIDC benefits and learn about its capabilities.

Improve Through Understanding. It is unbelievable how many people start AIDC projects saying, "Fred’s company is like ours and he is using bar code so lets get on with it". (Two years later it still isn’t done and Fred now has 20% more market share). Another one we hear all the time is the exact opposite: "I know a lot of companies use bar code, but we are different. It will not work here." The reality is that in both situations what is really being said is, "I don’t know what or even if it will improve my operation and I’m not going to take the time to find out." The right way to do it is to look for improvements only after you explore and understand the flow of paperwork, information, and material within your company as well as your supply chain.

Master Change and Implementation. It was a prophetic manager indeed who said, "Manage the company? All I seem to manage around here is change". Change is a huge part of our daily lives and certainly if a company intends to use AIDC there will be change. But many systems fail or take a long time to install because those involved don’t understand the elements necessary to cause and support change. Furthermore, they don’t know the steps in the process of implementation from concept through start-up.

Determine True Requirements. The truth about system requirements may have as much to do with the personality of a company and its legacy systems as it does with system definition. People need to look at all the functionality that a new system can provide and then honestly ask, "Are we really capable of doing what it will take to implement it?" This is not a "cop out". Determine your true requirements, not what the salesperson said or what your business associates say, but what your company needs and can realistically implement.

Uncover the Top 10 Mistakes. Someone once said, "If we are not students of history, we are doomed to the fait of our ancestors". While it is true that every implementation is different and NEW, it is also true that many of the components and concepts are not. A new endeavor deserves the question, "What can go wrong?" but what is even more important "And what can we do to avoid it?". Through conversation and reflection, list the top 10 mistakes in defining, designing, implementing and using the technology. And then see which will, or might, apply to your situation.

Asses Skills. Implementing an AIDC system requires certain skills. Some companies mistakenly believe that they have them "in house" while others mistakenly believe that they can buy support on the outside. To know what is really needed, a company must identify the skills necessary for a given implementation and then determine what they need to do to address them. Companies need to identify the skills necessary to define, design, start-up and run the system using the new technology. Then critically asses its internal resources and the resources that can be hired or bought to provide the skills that have been identified.

There are only 7 of them. We hope that you will be able to use them to ensure your success. Comments and questions can be directed to Rick Bushnell, rickb@quadii.com .