Chapter 1
RetroForge Manufacturing, a traditional mid-sized manufacturing firm, had been a pillar of its niche for decades, providing customers with precision components across various sectors. For years, the business had prided itself on quality craftsmanship and building strong client relationships that spanned generations (which made long-serving CEO, Louise Walker, feel pretty darn old).
But beneath the surface of this storied history, cracks were beginning to show.
RetroForge Manufacturing’s mission statement was simple: to deliver consistently high-quality products while fostering innovation in manufacturing processes. But while this clear vision had guided them to success throughout the years, as the world around it began to change, the business became increasingly out of sync with its industry peers.
Louise landed at RetroForge Manufacturing HQ on Monday morning to the usual sounds of the company playlist, having recently ditched the radio in favour of Spotify after one argument too many about what station to listen to. Despite the new younger hires’ best efforts, there were only so many hours that somebody could listen to Capital FM before going completely insane.
Bob Dylan was first up, no doubt a pick from Head of Operations, Tom. Louise never cared much for Dylan - she’d always thought that his voice was an acquired taste (to put it nicely) and the sound of the harmonica was piercing. But that particular morning, the lyrics of The Times They Are A-Changin’ resonated - sure the harmonica still sounded just awful, but the words managed to strike a chord.
That’s because RetroForge Manufacturing operated in a rapidly evolving manufacturing industry where the times were very much a-changin’. Efficiency, accuracy, and speed were becoming critical differentiators, and while competitors who had adopted new technologies were gaining ground, RetroForge Manufacturing's operations were still rooted in traditional methods and the business was falling behind as a result. Louise had become increasingly aware of the troublesome signs— missed deadlines, rising customer complaints, and a gradual decline in profit margins.
The heart of the problem lay in the business’s operational structure, which at its core, still had a heavy reliance on manual processes and legacy systems that had once seen the business thrive but were now outdated and inadequate. “Like Cristiano Ronaldo”, as one employee put it.
In their weekly catch-up meeting, Louise and Tom sat down to pinpoint the areas where this was most problematic. They identified the business’s approach to inventory management as a prime example. For years, stock levels had been tracked using a combination of individual spreadsheets and paper logs - a method that had run smoothly when RetroForge Manufacturing was a smaller business with simpler product lines.
But as the business had grown, so too had the inefficiencies of this inventory management system. The team struggled to maintain accurate stock levels, leading to regular inventory imbalances of too much or too little stock - and because of a lack of real-time visibility, by the time these discrepancies were discovered, it was often too late to rectify without impacting production schedules and inventory costs.
Compounding the issue was the business’s reliance on a legacy ERP system. The on-premises solution was once the backbone of RetroForge Manufacturing's operations, however, it was installed years ago and had aged about as well as the BlackBerry phone.
The ERP system was siloed and tough to integrate with new tools, lacking the functionality and flexibility that modern manufacturing businesses required. As a result, reports generated were often time-consuming, inaccurate, or incomplete, leading to reactive rather than proactive management. Worse still, the system’s high maintenance costs and slow response times were becoming a real drain on the team’s resources.
Quality control, a critical aspect of the manufacturing process, was another area plagued with inefficiencies. RetroForge Manufacturing's approach was entirely paper-based, relying on checklists, forms, and manual data entry. But while The Office’s Michael Scott would have you believe, “real business is done on paper”, this method was prone to human error and made it difficult to spot trends or identify recurring issues. With no central repository for quality data or the ability to monitor and analyse data in real-time, issues that could’ve been addressed early were often overlooked, leading to more costly reworks and delays.
The approach to supply chain management was similarly outdated. Orders were processed manually, with suppliers and distributors coordinated via phone calls, emails, and spreadsheets. The lack of visibility this provided into supply chain operations led to delays in order processing and increased errors, while the manual efforts this method required meant that it was tough to react quickly to changes in supply and demand. Agility is key to the modern manufacturing business, but RetroForge Manufacturing's method only exacerbated existing production delays.
Taking a break from the meeting, Louise nipped over to the kitchen to refill her coffee, where she bumped into one of the team’s project managers, Fatima. After discussing what’s been on the morning’s agenda, Fatima was keen to share her own insights on the business’s inefficiencies in its approach to project management - if this was a ‘90s office-based sitcom, we guess you could call this a ‘water cooler moment’.
Fatima pointed out that, without a centralised system to track progress or collaborate with teams, communication was often disjointed - especially with remote teams. Projects frequently went over budget and past deadlines due to poor visibility into timelines and a lack of real-time updates, while a lack of clarity around what success looks like often led to scope creep, further straining resources and adding to delays.
It was clear that the cumulative effect of these outdated processes was becoming increasingly evident not just to Louise and Tom, but to the wider team at RetroForge Manufacturing too. Production delays were becoming more frequent and customer dissatisfaction was on the rise, with many frustrated clients complaining about the business’s inconsistent service. But these inefficiencies weren’t just impacting RetroForge Manufacturing's reputation it had spent years building up; it was damaging its bottom line, too. As operational costs soared and productivity dipped, the business was struggling to keep a grasp on its competitive edge.
The final blow came later that same afternoon, when one of the company’s biggest clients decided to take their business elsewhere, citing the need for a more agile and reactive partner. This was the final wake-up call: RetroForge Manufacturing, once a leader in its field, was now at major risk of being left behind by its competitors. Something had to be done.
In the leadership meeting, Louise and the team discussed the impact of losing a major client and what this meant for the business’s future. They all agreed that the operational inefficiencies that had been manageable in the past were now major hurdles to success, meaning the need for change was undeniable. The industry and indeed the wider world had moved forward, and if RetroForge Manufacturing was to survive, it needed to move with it.
The team recognised that the business’s inability to adopt new technologies was no longer just a hindrance, but a threat to its very existence - meaning it needed to modernise its operations, streamline processes, and leverage new solutions to remain competitive. And so the decision was made: RetroForge Manufacturing would undergo a journey of digital transformation.
Of course, they knew a comprehensive overhaul of the business’s operations would be no easy feat, requiring a significant investment of time and resources, as well as a major culture shift. But continuing down the current path simply wasn’t an option. The goal was to create a more agile, efficient, and customer-focused business that not only met the challenges of today but was also prepped and ready to thrive tomorrow.
“Yes, the road ahead will be challenging”, Louise told the team, “but it’s also full of exciting potential. We have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves, shed the weight of outdated methods and systems, and embrace a new way of working.”
While RetroForge Manufacturing's mission would remain the same, the tools and processes used to achieve it would be transformed, and in the coming months, the business would begin the process of transitioning from a company being weighed down by its past to one ready to take on the future.
The first step was recognising the need for change. The next step was taking action, and that digital transformation journey was about to begin.