The Process of Implementing New Technology: Interview with Jason Murphy

Jason Murphy, Director of The Resilience Change Co, helps businesses implement positive change with substantial results, and has a wealth of experience in implementing change and making influential business decisions.

Previously, Jason worked as Head of Change for the Maintenance division of one of our largest customers. Based on that experience, Jason has kindly agreed to answer a number of questions regarding the key elements of the decision making process when searching and implementing a new technology solution:

Q. What were the guiding principles when searching for new technology?
A. The technology had to lead the industry, make life better for customers and colleagues and be simple and easy to use. Critically for the change, it needed to release benefits quickly to support its funding and be entirely future proofed, whilst being flexible enough to grow with our business.

Q. How did you decide on the main requirements of the technology?
A. We investigated the market thoroughly and tried to understand the direction the market was travelling in. We also had to better understand our existing technology and its potential, which then allowed us to know more about what we were looking for. The solution we needed was a single platform with integrated solutions and workflows that focused on automation. 

Q. What steps did you take to narrow down potential suppliers?
A. Our potential suppliers were selected and given a store to bring on line. The main criteria was to connect as many asset classes as they could within a 3-month timespan, and then present back to the selection panel with their outcomes. 

IMS Evolve completely outperformed the competition on ability to connect and structured data achieved. Energy data and machine data provided strong potential on Refrigeration, HVAC, Bakery and Lighting, and so an extension trial was agreed.

Q. What happened once the decision was made?
A. IMS Evolve was selected as the development partner as their solution and delivery offered the required potential. They brought innovation that was ahead of our thinking, and offered the flexibility and potential required for future developments.

Q. As a result of choosing IMS as a partner, which areas have seen a successful change?
A. One of the first things we addressed was a problem with heating in our stores, IMS led a project based around HVAC Monitoring, which resulted in a reduction in cold stores of over 60% in the first year. IMS also implemented their Productivity Suite to our 300 technical field engineers, improving both our fix times and productivity. Alongside this they used their expertise to support in the opening of the National Operations Centre where they manage the deployment of Engineers. We also started to bring our energy teams on board, and delivered joint benefits around energy reduction and machine maintenance resulting in the implementation of condition based maintenance for refrigeration and also a redesign of our store’s energy boards supporting campaigns with our store colleagues.

Q. Can you summarise the positive outcomes of the change process?
A. The expertise within the partnership was a key reason for the success of the changes and we really never found the limits of the technology. The key point to make is that the IMS solution provided a real economy of scope for the business as the existing deployed solution continued to deliver new benefits year on year.

"The key point to make is that the IMS solution provided a real economy of scope for the business as the existing deployed solution continued to deliver new benefits year on year."