Turning Production Feedback into a Better IT Decision

Executive summary

The Production Tracking System (PTS) is used across our group, but it did not fit how our two Myanmar factories work. Production teams entered data every day and got little back. I collected their feedback, explained the gaps to the development team, and discussed with the group IT team and our production teams whether the system should be stopped or rebuilt to fit us. The rebuild is now well advanced, and we are working to bring the system back into use.

Context

The group has eight factories. Six are in other countries and two are ours in Myanmar. The PTS had been shaped around the wider group, and it did not align with the way our two factories run production.

At our factories, the Industrial Engineering (IE) and Cutting teams entered data into the system every day, but production got little value back:

• only the summary was useful;
• the data was not accurate;
• the live dashboard was late, so people did not trust it.

Both factories asked to stop using it.

My role

As IT Manager, I was the link between our production teams, the group’s overseas IT team and the development team.

• Feedback: held meetings with production teams to understand what was not working and why.
• Requirements: explained to the development team, together with the users, how the system did not align with our requirements.
• Reporting: included the findings in an executive summary for the Director in September 2026, and shared them with the group IT team.
• Decision: worked through the options with the group IT team and our production teams.
• Follow-through: supporting the rebuild and the return to daily use.

Project journey

1. 01
   Group system in use

   IE and Cutting teams enter production data every day.

2. 02
   Low value for production

   Inaccurate data and a late dashboard; both factories ask to stop.

3. 03
   Feedback meetings

   Production teams explain what they need from the system.

4. 04
   Gaps explained to the developers

   Users and IT show where the system does not fit our two factories.

5. 05
   Stop or rebuild?

   Options discussed with the group IT team and production teams.

6. 06
   Rebuild in progress

   Most changes complete; preparing to bring the system back into use.

Options considered

1. Keep using it as it is. Teams would keep spending time on daily data entry with little return.
2. Stop using it. This would end the wasted effort, but leave production without a tracking system.
3. Rebuild it so that it fits our two factories. This keeps a shared group system while making it useful for us.

The question we discussed with the group IT team and our production teams was simple: if the system could not be made suitable for both Myanmar factories, it should stop; if it could, it should be rebuilt to be useful to us. We went ahead with the rebuild.

Execution

Gathering feedback

I collected feedback in meetings with the production teams at both factories, focusing on what they needed from the system and where it fell short.

Explaining the gaps

Together with the users, I explained to the development team why the software did not align with our requirements. The root cause was fit: a system built for a group of eight factories, most of them in other countries, did not match how our two Myanmar factories work.

Reporting and deciding

In September 2026 I wrote an executive summary for the Director covering this system together with the visitor system and the production planning system. The stop-or-rebuild options were worked through with the group IT team and our production teams.

Rebuild

Many of the changes are now complete, and we are working to bring the system back into use.

Challenges & risks

• A group system, not only ours: the decision had to be agreed with the group IT team and the Director, not made by our factories alone.
• Different sites, different needs: changes for our factories had to work within a system shared by the wider group.
• Keeping what was useful: the summary is still produced manually for now; the system is being changed so it can produce the summary itself.

Results

• Production feedback from both Myanmar factories reached the development team in a clear form.
• A shared decision on the system’s future, reached with the group IT team and production teams.
• A rebuild that is now well advanced, with the system being prepared to go back into use.

Lessons learned

• Start with the people who will use it. From the planning stage, ask who will use the software and how it fits their daily work.
• Confirm the production impact before building. Check that the system will be useful to production, not only that it can be built.
• Gather requirements at ground level. Requirements should come from the factory floor, especially when one system serves sites that work differently.