I’ve spent many years on a factory floor – and that’s where I returned as I struck out as an entrepreneur of a tech startup.
My business is SQCDP.co.uk and we have built an app and software platform that allows manufacturers to remove problem paperwork from their factory areas. An alternative to hardware-based smart factory solutions, which can be expensive, it connects teams rather than machines.
I had the idea when I was working at a defence company as maintenance manager. I began to go to Costa Coffee at 6am on my way down the A1 to work every day: I’d be the first one there when the doors opened, and get an hour in on the platform before my shift.
I’d never used a low-code builder before so it was very much trial and error. I’d be in my little Costa booth, getting it closer and closer… then the point came when I knew I had enough to show it to someone else and gain my first validation. I had to get it out there and let someone on the production line give it a try.
I could demonstrate that when you updated information within the app, it would come up on the connected dashboard. So far, so good. But how did the production operators need it to look? Should the display be a dropdown list, or something else?
To gain the validation I needed, I had to tell myself: ‘I’m no longer going to listen to my internal voice; I’m going to find out from the real people that will use it what matters to them.’ Only then would I be able to deploy it.
I had to put aside any attachment to the platform looking a particular way. If it works for a team leader and makes it easier for them to replace the paperwork and update dashboards, then we are answering the problem they face.
As we began to work with customers, the validation point meant getting down and dirty with the tech. I’d talk to electricians and fitters and say: ‘It doesn’t matter what the fix is – I only care that we find what works then execute it.’
After a time, the learning can become one-way and move more into consultancy, where you are providing the information and real insight. When that happens, you have to taper off your time on the factory floor – or your equivalent – or charge for it, understanding that your time then has a real value.
However, the validation of ‘new stuff’ will never stop for us… but I do think it’ll still develop over time. As we employ more staff, we’ll want them to have that ‘down and dirty’ factory experience. We’ll need them to sit with the operators and learn what they’re using to truly understand the product. That’s got to be part of our culture and our learning experience.
When it comes down to it, if you’re making a product like ours, you need to get on-site and understand how it applies in the real-world environment.
This would be my advice to any techies who are building their own new stuff: you have to get it out there and see how users use it to solve real problems.
Otherwise, you’ll never truly understand and deliver what the customer wants.