(Photo: © created by Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Handwerk with DALL-E 3)
Read aloud:
This is the eleventh installment in our AI series. So far, we've explored the capabilities of KaI, our AI-powered assistant. Now, we're taking the first steps toward implementing AI in a craft business.
Today I'd like to take you on a journey. Imagine this: The business you want to run has to be founded from scratch. You're starting from a "greenfield site," so to speak, and you want to build a... building an innovative business, lead successfully, lead a fulfilling and healthy life into old age, have no problems recruiting young talent, and have only happy employees. What would this business look like? How would you best complete your tasks? What would you – as an employee – like?
The most frequent obstacles In the case of changes or digitalization, the existing structures, meaning the personnel and/or the existing infrastructure. Therefore, it's important to look at it from a different perspective. other perspective To look at things – regardless of all the circumstances – to step out into the unknown and think completely differently. Ask yourself: If you were starting from scratch today, would you handle your projects the same way you have been doing them?
Your answer is probably "no," because you know: For businesses that want to survive in the long term, the Digitalization and automation are crucialAnyone who uses an online form instead of a paper form has effectively digitized; but they've lost out in the competition against businesses that no longer use forms. Anyone who has ever experienced a modern identification process at a bank – entering a few details, starting a short video call, holding their face and ID up to the camera, and five minutes later the account is opened and the credit card is on its way – will hardly be thrilled when their bank proudly announces that it no longer uses paper forms and that you can now sign on a tablet.
And that brings us to the first reason for this "no": Our Customer behavior has been influenced by digital factors massively changedWe expect 24/7 availability, transparency in implementation, and efficient and reliable work practices, even from a craft business. KaI is not the only company that can help meet these increased demands and offer modern, customer-oriented service delivery.
Operations management
The Chambers of Crafts in Germany - Koblenz Chamber of Crafts
Operations management
AI series and application examples All parts of the AI series can be found in our special issue "Artificial Intelligence in Crafts – an assistant called KaIFurthermore, handwerksblatt.de offers additional articles on AI, such as the online articles "A mighty clever way to communicate" about the voicemail app with AI chatbot from the start-up "meiti", "AI – how craftsmen benefit in their everyday business"Or"ChatGPT: Save time and money with AI" from the theme special "Digital Crafts".
The second reason lies in Labor shortage: KaI can help compensate for staff shortages by automating routine tasks and optimizing work processes, while existing staff can dedicate themselves to other – more important – tasks.
Another reason lies in the increasing amount of information, which needs to be managed. Because the flood of communication, especially across so many different channels, presents many people with a daily challenge that could be mitigated by KaI.
Simply digitizing is unfortunately not enough. As manager Thorsten Dirks famously said...If you digitize a crappy process, you end up with a crappy digital process."That hits the nail on the head – yet this point is unfortunately ignored in many projects. Simply automating a bad process only results in a bad automation that usually creates more work, not less. And that's why you often hear people cursing after implementation."
The basis of any implementation is always a good planTo develop this, the necessary first step in implementing digitalization and thus also in implementing KaI is to consider the processes – which are also often referred to as procedures.
Now I would like to go with you again to a green field, where you are free from constraints and can imagine the perfect workflow in your company. Dream and imagine your perfectly digitized business.Use KaI to jot down your thoughts and ideas. This allows you to simply dream without interruption. This dream should become your vision, which you need to refine and adapt until you have one. Strategy have a basis on which you can plan the implementation in your company. That would be the path to a large-scale success. Implementation, which we will discuss later in the series.
To take a first step into the world of AI, the following approach is recommended:
You've probably heard the saying "data is the new gold" before. So, if you haven't had the time to pursue either the big or small steps of data collection, you should ensure that your data is accurate, well-organized, and easily accessible for potential AI applications.
The author is an employee of the Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Handwerk (SME Digital Center for Crafts), funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Since 2016, it has been supporting craft businesses and craft organizations in leveraging the opportunities offered by digital technologies, processes, and business models – free of charge, vendor-neutral, and throughout Germany. Since 2024, it has placed a special focus on artificial intelligence.
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