Don’t Modernize An Outhouse
Would you still use an outhouse at home? Of course not. Indoor plumbing revolutionized hygiene, convenience, and efficiency. It wasn’t just a fresh coat of paint on an old system—it was a fundamental shift in how we managed something essential to daily life.
So why are some manufacturers still running their operations on outdated systems, relying on patchwork processes and legacy technology?
An old outhouse technically works—it gets the job done. But it’s inefficient, uncomfortable, and prone to unpleasant surprises. It’s a system built for a different era, one that has long since been replaced by something significantly better.
Yet, in manufacturing, many companies fall into the trap of upgrading appearances while keeping outdated processes underneath. A sleek new interface on a decades-old system doesn’t make it modern. A digital dashboard sitting on top of disconnected spreadsheets doesn’t make it AI-driven. A new logo on an aging supply chain doesn’t make it agile.
The Hidden Cost of Clinging to the Past
Just like indoor plumbing didn’t just improve the bathroom—it improved sanitation, water management, and overall public health—modernizing manufacturing isn’t just about new tech. It’s about efficiency, scalability, resilience, and competitive advantage.
Companies that hesitate to modernize often justify it with:
"It still works, why change it?"
"We don’t have the budget right now."
"New technology is too disruptive."
"Our people aren’t ready for this shift."
But these are the same arguments people might have made against indoor plumbing—until they experienced the alternative.
At some point, small inefficiencies stack up into significant disadvantages. And just like no one wants to go back to the days of an outhouse, no manufacturer who embraces modern solutions wants to return to the old ways of operating.
5 Questions Every Manufacturer Should Ask Themselves
To avoid simply putting a new facade on outdated operations, ask yourself:
Are we upgrading for aesthetics or for impact? A fresh dashboard or a modern UI doesn’t mean a system is truly modern. Are you making deep, meaningful changes or just surface-level fixes?
Are we making data-driven decisions or guessing based on experience? If your team is still using spreadsheets, gut feel, or manual reports, you’re already at a disadvantage. Do you trust your data, and is it real-time?
How much of our workforce’s time is wasted on non-value-added tasks? If employees are spending more time inputting, cleaning, or reconciling data than making decisions, that’s a red flag.
Is our technology helping us scale, or is it holding us back? Can your current systems adapt to business growth, new regulations, or changing market conditions without major overhauls?
If we were building this company from scratch today, would we design it the same way? If the answer is no, then your current systems probably need a fundamental rethink.
