BigDataFr recommends: Don’t burn the ships: Sail for a new world of manufacturing performance

“Burn the ships!”

The leader most often credited with the infamous command is Hernan Cortes—who, in 1519, landed on the shores of Mexico in search of riches and scuttled his ships to eliminate any notion of retreat. The phrase has now become commonplace in modern boardrooms, particularly in reference to digital and other technological changes in manufacturing. It seems to be driven by three assumptions:

• There is no going back
• Conquer or be defeated: you and your team have no middle option.
• What got you here will not get you there.

Together they suggest that to take advantage of the digital revolution, companies must forget everything they have learned about manufacturing in order to embrace the new world.

On balance, we disagree. In our view, manufacturers must instead reconcile a difficult duality: embrace the ongoing disruption, but continue to reinforce foundational insights about manufacturing performance that have proven successful for decades.[…]

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By Erin Blackwell and Tony Gambell
Source: mckinsey.com