Interview with Jim Bradley, Senior Director, Information Technology, Motoman, Inc.

Author: Andy Hickey

July 2009

What is your current role?
I came to Motoman, Inc. (“Motoman”) just over three years ago as Senior Director, Information Technology (IT) with responsibility for leading the development and implementation of current and future IT initiatives, while maintaining and enhancing existing network, computer and enterprise tools (via projects, enhancements, action items, process improvements and Help Desk trouble tickets).  Major projects have included e-Commerce, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Data Warehousing and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Process and Requirements, plus several additional infrastructure initiatives.

What roles did you have before this position?
Most of my career has been in IT Program and Project Management.  I began as an IT Co-op, then Programmer, Systems Analyst, Technical Lead, Manager, Director, then into Consulting as a Project / Program Manager (in both the Telecommunications and Printing industries).  My most recent previous position was as an Enterprise Program Manager in a Project Management Office (PMO) in banking.  Much of my career has been in government / defense contracting where process, structure and discipline were a focus with regards to tools like the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and the Project Management Institute (PMI).  Personally, my focus has been both Project Management and Software Development Life-cycles and Software Cost Estimating.  I have an MBA with a concentration in Quantitative Analysis and Economics and am Project Management Professional (PMP) certified.

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
The accomplishment I am most proud of is in successfully moving from IT Program Management to IT Director.  This involved expanding my horizons from software applications into infrastructure systems.  Motoman saw the need to improve upon project execution and already had a sound and stable infrastructure, along with a strong IT Architect.  We have both expanded our capabilities throughout our partnership.  I also inherited a strong team that has been here many years and also upgraded with new staff.  The most recent accomplishment I am proud of is the rollout of our new website.  We have improved our best practices and searchability on the site over the past few months including moving more into Social Media (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter).

What does Motoman do?  What makes them unique?
Motoman is a Robotics Manufacturer and Distributor.   We deliver innovative robotic automation solutions for virtually every industry and application, including arc welding, assembly, coating, dispensing, material cutting, material handling, material removal and spot welding.  Our product line includes more than 175 distinct robot models and 40 fully integrated pre-engineered "World" solutions that are complete application specific work cells, including robot, process equipment and safety equipment.  Motoman is a subsidiary company of Yaskawa Electric Corporation, the world leader in robotics.  Combined with our sister and partner companies, we support robotic solutions throughout the world. What makes us unique is our proven track record of delivering industry leading quality, innovation and customer satisfaction that exceed robotic automation goals.

What role does IT have for a high-technology company?
We are a mid-size manufacturing high-technology company with the same automation needs as much larger manufacturing companies. Our internal customers are sometimes as knowledgeable as we are about technology which makes our job more interesting and leads us to quicker need and value discussions.  From our IT Vision, we focus on Customer Satisfaction, Necessary / Affordable, Governance and Portfolio / Project Management.  From our IT Objectives, we focus on moving up the Value Chain from Data Management (Cost Reduction) to Functions (Quality) to Process (Time to Market) to Business Solutions (Innovation).  We are striving to be a catalyst for both Process and Product change.  We measure ourselves on: Standards Compliance, Productivity Increases, and Cost Reduction and (to a lesser extent) Revenue Enhancement.

You have several international companies.  What kind of coordination do you do?  What challenges does this present?
We support locations here in the Dayton area (both West Carrollton and Troy), Detroit, Los Angeles, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.  We have parent companies near Chicago (Yaskawa Electric America) and in Japan (Yaskawa Electric Company) and sister companies in Europe and Asia.  We totally support all of the Motoman locations in North America and provide some support to those in South America with our entire IT Team centrally located in West Carrollton.  We spend some time in Troy and work with remote (technical) contacts at all other remote sites.  The team is split into two halves, applications and infrastructure.  The challenges are the typical ones that come with being remote and we are in the process of improving our remote management capabilities as we rarely travel to these locations. The other challenges we have are some minor cultural and communication differences between the various countries but we have attended training to help us understand these.

What is the IT environment at Motoman?
Motoman has over 400 employees, with most in the Dayton area supported by IT here locally.  We have a heterogeneous infrastructure with HP-UX, Netware, Linux and MS Windows operating systems on HP Servers and utilize Cisco Hardware.  Our computers are Dell, both laptops and desktops.  We have a WAN with Fiber and MPLS with VoIP.  We use EMC for our SAN.  Our primary business applications are ERP (MXP), CRM (Clarify and ACT), a Data Warehouse, various other Data Bases, and our Web-sites (internet, e-Commerce, extranets and an intranet).  Our primary desktop applications are MS Office, Groupwise, Solid Edge, AutoCAD, Adobe and various Security and Mobile tools.   

What are your goals for Motoman’s IT strategy for the next year?
With the current economic conditions, our primary focus has been on enhancements and upgrades.  We are hoping to move toward a new ERP later this year that will integrate ERP, CRM, Business Intelligence (BI), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Product Life-cycle Management (PLM).  We have narrowed our search to a few vendors in our selection process; however, our project start is contingent on the economy improving. We need to complete our process toward Japanese Sarbanes-Oxley (J-Sox) Compliance and have updated our Corporate Reporting tools.  We are also in the process of updating our Business Continuity Plan (BCP).

How can Motoman use IT to be more successful?
IT has had a seat on the Executive Team since I arrived which has been very insightful and useful.  Our biggest need is to implement a new, integrated ERP.  IT then needs to move more up the value chain from primarily Data Management and Functions to more Process and Solutions.  A few of our staff inherently know and perform Business Analysis, we need to make this more of a focus and look to help improve Business Processes.  Then we need to move on to increased innovation and collaboration.

What can other companies learn from Motoman?
Our core value at Motoman is Customer Satisfaction.  Quality is paramount.  We significantly upgraded our testing capabilities over the past few years.  We also focus internally on Employee Satisfaction, leading to more Productivity. Besides innovation, this has led us, as a company, to being very lean and efficient.  We are constantly striving to improve.  We are a family.

The next big thing for your industry is . . .
The next big thing for our industry is Innovation (again) and Collaboration. We are always looking for the next automated solution need across our existing and new customers.  We are also striving to be more of a global company.  With the current economic environment, our world and our industry are changing dramatically.  Where our focus may have been automotive and welding in the past, the future may be more in material handling including Life Sciences, Consumer Packaged Goods and Alternative Energy.  Assisted living robots are not too far into the future.