Manifesto: Parker Hannifin 2030
Manifesto
Parker 2030
Preamble
My name is Doug
O’Bryon - I work at Parker - and EVERY DAY I get to the office, sit down at my
desk, turn on my laptop, and do you know the first thing I see EVERY SINGLE
DAY?
I KNOW YOU DO – it’s
the same thing YOU SEE!
It’s Parker’s Annual Improvement Priorities…on a screensaver…with a Burnt
Sienna color palette – listing 7 things we as a company want to focus on –
which is a lot – so leadership decided to emphasize 3 of them IN
BOLD to give them extra importance - and those 3 are
Demand and Capacity Planning, Productivity Improvement (through Automation and
Lean) and Implementing Zero Defects.
So, I sit there at
my desk. First thing every morning. Just like you. And think...
How am I supposed to
achieve these? I mean REALLY. These are BOLD AUDACIOUS goals.
Tackling one is hard
enough – let alone all three!
And then I get this
email, about a Mousetrap Innovation Award that Parker gives out each year for
building a better mousetrap in three categories:
“Simple by Design:
Things that reduce cost and complexity.”
“Purpose in Action:
For Engineering Breakthroughs that Lead to a Better Tomorrow.”
“Golden Mousetrap:
For excellence in commercialization.”
So, I think, “Wow -
I’d really love to win that award AND tackle all of those other priorities.”
But I’m lazy.
So, I thought “Ok,
what if there was ONE THING. ONE THING that would achieve ALL of these at the
same time.
Fortunately, I’ve
been able to work next to one of the foremost visionaries in all of Parker, so
I put pen to paper, and would like to share with you a submission for the next Parker
Mousetrap Award: “A Vision for Parker in 2030.”
In short, a Manifesto.
Manifesto
Parker 2030
On a miserable Cleveland morning in
December 1918, Arthur Parker received an order from Goodyear to install his
patented pneumatic brake system on a handful of trucks for $1500.
It was his first sale.
In the century that followed, the
Parker name has become synonymous with industry-leading parts crafted with the
quality and reliability necessary for consistently performing in the most
extreme and rugged environments in the world. Whether frigid bitter cold,
skin-blistering heat, the raw brutality of space, or inside numb pressurized
dungeons leagues under the sea, companies and communities across the globe
confidently turn to Parker Parts for mission-critical performance and
protection when life and livelihood are on the line.
Thanks to decades of organic growth and
acquisitional expansion, these parts now span a portfolio of over 3,000 product
lines, spread across 24 times zones, 44 countries, 335 plants, and more than 540,000
customers, powering nearly every type of machine that moves.
But here’s the problem.
Every single part we produce will
eventually fail.
Regardless of quality. Regardless of
precision. Regardless craftmanship.
As good as our parts are, each one has
a functional performance horizon…and then an end.
Each part is designed to perform…but
destined to fail.
Every.
Single. One.
Trapped
in a world screaming “Failure in not an option” lives our grim alternate
reality – where failure is not only an option – it’s inevitable…
Or
WAS…until we started asking some tough questions…
What
if failure was predictable?
What if failure was avoidable?
What if we started viewing failure -
not as the end - but as the beginning?
And what if, in the process of studying
failure, we suddenly discovered the cipher, cracked the code, and uncovered the
secret for unleashing the intelligence and insights resident within our raw
data to transform the global Parker brand from simply “Supplying Parts” to
“Strategic Partner.”
In short, what if lodged deep within
the debris of failure was the feedstock data of success?
The Internet of
Things
In 1999, computer scientist Kevin
Ashton coined the phrase “Internet of Things” to describe the novel nascent
notion of linking disparate products within a single informational ecosystem
via RFID chips to track them throughout the supply chain. Since then, the
Internet of Things has grown exponentially to include a labyrinth of signals,
sensors, and software all connected via a network of wireless technology and
monitored globally using predominantly Bluetooth communication and a robust
cloud computing infrastructure to manage and monitor this network in real time.
Before the Internet, these were just
“things.” Single. Static. Separate.
But when these things were suddenly
CONNECTED…something magical happened.
These “things” became animated - their
potential unleashed.
Transformed from soloist to symphony,
these singular sedentary products suddenly became sentient sensory
participants, their signaled voices amplified in unison as a global chorus –
creating glorious mosaics and prescient patterns – just as single night-time
stars array, align, and then are absorbed into grand constellations.
The Internet of tangible touchable Things
has defined the last 25 years.
But that was just the Overture.
The Opening Act.
The NEXT frontier of this trailblazing
technological construct begins when the Internet of Things starts tracking,
tracing, and triaging - not just parts in STOCK - but parts in STATE.
Inline or askew. Calibrated or
off-center. Six nines or three.
Once we reimagine, redefine, and
recalibrate the Internet of Things from bits to bytes, from stock to state, and
from crate to code, a new powerful paradigm emerges.
And it all starts…when everything
stops.
At the moment of FAILURE.
A lathe seizes up. A 3-D printer breaks
down. A machine dies. Why? Who killed it? Or was it from natural causes?
Could it have been predicted? Could it have been prevented? Or was it just
“time?”
It’s a murder mystery. Who-done-it?
Each digit, each divot, and each device, a character, a suspect, in an
unfolding story.
Data is the drama, variance is the
villain, the plot points become the plot lines, and the clues are everywhere,
but how do you determine the culprit?
Machines and mechanical devices always
leave clues – small at first, but over time they become more notable, more
noticeable.
Just as stories employ foreshadowing,
statistics enable forecasting, but only if you know where to look.
Points beget patterns, signals foretell
signs, tells become trends.
Each line of data informs a line of
dialog-anomalies advancing the dramatic arc -1 micrometer at a time.
Each line of code offers a line of
communication, a line of conversation, a line of conviction.
Using advanced heuristics to determine
the hero and the villain.
You find fissures, then faults, then
fails.
The role of the statistical storyteller
is to leverage the narrative of numerology to connect the dots, uncover the
themes, and then follow the calculations and clues to translate the raw data
from information into insights into intelligence, and in doing so, transforming
individual nodes into institutional knowledge.
Break Fix to Brake Fix to
Breakthroughs
The prevailing Parker manufacturing
philosophy has experienced a renaissance over the past century of operations,
originating with the founding paradigm of using a machine or a part until it
breaks – and then fixing it. This
Break-Fix approach was elegant in its simplicity but came at a high cost of
suddenly having to shut down an entire manufacturing line each time a critical
component failed - wasting valuable human and machine resources and potentially
scrapping entire runs due to parts being outside compliance specifications.
Parker successfully remedied this
reactive orientation with the introduction of a Preventative Maintenance
approach, wherein machines were preemptively serviced, and parts proactively
replaced prior to breaking, based on historical utilization cycles and
estimated life spans. While a definitive and marked improvement, this approach
was still suboptimal in the margins. The saying goes, “Haste Makes Waste”
and they’re right, because when the quest to prevent breakage results in
replacing a part or servicing a machine too soon, you leave significant money
on the table as you artificially abbreviate and accelerate the sunsetting and
viable lifespan of fully functional assets - BUT - waiting until it breaks
wastes even MORE money.
And so, once again, you’re faced with a
dilemma.
You know machines and parts will fail.
In the words of Thanos, “It’s
Inevitable.”
So, what is a global network of
manufacturing logistics and line managers supposed to do?
Replace too early - leave money on the
table. Replace too late - waste even MORE.
The solution is elegant in its
simplicity.
Stop using your gut – start using your
nut, because you don’t need a 6th sense when you’ve got a sensor.
Introducing The
Internet of Parker™
Huddled deep inside a sloping
non-descript three-picnic-table office bungalow located halfway between
Pittsburgh and purgatory, an audacious team of visionary technologists have
spent the last two years methodically assembling an integrated platform
designed to fundamentally rearchitect the global Parker brand “From Parts to
Partner™.”
Under the direct supervision of gifted
thought leader and Digital IT Senior Analyst Jordan Reddick, scientists and
strategists have successfully integrated a portfolio of databases, devices, and
digital diagrams – overlaid with advanced software and systems – all with the
express purpose of framing out a foundation for a scalable global solution for
tracking and monitoring Parker’s global data, devices, and distribution system.
In short, the Internet of Parker™
Vision is to take the existing Internet of Things construct and overlay
artificial intelligence, data-driven pattern recognition, predictive analytics,
machine learning, and a century of industry experience to design an end-to-end
ecosystem for proactively monitoring, measuring, and managing Parker
parts/processes (internally) and Parker parts/partners (externally) to radically
elevate our baseline thresholds of service and value FAR above our peers and
thereby create an impenetrable, sustainable, and strategic moat of competitive
advantage.
IOT + JIT = IOP™
Over the past 24 months, a powerful network
of servers, sensors, and subroutines have been discreetly employed to track and
triage various Parker machines and parts with a fanatical focus on failure.
Leveraging real-time sensors and
software, we’re able to identify the precise moment of breakage, and then
perform a post-mortem autopsy to review the cause of death - reenacting,
recreating, and replicating the exact sequence of contributing events which
preceded and precipitated the faults and ultimate failure.
Since 2022, our advanced device
sentinels and modeling/sequencing macros have gathered and logged over 34
million discrete measurements, amassing a voluminous compilation of raw data
points housed in a data lake codenamed Loch Ness, which continues to collect,
compile, and archive data 24/7/365.
Over the last 2 years of managing and
mining this data, the most significant thing we’ve learned is that there’s a
HUGE difference between “Wearing down” and “Breaking down” as it relates to
performance and profitability.
“Wearing down” is inevitable –
“Breaking down” is not.
The sweet spot lies in threading the
needle – identifying that precise window of opportunity when the part, hose,
drill, or production machine approaches the final increment of high-performance
productivity before requiring a replacement.
By setting up analogs and parameters
via Big Data platforms, we’re now able to trace variances and wobbles,
anomalies and outliers, and shifts and skips IN REAL TIME to determine when a
machine “Death Rattle” is just a swoon, a major stroke, or an attempted
suicide, and intervene before the damage is done.
But we’ve learned something else along
the way.
This window of opportunity is DIFFERENT
for every machine, model, and manifold.
Therefore, because different parts and
pistons age at different speeds, it is incumbent upon us to track each and
every item in our ecosystem to determine their intervals of intervention.
The brakes on trucks will let you know
they need replacing when they begin to squeak, but machines don’t typically squeak,
so we’ve set up a battery of sensors and signals to speak and communicate in
much the same way – all designed to track the precise moment and movement that
precipitates fails and faults.
If the Parker goal is Zero Defects with
a standard of quality at .999999 then we NEED to know within a whisper the
precise interval between success and failure, and what we’ve learned (the hard
way) is that precision tracking of this caliber is the MOST valuable with
machines that break down the MOST.
In the same way that it’s not healthy
people - but rather the sick - that need a doctor, it is the older, expensive,
and more breakable mission-critical machines that need this level of attention
the most, as they represent the most difficult cogs in the supply chain to
replace and replicate.
In other words, if we’re going to keep these expensive but breakable machines
for another 20-40 years, we’d better
figure out how to manage them for maximum efficiency at a minimum of cost.
Chains We Can
Believe In
If Covid taught us anything it’s that
supply chains are only as strong as their weakest link - so how can Parker
reinforce, buttress, and expand its brand dominance when its value chain and
global supply chain can be crippled by an unexpected break in a bolt chain?
Manufacturing the part is one thing.
Getting it is another.
Supplying the right part is one thing.
Shipping and receiving the part Just In Time is another.
By attaching attenuation sensors to
Parker parts and devices, we are able to remotely track and triage their
performance lifespan from afar, and proactively prompt our global customer base
regarding any potential issues well in advance of any replacement cycles.
The Internet of Parker™ was designed to
leverage the power of Big Data intelligence to reinforce and strengthen our
decision making internally and then roll out a platform for our clients to
share and include them in this knowledge and intelligence-driven ecosystem.
In the Forward of Geoffrey Moore’s
bestseller “Crossing the Chasm,” Regis McKenna writes:
″Fundamentally, marketing must refocus away from selling
product and toward creating relationships. Customers don’t like to be ‘owned’
if that implies lack of choice or freedom. But they do like to be ‘owned’ if
what that means is a vendor taking ongoing responsibility for the success of
their joint ventures. Ownership in this sense means an abiding commitment and a
strong sense of mutuality in the development of the marketplace. When
customers encounter this kind of ownership, they tend to become fanatically
loyal to their supplier, which in turns builds a stable economic base for
profitability and growth.″
From Parts to
Partner™
Transforming the global brand
perception of Parker “From Parts to Partner™” requires a fundamental rethinking
of our approach to the marketplace. The posture of “supplier” has historically
been one of demarcation, namely, a buyer has a request, and then we provide
what was requested to the best of our ability, within the constraints of
deliverability and profitability.
The posture of “Partner” however is
much more holistic, encompassing, and robust.
As a partner, we make THEIR problem OUR
problem.
Over the past century, clients have
increasingly grown to trust Parker Parts to enable their success, as global
supply chains have become more intertwined and interconnected.
But here’s the truth. You can always
get parts cheaper.
It’s a race to the bottom where there
is no winner.
BUT - what if we did the opposite?
What if instead of racing to the bottom
we sprinted to the top?
What if we leveraged the Internet of
Parker™ to become so embedded, so entrenched in the value stream of our
clients’ ecosystem, that our destinies became inseparable?
What if we provided such overwhelming
value in the form of our AI and analytics that we helped them transform from
Preventative Maintenance to Predictive Maintenance to Performance Maintenance
and invited them to join us in our shared pursuit of maximizing efficiency and
profitability?
Metcalfe's Law states that the
financial value or influence of a network is proportional to the square of the
number of connected users of the system, meaning that every time you add a new
user to a network the value increases relative to the total number of nodes.
By leveraging our first-mover advantage
to roll out the Internet of Parker™ and instilling within our products a
sentient prescience, we assume the role of caretaker and trusted ally in our
shared success arc, and by owning this virtual real estate and providing FREE
access to these data and tracking technologies, we can command the thought
leadership high-ground, dominate marketplace mindshare, and increase operational
stickiness to our strategic advantage – living out our Automation, Lean,
Productivity Improvement, Demand and Capacity Planning, Zero Defects, and
Digital Leadership mandates all within a single enterprise-encompassing
initiative.
For over a century, Parker has aspired
to “Enabling Engineering Breakthroughs that Lead to a Better Tomorrow” in the
belief that “Interconnected Technologies Create Competitive Advantages.”
Leveraging the Internet of Parker™ to transition from Parts to Partner™ represents the pure realization of
these aspirations, embodying both servant leadership and thought leadership, as
we introduce a heightened threshold of intentionality - leveraging high tech
and high touch - in the service of both man and machine.
If done correctly, companies will
increasingly seek out Parker - not just for parts - but for something more.
A True Partner.
One who serves as an insightful
interpreter, a trusted guide, an industry advisor - and one who grants
invitation-only access to our valuable and evolving informational ecosystem.
At Parker, Partner means we’re ALL IN.
We make YOUR problem OUR problem.
Metcalfe’s Law reminds us that it’s
SYSTEMS – NOT SILOS – that create SYNERGIES. The more participants - the more
raw data in the Internet of Parker™ - the more valuable it becomes to ALL
parties, as it’s in the handling, archiving, and harvesting process that this
goes from information to insights to intelligence - making the supply chain
less fragile - and our value chain more agile.
Who needs inventory when you’ve got
intelligence?
If you know the state - you can
arbitrage your stock.
The ultimate goal of Kaizen is
continuous improvement, whereby we don’t just “Clear the Bar” and “Meet the
Standard” but rather “Raise the Bar” and “Set the Standard.”
“Leading with Purpose” and “Winning
with Integrity” as we redefine expectations and reimagine excellence.
In 2030 - we’ll know we’ve been
successful - when our clients hear Parker - they think Partner.
And when then hear Partner – they think
Parker.
In stories, the “denouement” is the
point in which the conflict is resolved. The word literally means “untie the
knot” which refers to the narrative entanglements the author has woven
throughout the plot development BUT - unlike novels - the story of machine
learning and predictive maintenance never really resolves.
It’s like a soap opera that never ends.
But here’s the beauty part.
That’s where the opportunity is.
The conflict never ends and parts
always fail.
Guaranteed.
But if we do it right - that’s not a
problem.
That’s….a business model.
Doug O’Bryon
December 2023
Manifesto
Parker 2030
Epilogue
In closing, I’d like
to attempt the impossible, which is to summarize everything we’ve covered in 4
minutes – but first let me ZOOM OUT.
If you’ve made it
this far, chances are you’re exhausted, frustrated, and fed up with the
polarizing false choices regarding the future of our world.
Planet OR Profit.
Capitalist OR
Environmentalist.
Head OR Heart.
Pick One – You Can’t
Have Both.
But guess what?
People don’t want
compromise.
They want it ALL.
So, we went back to
the circuit board and decided to build something based on one tiny word.
AND
That’s it – one
word.
One wonderful
conjoining word.
Why wonderful?
Well, when you
replace OR with AND all of those false choices go away.
The Internet of
Parker™ was designed to bring people together by delivering what they want –
EVERYTHING.
Sustainability AND
Profitability.
Value AND Values.
Principal AND
Principles.
We believe you
shouldn’t have to decide between protecting your planet OR protecting your
profit, so we’ve designed an integrated solution that is Clean Without
Compromise™ offering a shared win for both shareholders and our shared home.
We believe the
Internet of Parker™ has finally cracked the code and figured out how to stack
revenue streams with value streams – turning technology cost centers into data
mining profit centers – while bringing a virtuous balance to balance sheets -
registering green for both plants AND powerplants.
Instead of dividing
and polarizing, the IOP™ was created to unite people around shared virtues and
values which benefit everyone. We’re pitching a big tent – with room for
everyone – and featuring an ecosystem of tools and technology with proven
results that are both quantitative AND qualitative.
That’s the Power of
AND.
We started with Parker’s Annual Improvement Priorities – THE BIG 3 – Demand and Capacity Planning,
Productivity Improvement (through Automation and Lean) and Implementing Zero
Defects.
AND then added the 3 Mousetrap Award criteria: Simple by Design, Purpose in Action
(Engineering Breakthroughs), and Commercialization.
But then realized it
was much bigger than that…
IOP supports Safety 360 - so you’ll know BEFORE the spindle breaks and accidents happen.
IOP supports Resilience - enabling better predictions of preventable breakage (and supply chain
arbitrage).
IOP removes the hype
around Sustainability - replacing it with science and structure (“It’s
just common sensors.”)
IOP supports Sustainability - minimizing wasted time/materials (less wasted
runs means less scrap for landfills).
And at the
intersection of sustainability, reliability and profitability lies our vision
for what we’ve coined NET
ZERO DEFECTS™ – residing at the value and virtue-laden
confluence of Net Zero AND Zero Defects – offering the Best of Both Worlds –
with a “Plan for Every Part” AND a “Plan for Every Partner.”
IOP is Clean AND Lean – and gets us closer to a solution that is both Carbon-Neutral AND Cost-Neutral. (Or as Jenny likes to say “Cleaner, smarter and
safer.”)
IOP supports ESG - minimizing both
our Carbon Footprint AND Cost
Footprint (Clean AND Green).
IOP provides
critical VISIBILITY - which informs eCapacity, eProcurement, and
eDay-By-The-Hour platforms.
And then there’s RISK.
IOP accelerates Intelligence
– and Intelligence reduces RISK. Safety
Risk. Financial Risk. Competitive Risk. Logistical Risk. Environmental Risk.
Reputational Risk. Brand Risk. And Shareholder Risk. Better Intelligence =
Better Decisions.
And finally, IOP
supports “Parker’s Digital Leadership Strategy” - informing “Digital
Products, Digital Operations, Digital Productivity, and the Digital Customer Experience.”
At Parker we talk a
lot about Winning – but not just Winning – “Winning with Integrity.”
But what does that
really mean?
It turns out that
the word “Integrity” is derived from the Latin word “Integer” meaning “Whole
or complete, an unbroken completeness, or to literally be integrated in every
sense,” which is precisely what Parts to Partner™ is aspiring towards.
IOP supports High
Performance Teams by providing High Performance Technology to advance our new
relationship-centered vision which currently states:
“Parker’s High
Performance Teams Framework supports Win Strategy 3.0 by maximizing engagement,
empowerment, and high performance at all levels. The High-Performance Teams
(HPT) Framework is relationship-centered and drives team performance and
business results through the growth and development of our team members. The
three key changes to the framework are:
- Strengthens the connection to The Win
Strategy (IOP ✓)
- Incorporates the science of engagement and high
performance (IOP ✓)
- Simplifies deliverables, methodology and
resources (IOP ✓)
The Framework is
supported by Our Culture & Values and anchors on five broad elements of
high performance: Building Relationships, Leveraging Strengths,
Defining Purpose, Creating Clarity, and Driving Results. This current
Framework brings a greater intentionality to the first two elements to support
what we know about the science of high performance: relationships
first; performance follows.”
Parts to Partner™ is the purist realization of
this high-performance vision, as it puts relationships first, while also
supporting and enabling everything else.
By leveraging the
information, insights, and intelligence of the Internet of Parker™ we’re able
to advance all of these other initiatives, and when we make THEIR problem OUR
problem, we embody our 2023 CX theme of Empathy to “Understand and
share the feelings of others” – transcending
from Parts to Partner™ as we go from “Better to Best.”
So tomorrow, when
you sit down at your desk, open your laptop, and see that Burnt Sienna
screensaver with Parker’s Annual Improvement Priorities, I want you to think
about this Vision and how you might participate. From Macedonia to Mayfield
Heights, and from Mumbai to Manchester, we’ve built a BIG TENT and we’re
inviting everyone to participate. We’re
going Metcalf’s Law on this thing – the bigger the network the more valuable it
is.
Remember
it’s SYSTEMS – NOT SILOS – that create SYNERGIES.
The more
participants - the more raw data in the Internet of Parker™ - the more valuable
it becomes to ALL parties - information to insights to intelligence – “Turning
Individual Nodes into Institutional Knowledge” across the enterprise – making
the supply chain less fragile - and our value chain more agile.
At its core,
leveraging the Internet of Parker™ to transform from Parts to Partner™ is more
crusade than corporate soundbite, as our goal is to be the spark that ignites a
movement which unites Head AND Heart by aligning Principal AND Principles in
the pursuit of a singular vision to transform Parker from Parts to Partner™ –
revolutionizing an industry and reimagining a better world around a common goal
of the common good.
Doug O’Bryon, December
2023
Douglas
J. O’Bryon, MBA
Parker
Hannifin Corporation
1390
Highland Road E
Macedonia,
Ohio 44056 USA
Mobile:
+1 443 421 0167