Digital transformation helps companies improve and grow: Agyle Intelligence

by Heidi Riley

At the Atlantic Economic Council conference, held in Charlottetown in November, David McNally, Founder & CEO of Agyle Intelligence, shared insights and strategies on how his company is driving growth through productivity improvements within the organizations he works with.

Agyle Intelligence is a software company based in Mount Stewart, PEI. “Born and raised on a farm on PEI, I saw the challenges in creating the processes and the improvements needed to achieve our goals,” says David.

“For the past 20 years, I have been involved in the food industry, dealing with small and large operators, mainly in manufacturing, as well as food and beverage and some government entities. I have seen a lot of process and productivity challenges and improvements.”

Dealing with change

“Agyle Intelligence identifies areas where we can help improve productivity across company supply chains and operations by digitizing their data, which gets it to the decision makers faster. Encompassing that digital transformation space is automation, lean principles, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“We do digital transformation assessments to identify where change is needed. That change is hard for some people to accept. Companies need the right team and the right culture in place to adopt the change and move it forward.

“Each company needs a change leader who can take it on, identify the risks and the benefits, and then put together a road map to get there. Change has to happen. If you are not changing, you are not growing.”

The importance of digital transformation

“Digital transformation is inevitable. Companies that are not looking at digital transformation solutions and improving processes through AI will fall behind. We are a small company, but we use AI and digital solutions every day to write proposals, do research, and help prepare for sales and marketing and presentations.

“We have been a remote operation since 2017, using communication tools to be together in an office virtually. We use those tools to track our tickets for support work, record our ideas for what is coming down the pipe, and monitor our own processes and productivity to make sure we are staying on top of our challenges.

“We work with companies worth $100 million+ and companies that are barely scratching at $1 million, and they are doing some really cool stuff. Some of the process improvements and adoption of digital solutions across supply chains and operations are dramatic and impactful.

“We helped one local multinational Island company by digitizing their entire process from receiving product at the door to it landing on a store shelf. After changing from paper-based processes, the manager could see what was happening on the floor and what his teams’ challenges were without even being there, and he could make decisions to deal with those challenges.

“Other results I have seen helped manufacturers reduce waste and add value to employee hours, making them more productive with the ability to make decisions faster by acting on that data on a daily basis in order to attract new projects. They put those savings into new innovation and invested in jobs and more market opportunities.

“Another company I worked with started with 100 employes in 2017. Through digitization, lean improvement, and the adoption of AI, they have grown to almost 400 employees. The impact can be very dramatic, but you have to take that first step. You need a plan for change management in place, and you need the right team and the right culture to take advantage of the situation.”

How can companies respond to a decreasing labour force?

David says companies need to adopt tools, training, continuous improvement, and lean principles. “The cost of onboarding new hires and bringing them up to scale only to have them leave is very impactful on a company. Identify talent within your own operation and repurpose their position. You need continuous improvement in every job title and encourage suggestions for improvement and productivity.”

How to narrow the productivity gap

“Capital investments need to happen. Automation, digitization, and AI can reduce the need for low-skilled labour. The challenge is to make sure you are making the right investments and solving the right problem. Always look at how to make a process more efficient before investing in a new piece of machinery. My advice is don’t delay. Look for solutions now. Prepare to make change and be mindful and plan around that transformation.”