‘Excel and Jim’ are not an MES Strategy
“Excel and Jim” Is Not a Strategy
It’s a short-term patch with a long-term cost.
At first, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or check if “Jim” had somehow achieved sentience.
You know Jim.
The guy who’s been keeping the factory afloat with sheer willpower, a dozen macros, and more institutional knowledge than your onboarding docs will ever capture.
And let’s not forget his sidekick—Excel.
The unsung hero of operations.
The duct tape of manufacturing data.
The digital version of "don't touch anything, it works."
Let’s be fair.
Excel and Jim get things done.
They’ve earned their stripes.
But here’s the thing:
Getting things done is not the same as doing them well.
And it’s definitely not the same as building a scalable, agile, and intelligent manufacturing operation.
We Don’t Run Our Lives Like It’s 2003
So why are we running our factories like it is?
Let’s step back for a moment.
In the last 20 years, we’ve gone from flip phones to smartphones...
From mailing checks to tapping watches...
From using MapQuest printouts to having AI co-pilots that reroute us before we hit traffic.
Yet walk into too many factories today, and it still feels like:
Decisions are made based on what Jim remembers from last quarter.
Production schedules live in color-coded spreadsheets that only one person understands.
Quality data is scattered across emails, clipboards, and three disconnected systems.
Welcome to Manufacturing, Circa Industry 3.0—still standing, still producing, but increasingly misaligned with the digital era it now competes in.
‘Excel and Jim’ Is a System…
But it’s a system of survival, not a strategy for success.
It works—until it doesn’t.
Until Jim calls in sick.
Until the spreadsheet crashes.
Until a regulator asks for traceability.
Until you lose a customer over one late shipment and can’t explain why.
And the worst part?
You didn’t even see it coming—because your insights were two weeks behind.
MES Isn’t the Enemy
It’s the upgrade Jim deserves.
Let’s clear something up:
MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) aren’t designed to replace people.
They’re designed to make everyone more effective.
Operators get real-time context, not just instructions.
Supervisors see what's happening across the floor—without walking it 20 times a day.
Executives stop making decisions based on gut feel and start trusting data they can see in real-time.
And yes… even Jim can stop being the sole keeper of truth and finally go on that vacation without worrying the factory will fall apart in his absence.
From Heroics to Systems Thinking
Let’s talk about the silent culture that props up far too many factories: heroism.
You’ve seen it. Maybe you’ve even lived it. The planner who stays late every Thursday manually rebalancing schedules after a last-minute rush order. The line operator who notices a recurring defect and just “works around it” because there’s no easy way to escalate the issue. The quality manager who cobbles together data from five different systems and a few emails—just in time for the audit.
We celebrate these people. We rely on them. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: heroism in operations is often a sign of broken systems.
The moment we applaud the person who “saved the day,” we should also be asking: Why did it need saving in the first place? Why is success dependent on memory, multitasking, and muscle rather than clarity, visibility, and repeatability?
Heroics create an illusion of control. But they also create fragility. Because when the hero is out sick—or leaves the company—everything comes crashing down.
Systems thinking flips the script. Instead of relying on individuals to constantly fill the gaps, it focuses on closing the gaps altogether. It’s about designing operations that don't require daily miracles to function—just smart, connected processes that consistently deliver.
When manufacturers shift from patching problems to designing around them, they stop reacting and start evolving. They build factories that are resilient, not just resourceful. They enable their people to solve problems, not just survive them.
