3D Design - Module 8 - Success Factors

Greetings and welcome to Module 8. Here we're going to talk about success factors. As we take a look at the success factors that we need to make a wonderful implementation, there are a few areas we want to look at. First, people are the path to success. Make sure your users are ready to go on this journey with you. It will make such a big difference and such a better outcome. Then we want to take a look at the hardware. That's always important when it comes to technology. You need to make sure the solutions that you're working with are also working with the hardware you have chosen. And lastly, we'll take a look at training. Training is one of the most important elements of your implementation. Don't overlook it and don't cut it short. People can make or break your implementation. As I've pointed out before, 3D has a way of pulling your team members out of their comfort zone and into their growth zone. This is a great thing for you, for them, and for the organization, but we want to do this with care and concern. I am always a fan of setting others up for success, and if they go on this 3D journey with you, we want to reward that cooperation by setting the team members up for success. Timing in an implementation is so important. You wanna make sure you're doing this at the right time for your organization and for your users. If you set up your implementation to begin at a bad time for your season, at a time where the workload will be too heavy for your users to really focus on learning new skills, your implementation is doomed to fail. Or if not fail, at least not go nearly as smoothly as it could by starting at the correct time. I know with our busy schedules, finding the right time to begin anything new is always a challenge, but you wanna spot the best opportunity rather than rolling with the worst. I understand 3D is moving so quickly, many of us already feel behind, but feeling like you're behind is not a reason to rush the most important elements of your implementation, which is how you begin. In the other modules, I spoke a little bit about getting early wins by starting with product categories that will give you, uh, the easiest and the quickest return on your investment. As we take a look at that, we also not only wanna start in the easier areas, but we wanna customize our timelines to make sure we are expecting deliverables in certain departments in a way that reflects or is indicative of the level of work that it takes to achieve success. Success in every department and in each category may look different, and that's okay. As I've mentioned before when we were talking about understanding solutions, you may find that what solution is best in one category is not what's best for the other. Again, that's okay because we can still get to our goal of a successful 3D implementation. As you move forward with your implementation, and even earlier when you're just assessing the options, make sure you create a culture of communication and inclusion. This can only help you, even though sometimes inclusion can make things a bit difficult because you have more opinions and more voices. But if we hear those voices out, sometimes they can get us much further along much faster than we would if we practice exclusion and keep information close to our chest. When we're getting input, remember, even the detractors have valuable input, especially if these, uh, members of your team will also become your 3D users. You want to hear them out early. Make sure you listen to the reasons that they may not be for a 3D implementation. That way we can address those concerns early. If we allow them to linger, we create an environment that makes it really difficult for those users to to grab on and really excel at 3D and transform your organization. Next, let's talk about hardware. We spoke in earlier modules about making sure the release schedule of your solution provider matches your ability to upgrade, but we also wanna take a look at the hardware. Oftentimes in organizations, your hardware has a lifecycle. Sometimes you may have laptops that are leased from a, provider, uh, and you wanna make sure the cycle of your hardware is also gonna match the requirements of the solution that you've chosen. For example, take a look at what the software requirements are today and have the conversation with your solution provider about where they expect those hardware requirements to be later in the lifecycle of your hardware. You don't wanna end up in a situation where you're stuck with hardware that isn't meeting the needs of your team and is holding you back from creating the best results in 3D. Also, think about other hardware that you can add for your implementation that may make 3D more enjoyable to work with. For example, Vizu and X-Rite both have hardware solutions that help you scan materials and can allow you to stay in control of your own fabric input process. This is very important if you are an organization that has very specific textile needs, you may not find everything you need available in other solutions. So having your own hardware is a great step. I'm also a fan of large displays. If you can get a large screen to display your 3D simulations on, it makes the magic so much more magical. Here in my own studio, I have a large monitor over my workstation, and it almost gives me the opportunity to see my 3D simulations one to one with how big they'll be in the real world. Now, you don't need one of these for every user, but when you're doing your presentations, if you're looking at a review of designs, it's great to have a large display to be able to show the simulations on, and it makes them feel so much more real than they do looking at them on a smaller screen or printed out. All right, once you have the people you need and the hardware you need, let's get on the training train. Training is a vital and an important part of your implementation. Also know training is not a one-and-done type of scenario. With 3D, because there are so many facets of every software solution, you wanna make sure you have a training plan that includes an introduction and consistent follow-up. This will only help you, especially as you're upskilling designers, and fit technicians and pattern makers in different departments. Make sure you evaluate the training solutions available from your solution provider. They're always a great first step to dive into training, but they're not the only solution, and we'll talk about that a little bit later. As you move forward with training, remember, we all learn differently. If you're having a large team move into 3D, you may wanna consider diversity in your training approach. That can only help you, especially with a large team. You're more likely to have diversity of thought and people who have completely different ways of learning. As you evaluate your training options from your solution provider, think about how easy training is to access. Is it all done, uh, with a live instructor? Are there options online for you to learn from other users? And look at your training options both internally, in terms of with your solution provider, and externally, meaning outside of your solution provider. One of the most important things when putting together your training plan is to figure out how long it takes to become proficient in a given solution. This is a great question for your friends in industry. Solution providers have an idea of how long it takes to become proficient, but other members of the user community will have a better idea of how long it took them to become proficient when they are working with other responsibilities on the day-to-day as well. That's something the solution providers won't always have the same lens for. So make sure you're connecting with other members of the user community for your solution and see how long it took them to become proficient. It's the best way to get an idea of what that will look like within your organization. And again, earlier I mentioned your solution provider is going to have some training options available to you, but We live in a world where there are so many wonderful and talented people in the field that can help you really support your training plan well and add the kind of diversity you need to your training plan to bring more of your members along on your 3D implementation journey. One of my favorite trainers, Isis Lopez, is the best ACUMARK trainer in the world. I would go out of my way to sit in her classes, and she's also become wonderfully proficient at 3D and knows several products. So she is one of the many kinds of resources that you can find in the field that can not only help you with a 3D solution that you've chosen, but also help you navigate the field when you're working with multiple solutions. All right. Those are the success factors, guys. Please continue this dialogue. We would love to hear what helped make you successful in 3D as well. Let's keep the conversation going. And for now, we're gonna move on to Module 9, which is the conclusion and some final thoughts.