Time for new equipment? This is how you implement it in the business

Curious about technology that can make the business more efficient, but unsure about what the investment will involve and produce? Rest assured. In this blog we give you three tips on what you should bear in mind when you implement new solutions in your business.

1. Equipment and work methods

New equipment doesn’t automatically mean an upswing in the business. Equipment can instead sometimes be secondary, in favour of the work method. It’s quite simply not possible to use new equipment correctly without also renewing the work method. The reverse is also true – a new work method requires new equipment. By defining the objective of the change, you can also set targets for its implementation. How do you draw the greatest possible benefit from the equipment and what changes are required in the store itself in order to succeed?

2. Training of staff

A renewed work method with new solutions requires education and training for staff and the store owner. Learning new equipment and integrating it into the business seamlessly is difficult and takes time and reflection. Have your staff trained with the support of the supplier and involve all parties concerned, not only in-store staff, but also IT and finance. How do you make the best use of the equipment in your particular business? How does it affect the rest of the business? What challenges might your staff be faced with?

3. Try it out in a pilot

Before a solution is implemented throughout the whole business, we recommend that first of all you try it out on a small scale, for example in one store. Before the pilot you should define the objective of the test period, e.g. “we want to reduce waste, create a better customer and work environment or increase productivity”. Try out the equipment over a period of at least a few months, evaluate as you go along and see whether the results live up to your goals. You’ll probably get an indication of what works well or less well after only a couple of weeks.

To put it briefly: never assume that new equipment is the solution to your challenges. A change requires a review of both work methods and processes, in which both management and employees should be involved.