BY SUSAN K. LACEFIELD, EDITOR AT LARGE
SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
IF YOU’VE BEEN AROUND THE INDUSTRY FOR A
while, you’ve probably heard (or perhaps lived through)
a retrofit horror story or two. Maybe a legacy warehouse
management system (WMS) had trouble “talking” to a
new piece of equipment. Or maybe existing equipment was
damaged during the process of “cutting in” to make room
for the new. Or maybe no one paid enough attention to
how all the pieces of automated equipment would work
together as a single system.
How can you avoid having your own retrofit project end
up like a bad dream? We asked several industry experts for
their advice. What follows are their tips on how to make
your systems integration project run smoothly.
1Start with a deep dive into your own operations. Before you even begin to think about the solution, be clear
about the specific business problem you’re trying to solve.
It’s not unusual for companies to go about things back-
ward, according to Jay Moris, chief marketing officer at
systems integrator Invata. “I think some people get very
enamored with the bright and shiny automation that looks
cool and high-tech,” he says. “Then they try to find ways
to fit their business into that shiny, pretty box, and it just
doesn’t work.”
It’s also important to collect good order and inventory
data and develop solid growth projections, according to
Mark Steinkamp, director of solutions development for
technologyreview
Integrating new equipment into
an existing operation can be a
challenging and frustrating endeavor.
Here are seven tips for keeping your
project from turning into a nightmare.
How to avoid a
retrofit horror story
