Page 11 - Demo

SlIppery rock GazeTTe January 2023|11
Training & Education
Scoring: Lowest - 1,3,5,7,9 - Highest
Factors Weighting
No consumables 9 Accuracy at 20 ft 5 Accuracy in dusty conditions 9 Dedicated class training available 9 Remote US based support available 7 Speed at which spare parts can be received 7 Purchase price 9 Delivery time 9 Spare parts 9 Maintanance costs 5 Maintenance frequency 5 Completeness of online training resources 9 Time to master 3 Output formats available (dxf, etc) 9 3D solution capability 7 Built in library of sink files 9 Weight 7 Overall size 7 Battery life/requirements 9 Setuptime 3 Average time to complete template 9
Does not use consumable supplies like targets Higher score for greater accuracy
High quality is a high score
Higher score for greater frequency
Higher score for US support
Shorter speed is a higher score
Higher score for lower price
Higher score for shorter delivery time
Higher score for greater days of spare parts on hand at nearest US office Low maintenance cost is higher score
low frequency is higher score
More extensive resources is a higher score Shorter time is a higher score
Having the desired output format is a higher score Higher score for 3D capability
Higher score for more files
Higher score for lower wieght
Higher score for smaller siz e
Higher score for long battery life
Higher score for shorter set up time
Higher score for shorter time
Higher score for no file clean up needed
Digital Templating Solution Comparison Matrix
Brand A Brand B Brand C
9
3
9
5
9
9
3
9
5
7
9
5
9
9
3
5
9
3
5
3
9
7
1
3
9
5
3
7
7
5
7
7
3
3
5
3
5
7
7
3
5
3
3
7
1
5
5
1
7
3
5
7
7
5
3
7
3
7
7
5
1
3
7
5
5
1
File clean up required
8
Total 750 856 554 0
Decisions, Decisions
One of the great things about this industry is that there are so many machine and technology and
software and service solutions to help a shop owner improve their business. The challenging aspect is there are so many of these choices and the number of options has increased in a relatively short time. Trying to sort through all these options can be overwhelming.
With so many choices, how is a fab shop owner supposed to make the right decision for their business?
One option is to get opinions from others. For example, if you are trying to decide which digital templating system to buy, you could ask for input from a Facebook group. Unfortunately, you will get almost as many opinions as there are members of the group. If you survey fellow members of an industry association you belong to, you may or may not get more thoughtful answers. However, some of those folks might allow you to come visit their shop to see how they use the equipment. They might even let you talk to their templat- er(s). That can be helpful.
One of the challenges with this approach is understanding the context of the infor- mation you are gathering. How much research did the other owner do before selecting their template device? What cri- teria were critical to their decision? Are they more focused on supporting multifam- ily commercial work or do they do mostly high-end custom homes? What volume of templates do they complete each day? How is that impacted by the geographic spread of a templater? What requirements does he/she have for the completeness and for- mat of the output file? How do all these factors fit with your business needs?
In making a decision like this, ask- ing the right questions while minimizing the impact of any personal pre-conceived notions can be a challenge. Plus, there can be a lot of factors that need to be included in your evaluation. How do you organize and track all this data so you can make the best decision for your business?
One tool that can help is a Decision Matrix.
To help you work through this exam- ple. You can download a copy of the tool
Ed Young
Fabricator’s Business Coach
With so many options,
how am I supposed to make the right decision?
at fabricatorscoach.com/free-helpful- tools/ . This sample has some fictitious data loaded to help you understand how to use the tool. It also tracks with the exam- ple in this article.
The first step is to define the factors that are important to you. This is where talking to other users can be helpful. What crite- ria did they assess and why? What features were important to them? Now that they have used the tool for a while, what fea- tures do they like the best? What features do they not use? What would they like the manufacturer to change about the tool and the software?
As you ask these questions, it is critical to understand why each answer is import- ant to that individual. Owners have differ- ent criteria than templaters and CAD folks. Also understanding the business factors that drive those assessments is important. What is important to your high-end cus- tom home builder business may not be as important to a business focused on multi- family commercial work.
The next step is to apply a weight to each of the factors you listed. How important is purchase price vs training time? How would you rank the types of file formats available vs the level of US based support? All factors should not be weighted equally. Your weighting will be different from that of another fabricator.
Using a scale of 1 to 9 and only using the odd numbers will help separate the options
when you go to add up the scores. As you apply weights, remember the old saying: “If everything is critical, then nothing is really critical.”
Once you have applied the weights to your factors, review each and compare them to each other. Taking the time to review these weights will improve the overall quality of your analysis – and the resulting decision.
Documenting what constitutes a higher score vs a lower score for each factor is crit- ical to ensuring the rankings are all scored similarly. If someone thinks low price is a low score and someone else thinks low price is a high score, you will have confu- sion when it comes time to evaluate each provider. Take time to define and docu- ment the rankings.
Third, gather as much information as possible on each of the providers you are considering. Using the same 1 to 9 rat- ing scale, evaluate each of the providers on the factors you identified. It can be help- ful to have some of your staff involved in the evaluation process. Getting differ- ent perspectives on how Brand A stacks up against Brand B will help improve the quality of your ratings. It also generates a lot of buy-in for the eventual final decision. If your employees participate in the deci- sion, they are much more likely to make sure the system works once you purchase it.
This next step is where the spreadsheet earns its keep. To get a total score for each provider, you multiply the weighting for each factor against the score for that factor. This tells you how each provider scored on each factor. You then add up all these cal- culations to get a total for each provider. If you have 20 factors, then you have 20
calculations to make and then total up. A spreadsheet can make short work of all that math.
Once you have done all this work, you may be tempted to simply choose the option with the highest score. While not a bad choice, I recommend you take the time to evaluate the total scores. Why does Brand B score so much higher than Brand C? You thought they were almost equal, but the numbers don’t reflect that. Which factors made one option higher than the other? Now that you see the outcome, does this validate the weighting you placed on the factors? Does it validate your assess- ment of the factors?
As you look at the big picture, you may be tempted to change some of your ratings. Caution: Resist this urge. Unless your group truly believes there is a mistake in the ratings, you could end up just manipu- lating the numbers to get the solution you wanted all along.
While this isn’t a totally bullet-proof pro- cess, if you take the time to work through each of these steps, you will be very con- fident in the outcome. If you have also involved key members of your team (espe- cially the end users) in each step of this process, you will create momentum and buy-in that will help insure successful implementation of the end result.
If you need a hand getting started on your next big business decision, email the author at Ed@FabricatorsCoach.com or call at 864-328-6231 and he’ll be happy to help out.
You deserve to have a business that makes you money, but also allows you time to enjoy it. Contact the author at Ed@FabricatorsCoach.com, or call 864-328-6231.