Starting Simple: Capturing Your Process Quickly and Adopting Fully

JAYNA VROMAN: Hey, welcome to Autodesk University-- Starting Simple: Capturing Your Process Quickly And Adopting Fully. My name is Jayna Vroman. I have been with a reseller-- D3 Technologies-- for the past three years, working in PLM-- or, as you might know the product, Fusion 360 Manage.

And I have seen your share of complex to the simple. So this class is an industry talk and a review of what I've observed over time. And just like I said-- capturing your process quickly and adopting fully, which I think is everybody's goal.

We'll start off right away just really capturing and talking about Fusion 360 Manage, and all of the powerhouse apps that actually exist for this product. Now, I'm going to start here. And it might seem silly to some of you. I'm going to start here because to understand why-- for the rest of my talk-- you might want to the how.

So we have Fusion 360 Manage. This is just a wonderful software and program. And the nice thing is that there's a huge menu of options for Fusion 360 Manage. Right out of the box, there's industry standard processes all at your fingertips, just with the click of a button. In fact, when you download your tenant you really get a whole lot of new apps that just come with it-- new product introduction, product portfolio management, engineering change management, quality management-- and the list goes on and on and on.

The nice thing is that these get refreshed. The industry standards are looked at, and these processes are tweaked. So Autodesk on the back end is taking their time to look at all their different customers and all of their different needs and say, what do we really need for an engineering change management? What's really industry best practice for new product introduction? What are our engineers and quality managers using in their quality process? And how do these things need to connect?

So in doing that review, you're constantly able to go to the App Store-- which I'll show you here in a minute-- and find these industry standard processes. You don't have to build them out yourself. You don't have to figure them out yourself, which has kind of been some of the problem in the past for some companies. For some of those companies in manufacturing, getting that engineering change order process right can be difficult. Getting that product introduction process right can be a little difficult-- a little daunting, in fact.

And you're constantly trying to meet that industry standard while trying to meet that push to the digital age, right? So with Fusion 360 Manage you have all these apps. And they don't just sit here, but they're fully integrated with each other, kind of filling each other up. So if you're looking at problem reports-- you may a problem report. And that leads to your engineering change request, and that leads to your engineering change order, and so on and so forth.

And all of your quality management tools can lead right into your engineering change management tools. So that's really a fantastic tool. The nice thing is, unlike some PLMs in the market, there's a lot of out-of-the-box functionality. And you pull it right down with a click of a button from the web, which is awesome.

This is a couple of pictures here of the Fusion 360 Manage app store. So you can see on the screen that we have a few different apps to pick from. Some automatically download when you get a new tenant. If you're not new to Fusion 360 Manage, you might want to look at these newer apps. They've been updated in the last couple of years.

In fact, if I looked at one correctly, this one, this asset management up here in the right-hand corner with-- the "2022" came off of it. It came out July 28, 2022. So this continues to update. There's a continued evaluation of what is industry standard, and what might be useful to the clients out there that are currently using Fusion 360 Manage.

You could go up here and download any of these apps that you want to. But you're not stuck with them. I just want to point out that the nice thing about Fusion 360 Manage is you can change it. They used to say it's infinitely changeable. Now, that sounds horrible.

Infinite is kind of scary-- could be all sorts of things that could go wrong with it. But the nice thing is, that if you find certain things that need to fit your process, you can tweak those things. You can change those things. But you've got your starter pack here. You've got everything you need to start quickly, which is just awesome.

As I alluded to earlier, the data is very connected in Fusion 360 Manage, so the tool is really ready to be tested and to be tried. Up here in the right hand corner, you can see the workflow of one of the workspaces-- the change request workspace. And the nice thing is-- you look at the second state to the right. So that's change order in progress state. The system is so connected that when the change request gets to the state-- that change order in progress state-- it actually creates a change order.

So there's nothing that you need to do-- nothing extra that needs to happen. No extra-- oh well, I've got to make this here, and I've got to do this there. The system is integrated with itself in such a way that just moving to that next state-- saying, hey, we're ready for that change order-- creates the change order, puts the data into the next workspace and gets you going.

And when that change order finishes, it actually comes back and encloses your change request, so that the system kind of moves everything itself. There's no need to make sure that everything aligns because the system is doing it for you, which is really awesome and very powerful-- and frankly, really time-saving.

Over the last couple of years I've heard a lot from different clients, from different customers who in the past with their engineering change order or with some other process that they're doing, they spend so much time running reports, looking for data, and making sure that the right things are in the right folders and it gets the right people, that they--

Not waste, because it was needed in the past. They used so much time trying to make a process work, where they could have done the same process maybe 10 or even 100 times in the system, over and over and over again. The time savings are just huge. So that's just a testament to really how powerful this tool is, and really how useful it can be.

And if you think about that 10 to 100 times that work 10 to 100 times how much savings would that be? Right? So I'll have some of those statistics for you in the handout that you can look at. But I don't want to present statistics here because the whole point of this class is keeping it simple. So we're going to keep it simple-- details in the papers.

So just a little view here for you on the change order workspace-- I give you an idea of what item details look like. Or-- over here on the left bottom-- you have a view. So this is actually your ability to see what's going on in a particular workspace. And not just-- Oh, I have this one. It's in this state. Really, your view can be anything you need it to be-- constantly changeable.

The nice thing about Fusion 360 Manage is that it easily adjusts to your needs. So, as your processes change-- which they will as your company grows, which it probably will-- that software can grow with you. It can change with you. That's the nice thing about Fusion 360 Manage. You have that foundation-- down at the bottom with all of those apps from the App Store. But you can adjust the workflow, the system, to add fields, et cetera-- create new views and report stuff at your needs. And it's just really customizable.

There's a couple of ways that you can do this. You can learn how to make those adjustments by yourself very nicely. Autodesk has given us a PLM help guide. It's even helped me-- in the reseller world-- in being able to change things. I don't remember everything. I don't always remember how we change certain things. And so that help guide is there to help you figure out how to make changes in the system.

You want to add a field or adjust a workflow? Maybe you want to try out scripting. Who knows? Javascript could be your thing. But if it's not, or if you need to integrate something, you can connect with your channel partner to deep dive into changing those workflows, adding some automation that could be really helpful or time-saving for your company. Or like I hinted at, integrating things together-- integrating Fusion 360 Manage to Vault or Upchain or another data management system, or integrating to an ERP system.

In fact, there are workflows already ready and built out to integrate between Fusion 360 Manage and your ERP. They're just not set up and already integrated for you because everybody has a different ERP system. So you can get with a channel partner for that, or maybe you have a developer on hand at your company-- which is majorly cool, if you do.

And a third way-- you can create views, reports, and charts with very little time. You can create views and workspaces. You can create charts that actually go on your dashboard. A few slides back, you saw the top of the dashboard. There's those charts. You can add those charts to track things that are happening in your system. You can see how many engineering change orders you have open right now, and maybe how many engineering change orders you've done this year, and how many quality reports you had, or how many [INAUDIBLE] you've processed.

You can put all of those charts up front so that when you log into the system, you can see those. You can make reports. You can change those views, and in fact, you may even just have those views be dropped to you. There's an Autodesk feature for that. I think it might be on the PLM help guide, but don't take my word for it. Go find it yourself. Some really cool tools for you to use.

So, now that you've got that foundation, and you know that you can adjust Fusion 360 Manage to your needs, let's talk about how you do all of this quickly. But let's start with one word of warning-- or a couple of words of warning. I will go to my next line. Yes I will.

Perfectionism is a trap. I'm not just saying this to say it because it sounds glitzy or whatever. It really is a trap. Perfectionism can lead to a cycle that actually leads to you not adopting something. And I've seen this over and over again. So realize that getting it perfect isn't immediately important-- or important at all. So, getting it perfect-- not important. And I'm going to say it again. Perfectionism is a trap.

And so you see here-- we have this little icon here-- of somebody bicycling. So let's start here. Do you start with the fanciest racing bike when you learn how to bike? I'm guessing 99% of you that can bike, did not start on a racing bike. Right? You may have started young. You might have started as an adult. But you probably didn't start with a racing bike, with all of its features. Right? None of us really start with the most built-out, glitzy thing, right?

When we start walking we're just wearing plain old shoes, right? We're not wearing running shoes, right? We don't start with the fanciest things. You don't go to perfect immediately because-- as my first point says-- we don't learn perfectly. We learn incrementally.

So just with people-- software is the same, because software must be learned. And software is made by humans-- us. It's not perfect. It never will be perfect. So get that out of your brain right now. Perfection is not going to happen. Can you get good out of it? Absolutely. Perfection is never going to happen.

So with that biking idea-- so let's say you did learn to bike on a racing bike. Be really difficult. Dependent on the handles, it can be hard to hold onto. It can be weird to grip. That's a whole lot of gears to start with. And let's say that you're in your 30s, like myself. Is that seat really comfortable for everywhere you go? Maybe. Maybe not.

You could talk to the cyclists. Or you could talk to the [INAUDIBLE] cyclists. What if you do learn? But it's painful, right? Learning all of the gadgets right from the beginning can be really difficult. And then you find out that maybe that's not what you wanted. Maybe you wanted the cushy seat.

Maybe you wanted the on and off-road tires. Maybe you decided that you don't actually like road biking. You just want to be in the woods. Mountain biking was your thing. But you bought this racing bike, so now you got to sell it and find a mountain bike.

We started-- we went too far. We bought a really expensive racing bike, and maybe that's what we don't want. So we end up having to walk back. Walk back to basics and figure out-- from this glitzed out version with all of the features-- what we really want, what we really need. So my suggestion-- software is what you make it.

Start simple. Don't make it difficult. Because it has to be learned-- let's start at a basic level. Yeah. Do you want to get all the processes in? Of course, we need all of our processes in. We need our engineering change orders to do what they need to do. We need our quality workspaces and processes to do what they need to do. But do they need to do everything? Maybe not. Right?

So as we learn-- with bicycling, or with software, or walking, even-- as we learn, we find out what's best. So you might find out that you don't like all of the gears. You want a few less. You want that cushy seat. Or you don't want a road bike.

Maybe you figured those things out. But you could have figured those out on the bike that you bought at the garage sale down the street for $50-- maybe for $10. Maybe if you're lucky-- your neighbor really likes you-- you would have got it for free. And you would have saved money. And you would have saved time, by not getting that already tricked-out bike that you didn't need. So, let's not go to the perfect.

Let's not start there because often what happens when we start with trying to get to perfection-- one-- we never get there. So our work is never done. It will never be ready, unless you give in a little. And two-- usually takes a whole lot more time. You don't want getting into software to take more time.

That just makes the users go, ugh, why is it taking so long? You said you had this really awesome software for me. Where is it? And then, three-- if you get that software to those users, and you've made it more difficult by tricking it all out, there's this chance that they might not like it. Software's what we make it. Don't make it difficult because people are your next part.

So if you didn't get it-- so what is right? How do you figure out what's right for your company? How do you figure out what's right for your software? And how do you figure out what's right for your first step? I have an answer for this. You ready for it? Users first-- discover the value of prioritizing user adoption.

Keep away from that perfection-- the far end of what you don't want. You want your users first. So yes, you're trying to get a software and you're thinking-- software first, processes first, right? No. It's not the answer. So, users-- they're the key to your success.

Something I heard back at Autodesk Accelerate in May, in New Orleans, was that digital transformation is 99% people and 1% software. And there really rang true for me. And in my experience that is true. I've seen software that does all sorts of things and could be amazing, but it's never going to fit with what people were going to use.

When we look to our users for the answers for what we need, often they're going to go back and tell us the path forward. It might be a little confusing at first to listen so much to your users. But they're going to tell you where you need to go. If you start simply-- you get where I'm going here, right? You start simply with those foundations, with those basics.

I always come back to that-- what do I call it? You don't need a Ferrari. Maybe you want to get a Jetta someday. But you start with your dad's friend's 10-year-old Passat, right? You start at something basic, something that you know has lasted the test of time and you can build off of, right? You can always put a new muffler on it and make it sound better if you really want to. You can save up for a better car. But you're going to learn what you like.

So, with software, starting from that basic foundation is going to help you figure out-- with your company, with the users that are going to be in your system-- where you want to go. What kind of things do you need to adopt to make your process even better?

You want to start very simply so that the users get in there like, oh, this is a breeze. I like this. But have you thought about this? Oh, I never thought about that. Maybe you would never have thought about that because you don't do their job. Right? Or, you're not looking at doing it over and over and over again like they do-- five, six, ten times a day. You have the idea of what they're doing, but maybe not the idea of having to do something iteratively.

So, in fact, users-- number one asset in software creation success. You can listen to other people. They may have a different idea. They may talk about it from a developer standpoint. But, ultimately, somebody has to adopt it. And it's going to be the users that are in your system. You don't want to buy a software that's been approved by upper management, and then a year or two later you're asking to buy a new software again.

They're like, what happened? The users-- they hate it. It's awful. This is the story you don't want to hear, right? Your CEO, your COO-- they want to hear that you implemented something and it made a difference. And the users love it. They want a success story. And the users-- they're the key here.

And if the users don't want it, who's going to want it? No one. So I just want to reiterate that again. If the users don't want it, who wants it? Who will? Is it just going to be the person that's spearheading the whole operation? It's not going to go very well. And the moment that person walks out the door, the whole system's gone because nobody liked it in the first place.

So, listen to your users. Let them lead the path forward. Let them help you decide what you can change in the system-- what you want to change, where you want to see results. Let's start with those basics so you don't have to do a whole lot of work to get going.

And then-- reap the value. Discover the value of getting your processes quickly into Fusion 360 Manage. What I hear often is that people don't like shelfware Right? So they don't like-- going back here. They don't like having a whole lot of software they're paying for that no one's using yet.

So the more quickly that we're able to adopt a system, the more quickly we're able to reap the benefits of that software. So it doesn't become shelfware, where it just becomes something that you guys bought-- you put on a shelf because you're perfecting it. We're not doing that. It's not helpful. We want to reap the benefits as soon as possible. We want to get to market as soon as possible. That's how we want to do that in manufacturing. That's how we want to do it in software, too. We're going to get that out as quickly as possible. And we can do that.

The benefits-- we're going to just talk about the benefits of getting started quickly, kind of giving you the how. You start with that foundation-- using those apps, changing them maybe just a little bit to fit your needs, and really listening to the users. Once you put it out for maybe-- let's call it a beta test. If you just start with a beta test. And you get an idea of what your users like, they can give you user feedback. And then you can go full-out.

And then you can come back and change it again. The nice part is that you get to start out with a trimmed-out version of your process-- an industry standard version. And you might learn something new. You might learn that some stuff that you did was just baggage.

The freedom to try those industry standard practices without the baggage of-- we've always done it this way. We've always done it this way-- without the baggage of getting every detail right and really saying-- oh yeah, perfectionist. You've got it. You're so smart. Let's make sure it's right.

Don't worry about that. You don't need to do that. It is absolutely not something you have to do. You don't have to get it right. You don't have to do it the way you've always done it. And you don't have to make it fit your current model. That's not the point of trying out these industry standard processes. You can just try out something new. It's OK. You might just find that you like it better.

I'm not saying miss data that's really important to your company. That is not what Jayna is saying. She's not saying miss important things. Saying-- it's OK. Try it out. Try it slimmed down. And then you can get moving faster. Your users will enter the system sooner. You'll reap the value of the software sooner. You'll make upper management see why you wanted that software in the first place because it's already doing a lot of good.

And you're going to get that user feedback more quickly, and earlier in the software adoption process, which is really magnificent because if it was simple enough for them to get in-- they see a couple of things, and you give them a couple of new things-- they might adopt even quicker because they're like, oh, look. It works. And they were able to give me that one thing I needed. Nothing is better than users that are excited to use a system or users that love a system.

And then, you need to adjust and adapt as you go. It's not set in stone. It's not this way or the highway. It can be changed. You're going to learn. Your users are going to learn. And the software can adapt, which is beautiful and wonderful.

So don't worry-- and I'm going to go back to this again-- do not worry about getting it right. Don't worry about making it fit. Those things can happen. Guaranteed, 99%-- I don't want anybody suing me. It's going to be OK. You're not going to miss something. It's not going to harm you and your company.

So just get started quickly-- to lean into the users to get your feedback-- and to try just the industry standards, without a lot of extra flashy stuff. Yes. Are there reasons to adapt it a little bit before you start out? Absolutely-- there are reasons. That's why you have channel partners-- to help you get it figured out if you need help getting started.

But we want you to get started quickly, too, because we want to see you see the benefits. And then maybe you're going to come back and say, hey, now that we have that working, let's integrate this. Let's automate that. Or can you teach Fred how to add fields, et cetera? Absolutely we can help you with that. People at Autodesk and your channel partners can help you with that.

But you can adjust and adapt as you go. You get started quickly, and you get that momentum going. And later on upper management is going to be like, yes. They did it. They got this thing, and they made a difference, saving-- remember when I referenced-- sometimes 10 to 100 times more things were able to be processed so much faster.

And you're going to hear the users-- they're going to probably-- they're excited about it. They may even come back and be like, it's taking so long. They don't mean taking so long versus what they used to have. They probably mean-- if I could just get you to tweak this thing it would go even faster. Your upper management is going to see the value that you've added-- value you've added by getting things going quickly, adopting quickly, and getting started with Fusion 360 Manage.

This is a presentation on the simple. So I'm keeping it simple. We're going to the powerhouse that is Fusion 360 Manage and its apps. We're going to avoid the perfection trap. Right? We don't need to be perfect. Nothing's perfect. Go listen to some songs from Encanto. You'll hear all about how perfection is not important.

Embrace user adoption. Embrace your users. Look to them to help you figure out the way that you go forward. It'll go better. I promise. And reach the value of implementing quickly. So, you're not going to have the shelfware. You're going to have the users of the system more quickly telling you-- sooner-- what they want from the system.

It's harder for them to idealize something they've never seen and never used. It's very easy for them to tell you what they do or do not like about something that they see and are using. Right? So you're going to hear feedback. And that's OK. You want that feedback.

You're going to reap that value of getting in there, getting things done more quickly, figuring out what you actually like. Fusion 360 Manage can be a really easy and simple tool to use. But the important part-- keep it simple because you can overcomplicate anything. Don't overcomplicate this. All right. And in the end-- this is Jayna Vroman.

Thanks for coming to my very simple class on Fusion 360 Manage. I hope you reaped some value out of this class in your time here. And I look forward to talking to you again soon about something about Fusion 360 Manage because I think it's amazing. All right. Thanks, everyone.