Is software the solution for improving efficiency in engineering?

Trying to think about how to make your engineering organisation more efficient can be a truly daunting prospect. The complexities, the unknowns, the silos, the number of potential solutions. The size of the job is enough to put many businesses off even trying. 

But it’s important that you push forward. Why? Because in the engineering sector, efficiency is often the key to success. 

From R&D to production and distribution — efficiency is paramount to better service, lower costs and even a happier workforce.  

Efficiency could be the difference between sinking or swimming in tempestuous economic seas. 

So, the question is, where to begin? 

The answer is software. 

Use custom software as the foundation of your digital transformation, and you’ll find that your road to better efficiency becomes much more clear. And in this blog post, we’re going to lay out a bit of what that might look like and how it can be done. 

Real-Time Decision Making 

Introduce a bespoke software solution that allows individuals to update critical information as needed. This way, other team members can, at any time, learn what has been completed on a project, and what still needs to be done. This can drastically reduce wasted time and increase efficiency between teams and departments. 

Analysing Performance

This is particularly pertinent for an engineering business, especially if you’re involved with the Internet of Things or Industry 4.0. Today software can be connected to almost anything, giving you the ability to analyse the performance of much of your business operations. If you can count, weigh or measure it, then you can analyze it and use that data to make better decisions.     

A single source of truth

Trying to gather data from multiple touchpoints just to complete a simple task can be supremely frustrating. Multiply this a few times a day over a period of weeks and years and it becomes a real drain on resources. And for engineering companies it’s important to consider that a lack of accuracy resulting from confusion with data can often end up resulting in a lack of accuracy in end products and services. The solution is to create a single source of truth for your data — a custom software program that gathers data from multiple sources and makes it easily accessible in one place. 

Simplifying Communication 

The more complex your organisation, the more important communication becomes. And engineering companies are often complex, with lots of data, systems and people. If you centralise information within your business, communication inherently improves. On top of this, using bespoke software to allow different elements of your business to communicate more clearly can have a dramatic effect on efficiency and make your staff and customers happier.  

Automating Manual Tasks

In the world of engineering, automation is nothing new. But with software, you can take automation to parts of your business that you may not have considered —  manual tasks that take up employee time but don't require a specialised skillset. By freeing up person-hours you can improve productivity and find the time to focus on other elements of your business. 

Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff

Sending basic emails, answering simple questions and even creating to-do lists — these are all tasks that can be automated using smart software. Remove these distractions from your work-flows and your people will not only be more efficient, they will also be happier.

Assisted Decision-Making

In engineering, the ability to make better, more informed decisions can’t be understated. It could be the difference between success and catastrophic failure. So wouldn’t it be nice to have your decision making augmented? A unique software solution that aids in the collecting and analysis of relevant data in a way that produces actionable insights would make the decision-making process much easier. Custom software may take care of the heavy work for you, allowing you to focus on the decisions you were hired to make with accurate, actionable data at your fingertips.

Is that everything that software can do for engineering firms?

No! This list is just a place to start. Here at Newicon we start every project with our “Architecture Phase”. This is a series of design sprints aimed at getting a deep understanding of your business and its needs, then designing out software solutions to meet your unique challenges. 

We often say that the hard part isn’t creating the solution, it’s defining the true problem. Once we have an important challenge to tackle, developing a solution is relatively straightforward. 

If you’re interested in starting the journey towards digital transformation and optimising efficiency within your organisation, then book a call with me today. I’m always happy to have a no-obligation chat about ways that software can improve your organisation.