When your staff hears “new technology,” it might translate to “my job is at risk.” I’ve seen it happen over and over in my years of working along side technology companies. When operators see monitoring systems, some feel like it’s surveillance, not safety. When change arrives without showing staff they’re part of the bigger picture, resistance follows, and your ROI suffers.
In Six Sigma methodology, defects are identified before they compound into failures. In LEAN principles, waste is eliminated by maximizing the value of existing resources. Yet when operations implement new technology, they often skip the most critical step: communicating the change before it happens.
The Hidden Defect in Your Implementation Plan
I recently spoke with Machinery Maintenance Matters about a pattern I’ve witnessed across multiple mining operations: brilliant technology deployed with minimal communication strategy results in predictable failure. The defect isn’t in the technology, but it’s in how we introduce it. Which is often after the fact.
Consider Tenke Fungurume mine, which found $58M in value in their first year with Ramjack Technology Solutions’ Remote Operations Center. The success factor began when operators were involved from day one, knowing through the change management strategic communications plan that the technology amplified their expertise rather than replaced it.
LEAN Communication: Eliminate Waste, Maximize Impact.
One of my favorite things to do is slap on a hardhat, steel toed boots, and head onto a mining operation. Recently, going underground into one of North America’s largest lime mines, I worked with an operations team implementing ‘condition-based logic’ for their maintenance practices. The project involved installing telemetry devices on their mobile fleet, to capture equipment health diagnostics. This information would feed them the data they needed on the ‘condition’ of their equipment, so that they could proactively schedule the maintenance that was needed most during planned maintenance time blocks. I spent a few days onsite with the team, and we understood that a successful outcome started by understanding operators’ workflows and framing sensors as diagnostic tools that help technicians, not monitor them.
At a major oil sands operation in northern Canada, I rode along with operators masters of their craft running some of the largest equipment in mining. Management sent me in to listen to concerns before any system went live. They felt heard and supported, when the project rolled out, the technology felt like the solution they needed.
Known as a mining maintenance guru, a good friend of mine Justin Johnsen recently reminded me: LEAN maintenance means maximizing the value of your existing resources. “Teach experienced technicians to learn remote monitoring systems where they can impact the health of multiple machines rather than wrenching under one hood of one haul truck. Show them their expanded impact, and they’ll see that they have a bigger opportunity to make an impact, leveraging their long-standing expertise.”
The Six Sigma Solution: DMAIC for Communication Strategy
Six Sigma’s DMAIC framework (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) applies directly to technology communication:
Define the communication objectives before procurement. What does success look like from the operator’s perspective? What fears need addressing?
Measure baseline sentiment and understanding. Survey staff about current pain points and concerns before mentioning the technology solution.
Analyze the gap between technical capabilities and workforce perception. Where does resistance originate? Job security concerns? Lack of training confidence? Fear of being monitored?
Improve by designing targeted communication that reframes technology as an enhancement to their expertise. Frame monitoring systems as predictive maintenance tools that prevent equipment failure, not surveillance of operator performance. When you spend the time and diligence to position your change management, or technology implementation, as career advancement opportunities, your team is setup for successful adoption.
Your multi-million dollar technology investment will only deliver value if the people operating it believe in its purpose. The most sophisticated Remote Operations Center, the most advanced predictive maintenance system, the most precise monitoring technology, becomes expensive infrastructure gathering dust without strategic communication that brings your workforce along. The difference between a $58M success story and a failed implementation can come down to rolling out the communication component at the forefront of your deployment strategy. Frame the change correctly, involve operators from the start, and show them how the technology amplifies their expertise. You’ll see adoption rates climb, resistance drop, and ROI materialize.