How to identify real square wheels projects and need to blueprint, part 1

That’s how every engineering optimization project could be described. On the left you have a square wheel, on the right - a new round one. The first dimension is always clear.

Chart 1. Point on this line depicts level of automation of a single step in a process

At the next glance the road from manual to auto has two key areas. Automation takes time subtracting attention from a market discovery. Yet, once you pass the alley of process discovery - you are getting competitive advantage in reduced labor pressure.

Chart 2. Red line shows pressure of manual execution, green line - automated to a point.

Let’s check chart 3 of a segment of a process. Area (I) shows distraction surface, followed by (II) shorter cycles giving competitive advantage. If automation lives a long life and widely replaces existing processes: (II) - (I) much more than nothing. Otherwise, a team ends with the negative (I).

Chart 3. I - area of effort to automate a step, II - area of competitive advantage

See also

12 angles to improve your velocity with blueprints