PSL Datatrack Training and Implementation

It is all well and good investing in a production control software system but what happens afterwards? Will you receive training and help with implementing the system?

Like the system itself, PSL Datatrack’s training and implementation plan is tailored to each specific customer. It is essential to give you a kick-start in training so you know how to approach using the system but training is not just about showing where to point or click, it is also about how the business data you input will flow through the system.

Initial training can be classroom-based with multiple staff or it can be on a one-to-one basis. Pre-Covid19 we typically started with a day or two of onsite face-to-face training but we understand that it can be tricky for some businesses to find such dedicated time for training. Since the pandemic hit, we have visited some customers and carried out face-to-face training, adhering to social distancing procedures, but significantly there has been a big shift to face-to-face video training with shared screens. These video sessions can be followed up with additional web-based, bite-size chunk training using screen sharing which can be fitted in alongside the day jobs of the company operatives and targeted towards their particular job role.

The system is intuitive and designed exactly for saving subcontract precision engineers time, however familiarisation with the system is crucial prior to going live. Everything you do from an administration point of view could be considered dead time; it doesn’t make you money, it is just an overhead that is critical to the running of any business and has to be managed as efficiently as possible.

PSL Datatrack streamlines the entire production process, starting with a quotation (which is like the software equivalent of setting a machine) and follows the logical order of all of the steps a precision engineering company has to run through. This includes quoting, receiving an order, acquiring material and producing a process layout. All of the data entered at the quotation stage gets reused and the system has a series of module-to-module jumps which makes everything easier, quicker and slicker.

Some PSL Datatrack users have gone live after as a little as one day of training which is testament to the logical, well thought-out approach together with our thorough understanding of the requirements of a subcontract precision engineering business.

If a company is replacing an existing system, additional care should be taken to ensure none of the existing requirements get overlooked. In this situation the customer would be likely to use the system for training initially, then possibly parallel running and once everything is familiar a going live date would be arranged with PSL Datatrack.

It may be a major time-saving exercise to have useful data imported to kick-start the implementation process. Not all old data is always relevant or useful to bring across but PSL Datatrack has many years of experience and skill in helping customers get their new system up and running as quickly as is practical. It’s all in the data!

Once training has been conducted and any useful data imported, an implementation plan will be agreed between PSL Datatrack and the customer. From our experience, no two implementations are the same although there will be similarities. The expertise and background that users already have, coupled with the areas in the business the system is being implemented are major factors in putting a strategy together. It is essential that the plan takes all elements into account.

Implementation can be broken into phases to ensure goals are achievable without detriment to the day-to-day running of the business. Where a larger range of modules have been invested in but do not need to all go live at the same time a phased approach can be taken. It is logical to focus on individual or linked elements and then expand the system to suit.

Our aim is to help get the system implemented in the most efficient manner in as little time as is practical, whilst ensuring that the new users have the skills, knowledge and familiarity to make good use of the system. When they’re not sure or have a question, we’re only a phone call or an email away.

To find out more about PSL Datatrack and our approach, please visit www.psldatatrack.com/about-us/our-approach

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