Training & Support

The Application Engineering and Consulting Team

INS’ Application Engineering and Consulting team are first and foremost problem solvers, helping our customer identify the right solution for their industrial needs. We leverage our collective experiences and the knowledge of commercially available technology to assist organizations meet the industrial decision-making  challenges they face.

Whether it is a manufacturing company looking to implement a solution to bring visibility to the intelligence in their plant; or a municipality seeking to improve upon the quality and service level of their water/wastewater facilities, the INS team can help. We are specialists at recommending and engineering solutions that provide a reliable framework for making actionable decisions, to improve operations.

Since our inception, the team has expanded to meet the global needs of its customers – providing clients with business productivity services, operational assessments, eManufacturing strategy design, development and deployment, and information technology solutions.

Our teams focus is to help our customers achieve operational excellence, through proper design, development and deployment of processes and information systems.  Members of our Application Engineering and Consulting team have themselves worked with leading companies in a wide variety of industries including 3M, Abbott Labs, King Pharmaceutical, US Steel, Anheuser Busch and many others.

Pathfinder

Substantial, unknown levels of production are lost every day due to poor equipment effectiveness and inefficient processes. The INS Pathfinder process is designed to help manufacturers identify where opportunities exist to leverage existing plant floor systems; where the gaps exist keeping you from meeting your objective; and the best approach to address those issues and meet your operational goals. Often, there is hidden intelligence within your plant floor systems and with the right effort, you can uncover that intelligence and improve your operation.  The Pathfinder process is just that.

The steps along the path are defined, proven and begin with a walk-through of your facility, by one of our expert resources. From there, an approach can be defined and discussed. The value of Pathfinder is in the ability to determine the quickest path to achieving your operational goals. It is rarely a question of “if,” but rather a question of “when.”  Pathfinder also seeks to:

  • Start small to get the “quick win”
  • Leverage your existing plant floor systems and infrastructure
  • Utilize the expertise (your personnel, as well as our specialists)
  • Leverage off-the-shelf and available technologies
  • Reduce the time-to-value with proven results

Pathfinder Approach

  • Customer-specific: Our customer- specific approach allows us to meet the needs, and not force a one size fits all approach.
  • Scalable: Sometimes a quick-win is necessary to prove a concept. In other situations, system, process and training requirements dictate a more detailed plan.
  • Time-sensitive: Speed is important and we recognize that whatever the size project, customers expect the most efficient and effective path to meet their goals.

Pathfinder Process

pathfinder industrial process

Operational Change Management

Operational Change Management (OCM) is more than training your employees to understand and function with a new technology.   OCM is a directionally-based program that works to identify successful as well as challenged areas in a project, or process and builds a roadmap for improvement.  This INS developed solution reveals areas of opportunity leveraging quantitative and qualitative analysis. 

OCM can be engaged pre- and/or post-implementation, and can be leveraged as a management tool throughout project implementation. OCM uses Elicitation principles to solicit feedback from a diverse audience in ways that are conducive to gaining valuable information about the current state of your domain.  

Our OCM process can include personnel training and post implementation adoption analysis as part of reaching the desired goal. The final result is gained clarity of your environment and a platform that helps you achieve your project goals.

OCM can be used when:

  • A project has lost vision or purpose
  • A project has a very diverse audience with differing requirements
  • Areas of opportunity are unknown or uncertain
  • It is not known how users perceive your solution

Why consider OCM?

  • Lower cost approach to help avoid project issues that waste resources 
  • Validates project is meeting original goals and objectives
  • Qualifies results in a non-partisan manner
  • Addresses the change management impact of a project