With tech driven disruptions sweeping across the world, manufacturers are tweaking their business models, adding new value propositions to stay relevant. Their aim: to elevate the connectivity and orchestration of operations by riding the wave of digital transformation. However, highly digitalized, integrated, and intelligent workflows remain a distant goal for most manufacturers.

So, what’s the best way for them to streamline operations and rethink their business through the lens of digital transformation? The answer lies in intelligent automation (IA). By embracing the “automate everything” mindset, forward-thinking manufacturers can harness the potential of IA to accelerate their digitization initiatives.

Empowering manufacturers to embark on this journey is Macedon Technologies. Since its inception in 2009, Macedon has led the industry with IA solutions that improve the way people work and how businesses operate. Macedon provides the right set of IA technology solutions that help manufacturers streamline and improve the quality of their back office operations. “We are a cutting edge, growing technology services company that helps manufacturing firms of all sizes across a wide range of industry subsegments prepare for the 22nd century. Through our solutions, we instill confidence in customers that they can stay ahead of their competitors and ensure long term success,” says Andrew Gramann, VP of Professional Services at Macedon Technologies.

Under the Hood of Macedon’s Digital Transformation Solutions

The accelerating trends around digital transformation encourage manufacturers to experiment with smallscale pilot projects and seed investments in disruptive technologies that show promise. “However, due to market consolidation, and as companies expand through mergers and acquisitions, they are inheriting other brands’ experiments, further fragmenting their technology stack. As a result, they are burdened with enormous technology baggage,” explains Gramann. With many incompatible technologies cobbled together over the years and an increasingly aging workforce, manufacturers are struggling to sustain their digital transformation momentum.

Macedon helps companies overcome these challenges by adding a single unified layer on top of their disjointed technology stack. Employing intelligent automation, the company optimizes core operations, including design, engineering, assembly, order fulfillment, quote to cash, and customer service.

Fueling Intelligent Automation Initiatives with Strategic Partnerships

Macedon leverages its deep-rooted knowledge to conduct extensive technology evaluation and hand selects the leading technology options to create highly integrated solutions. While helping achieve the digital transformation goals, these solutions will also allow customers to build their technology stack continuously. For instance, Macedon has built a strong partnership with Appian a market leading low code platform that helps organizations build applications and workflows rapidly to design and implement business process management solutions (BPM) for customers. The company offers full-lifecycle system development, including discovery, analysis, architecture, design, implementation, integration, testing, deployment, and change management to ensure business acceptance and adoption of the new application. “Almost 75 percent of our employees are Appian certified lead developers. Our certifications are what distinguish us in the Appian market. But we also know that it takes more than certifications to be successful with these projects.

That’s why we go beyond developing technological expertise, focusing on the overall success of our clients,” shares Gramann.In fact, the company was founded by one of the original architects of the Appian BPM platform.

We are a cutting edge, growing technology services company that helps manufacturing firms of all sizes across a wide range of industry sub-segments prepare for the 22nd century

With over a decade of industry experience, Macedon has a proven track record of over 600 successful Appian engagements for over 100 clients. Besides, as a gold partner of UiPath an AI-enhanced end-to-end automation platform Macedon has developed an RPA practice to help manufacturers turbo-charge their IA initiatives. Macedon is both a reseller and a service provider for Appian and UiPath.

Macedon’s Accelerated Delivery Suite (ADS) a three part (Core Applications, Parts, and DevOps) offering delivers high value solutions to customers faster than ever before. With ADS, developers can utilize an expansive library of application components, plugins, and integrations to accelerate their software development process on the Appian platform. For example, ADS has an award winning calendar component that displays information in an intuitive format specified by the user. A suite of pre built hardened applications for everyday business needs makes up the “core applications” piece of the ADS. This includes customer relationship management (CRM), financial management, Expense Management Application (EMA), HR capabilities, and more. Lastly, ADS’ DevOps solutions accelerate the software development cycle for customers, all the way from development, testing, to production, while ensuring compliance with IT governance processes.

Meeting Customers Where They Are

Macedon’s Office of Delivery Excellence is hyper focused on customer success, helping project teams understand customer needs and manage project risk. Macedon’s Business Process Architects (BPA) are certified change management practitioners who drive high software adoption by educating customers on the benefits of keeping pace with emerging technology trends. “We help customers define their requirements, and then chart out a path to lead them from where they are to where they want to be, with a specific focus on change management,” comments Gramann. Macedon guides customers through the different phases of their digital transformation journey with simple, logistical steps to achieve their goals and grow their ROI.

Macedon provides tailored approaches to better serve customers’ unique needs. The company understands the expectations and goals when working with customers who have already mapped out a plan for implementing IA solutions. When engaging with customers that do not have a clear idea of how to kick-start their digital transformation initiative, Macedon begins with a workflow performance assessment (WPA). The company meets with customers and provides current and future state process diagrams and mapping, highlighting what customers can do in the present (best practice-sourced solution) vs. what can be done with technology-based solutions like Appian or UiPath. “And suddenly, the vision of a traditional manufacturing company turning ‘digital’ seems tangible,” adds Gramann.

With the help of BPAs, Macedon takes a collaborative, consultative approach to deliver IA solutions to customers who want to iterate on the proposed project scope. Macedon then engages implementation teams, a portfolio manager, and a technology architect to build a robust IA solution through an agile methodology. Customers get a chance to assess the solution and provide feedback for the Macedon team to improve it.All in all, the team typically delivers a production ready version of the solution in as little as eight weeks.

Then, the Macedon team sets up and maintains a flexible, robust governance structure for customers.

Macedon also provides coaching for customers looking to ingrain digital transformation in their corporate culture by educating them about the best practices that guide their success. “We ensure sustainable digital transformation as these projects require care and feeding due to ever evolving business needs. Projects, governance, coaching, and sustainability make up the ‘services’ piece of our offering,” remarks Gramann.

The “Macedon” Difference

While most companies use technology specialists shepherded by project management generalists, Macedon staffs consultants that serve hybrid roles. Realizing that proven business know how is a prerequisite to solving complex enterprise challenges, the company hires professionals who are experts in core technologies and in a wide range of disciplines, including project management and customer engagement. This unique approach streamlines communication and reduces hand offs, enabling Macedon to deliver results faster and more efficiently. “Hybrid roles, shared responsibilities, and small teams equal higher quality, faster results,” remarks Gramann.

Macedon’s capabilities were on full display while engaging with a large multinational industrial manufacturing company. The client grew significantly over the decades via mergers and acquisitions and had hundreds of different product lines. However, they lacked operational consistency. As an example, the client had two aftermarket service locations, which were 50 miles apart and served many of the same customers. The teams in the second location were completely unaware of the first location’s operations, which made for a disjointed customer experience. Macedon developed a centralized equipment service history and made it accessible to every aftermarket facility. This acted as a customer and service database that allowed technicians to review the history for a piece of equipment before proceeding with services. The enhanced history also allowed the client to better recommend pre emptive maintenance to their customers, capturing more revenue and preventing unexpected downtime. Field service technicians also gained the ability to access information through mobile devices and schedule equipment service repairs via a centralized system, replacing desktop calendars and spreadsheets.

Another of Macedon’s customers, a multi specialty contract packaging group, struggled with outdated processes that were tracked with pen and paper and controlled by managers walking around the warehouse floor. Planning on rapid expansion into new geographies, they knew they needed to capture and digitize their best practices in order to translate their success to new markets. With the customer’s growth goals in mind, Macedon applied their 8 week iterative methodology to discover, design, build, and operationalize a real time digital warehouse solution, connecting scan guns used on the floor with back office financial systems. Immediately, the application provided management with visibility into production line run rates, machine performance, and employee time, all from one informative dashboard. Warehouse personnel noted an impressive decrease in the number of manual tasks. The solution allowed the facilities to convert to 24 hour operations and implement remote management during COVID mandated lockdowns without any disruptions or performance degradation.

With an overwhelming demand for its services in the market, Macedon is well positioned to scale its business. The company has plans to grow its US based operations by 33 percent next year, as well as invest in off shore capabilities in order to serve clients from different locations. “By adding more certifications, hiring additional technologists, and training them in Appian and UiPath, we will continue to grow and scale,” notes Gramann.