Premium Associate Member Spotlight: IT Resource
This article appeared in the December 2019 issue of MiMfg Magazine. Read the full issue and find past issues online.
Do you know the correct amount of technology your business needs to stay competitive and secure? For businesses where cost and competitiveness is king, this is an essential question with many variables to consider. What is your business producing? Who are your clients? Is it a business on the rise or are you starting to see a decline?
Every answer will help you to locate the technologies you need and, just as important, the ones you don’t need. The team at IT Resource can help you find the answers and plot a course for implementing short-term and long-term strategies.
“Manufacturing is really at the core of what’s moving Michigan forward,” said Gary Lutz, president and a senior partner for IT Resource (ITR). “Technology is becoming more essential for manufacturers who want to be leaders in their field. We want to guide clients towards quality, long-term IT solutions that work.”
Having worked in a variety of IT consultant roles, Lutz and Leo Reap, ITR’s vice president and senior partner, saw a need for businesses to have quality technical services that focused on business goals and growth instead of technology.
“Solutions in manufacturing used to be about throwing more people at a problem, now it’s about throwing technology at it to expedite processes and efficiencies,” explained Reap. “But a lot of times you’ll either throw every technology you can think of at it and hope one works or you worry about all technology and get stuck in place. Both of those responses can ruin a business.”
Technology is evolving faster than ever and having a reliable consultant available can be in your best interest. That’s where IT Resource comes in. Your leadership team may connect with IT Resource and discuss ways to locate the right technology needed to succeed and do so in a cost-effective way.
“We’ll look at assessing your business requirements, not your technology,” said Lutz. “How does your business work? How can technology support an existing business plan and create the efficiencies to make everything else successful?”
Conversations with IT Resource begin with a conversation that your team can have in-house. Start by asking some key questions: Are we afraid of our technology? What are we willing to spend? What are our competitors doing? What do we worry about? What should we worry about? Where should we focus?
“It’s no secret that determining measurable success in IT can be a challenge,” Reap pointed out. “When you buy standard property insurance and a sprinkler goes off and fries a machine on your floor, the benefits to having that insurance is clear. With IT, silence is golden. The ‘insurance’ is working when nothing happens.”
Despite the uncertainties surrounding technology, your business can’t afford to stay frozen in fear.
“The future of manufacturing may be very different than today. There will still be tremendous human interaction, but the wave of technology-driven solutions is only going to increase,” Lutz stated. “We can help you locate the technologies that will, in real-time, lead to more efficiencies, higher productivity and bigger bottom line for your business.”
IT Resource is an MMA Premium Associate Member and has been an MMA member company since September 2018. Visit online: www.itrw.net.