October 2004
Some people don't see the importance of playing sports when kids
are young. In Our Humble Opinion (IOHO) we think the reasons for having
kids plays sports for tens of thousands of years is to teach them basic, core
concepts that they should remember for the rest of their professional lives.
Teamwork of specialists, individuals pushing themselves beyond their limits, the strategies, the preparation, learning to work hard while having fun, and many other important lessons learned from sports carry over to our professional lives.
For example, we all have heard "don't take your eye off the ball."
I would imagine that about now -- you're probably wondering how in the world this applies to automated systems?
Too many people think that automated systems are the most important thing in their company -- when the reality is -- automated systems are supporting operations. It is the operations that make a company money. You can have the world's best ERP, MRP, LIMS, MES, or other system -- but if your operations "stink" -- your company will never survive.
All too often we see vendors and companies taking their eye off the ball, thinking that some support system will transform their company into something it's not. Your operations transform your company into something it's not. Automation just makes it happen faster, better, and cheaper.
Don't lose perspective.
We try to offer a fair and balanced opinion on every page of our website. We would appreciate more information from other users to express their opinions which we will then incorporate. If you have questions or comments please post them on our message board (see button in left hand column) so that others can read and benefit.
