Readiness assessment

A

Adoption

Will the people who have to use it, actually use it?

Prosci: excellent change management leads to 88% of projects meeting objectives versus 13% with poor. McKinsey: culture, not technology, is the top obstacle.

A1When you have rolled out a new tool or system before, how did the frontline users respond once the novelty wore off?

0Reverted to the old way, or built workarounds1Tolerated it; used the minimum required2Used it, with prompting3Adopted it and asked for more

A2Are the people who will use this daily involved in choosing or shaping it, or will they be told to use it after it is decided?

0Decided above them; they find out at rollout1Informed, not consulted2Consulted for feedback3Involved in the design from the start

A3Does the tool give the frontline user something back (faster, easier, one less hassle), or does it mainly serve management and reporting?

0Purely for management or compliance visibility1Mostly upstream; little for the user2Some direct benefit to the user3It clearly makes the user's own job easier

B

Scalability

If it works once, does it become a program, or die in pilot purgatory?

McKinsey: companies run about 8 transformation projects on average but scale fewer than a third.

B1If a pilot succeeds at one site, line, or unit, what is the concrete plan to reach the next ten?

0No plan beyond "we'll figure it out"1A champion would carry it personally2A rough playbook exists3A documented, repeatable rollout method exists

B2How similar are your sites, lines, or units to each other operationally?

0Every one is a snowflake1Broadly similar, many local exceptions2Similar, a few real differences3Largely standardized

B3Does the current effort depend on one or two specific people to function?

0It stops entirely if they leave1It would badly stall2It would slow but survive3It runs independent of any individual

B4Who owns making the rollout happen, and do they have the bandwidth to own it?

0An internal person who already has a full-time job on top of this1A single internal lead dedicated to the rollout, but without full-service vendor support2A full-service vendor owns implementation, or a dedicated internal team3A full-service vendor and a dedicated internal lead, together

C

Business-goal mapping

Is this tied to a number a budget-holder actually owns?

Prosci: effective sponsors lead to 79% meeting objectives versus 27%. Gartner names "unclear business value" a top reason AI projects are abandoned.

C1Can you name the single business metric this is meant to move, and by how much?

0"Modernize", "efficiency", "keep up"1A general area, no number2A specific metric, fuzzy target3A specific metric, a baseline, and a target

C2Who owns that metric, and do they have budget and reputation riding on this effort?

0No clear owner1An owner exists but isn't sponsoring this2Owner is supportive3Owner is the active sponsor

C3If this delivered exactly as promised, whose job gets measurably easier, and whose number improves?

0Hard to say specifically1Vague, diffuse benefit2A clear group benefits3A named person or role, in a way they'd notice

D

Data integrity

Is the foundation trustworthy enough to build, or automate, on top of?

Gartner: 60% of AI projects abandoned through 2026 for lack of AI-ready data. AI-ready data needs continuous quality, not a monthly audit.

D1How confident are you that your foundational records (asset registers, equipment tags, procedures, master data) reflect reality on the floor today?

0They've drifted; we know they're wrong in places1Probably mostly right, unverified2Verified within the last year3Actively maintained and trusted

D2When something changes on the floor, how reliably does that change reach the systems of record?

0It drifts; the record and reality diverge1Someone usually remembers to update it2A process exists, unevenly followed3A disciplined change process keeps them in sync

D3How much of your critical operating data currently lives only on paper, or only in one person's head?

0A great deal1A significant amount2Some, in known pockets3Very little; it's captured in systems

D4How confident are you that your instrument and telemetry data is valid: continuously accurate, with drift caught before it becomes a problem?

0Verification is lax or informal; drift usually surfaces only after it has caused a problem1Verification is prescribed but performed inconsistently; gaps go unnoticed2Verification is prescribed and mostly followed; most drift is caught in time3Verification is disciplined and audited; drift is caught early and errors are reliably addressed

E

Change-process robustness

Can the organization absorb change without breaking or backsliding?

Prosci: teams that measure adoption meet objectives 76% versus 24%. MIT flags "no feedback loop after launch" as a core failure pattern.

E1When a process changes, is there a defined way it gets documented, communicated, trained, and verified as actually adopted?

0Documented, but not actively communicated or trained1Documented and communicated, but no training or adoption check2Documented, communicated, and trained, but adoption isn't verified3Documented, communicated, trained, and adoption is verified

E2How many change initiatives are competing for the same people's attention right now?

0Too many; the floor is saturated1Several; attention is thin2A manageable few3This would have real focus

E3Think of the last operational change you made. How long until it was genuinely the new normal, and did it stick?

0It never fully stuck1Months, and it partly slid back2It stuck, slowly3It stuck cleanly and reasonably fast

F

Starting point

Are you starting in the right place: a first move small enough to finish and valuable enough to matter?

McKinsey: "analysis paralysis" is a top reason manufacturers stall. Start high-impact and low-integration, prove value, then take on integration.

F1How long have you been evaluating digitization or AI without deploying anything, and is a specific first step committed, with a date?

0Long-running evaluation; nothing deployed and no committed date1Actively evaluating; no firm commitment yet2A first project chosen; timing still loose3A specific first deployment committed, with a date

F2Of the candidate projects that have a defined business metric, how much system integration is required before any value appears?

0Every high-impact option needs heavy integration with current or legacy systems before it returns anything1Value requires significant up-front integration work2Some integration needed, but partial value is reachable early3At least one high-impact project delivers value with little or no integration burden

Where is a digital project most likely to break?