A digital factory can seem complex if you don’t understand the underlying systems.
The best way to build a complex system that works is to bring together simple systems that work.
In other words, you start with the basic functions and then link them together.
Engineers or software technicians will probably remember this from college: the same goes for solving a difficult mathematical calculation – you start with the inner pieces and work your way until you can solve the equation.
Working from the outside in is almost impossible.
This principle is also known as the bottom-up approach.
It can be applied to process improvement, software development, integrations or strategy definition. By looking at the most basic functions and then linking the best systems together, you discover that it doesn’t have to be complicated.
For example, do you know how a CAM system arrives at production times? Or what exactly is a database? Or what an XML can or cannot do?
