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Industries like finance, healthcare, and retail have undergone massive digital transformations. But if you walk into most small and mid-sized factories in the U.S., you’ll still see whiteboards, paper travelers, and “Bob’s binder of tribal knowledge” guiding critical processes.
This is the digital divide in manufacturing—and it’s growing.
What Is the Digital Divide in Manufacturing?
The term “digital divide” is often used to describe the gap between people who have access to modern digital tools and those who don’t. In manufacturing, that divide shows up on the shop floor:
- Paper-based instructions instead of interactive guidance
- Manual data entry instead of real-time quality tracking
- Shadowing veterans instead of structured digital training
Despite being the backbone of the U.S. economy, 98% of our supply chain is powered by small to mid-sized factories, many of which haven’t had access to affordable, practical digitization tools—until now.
Hear me explain more about why PICO is offering a no-cost solution
Why Are Small Factories Still on the Wrong Side of the Digital Divide?
Most factory leaders are pragmatic. They’ve seen bloated software packages that take months to deploy and cost more than a forklift. Even “free trials” come with strings attached—like 30-day countdowns that expire before implementation is even complete.
Here’s the real problem:
So, small factories stay stuck in the divide, not because they want to, but because the cost, complexity, and time investment just haven’t made sense.
The majority of manufacturers are still storing paper work instructions in binders or logging quality data in charts on paper
What’s the Cost of Staying Manual?
The impact of the digital divide isn’t just operational—it’s existential.
- A projected 2.4 million worker shortage looms over the industry.
- Completely avoidable errors are making national headlines, like how a door plug detached mid-flight with a Boeing aircraft
- And on average, U.S. manufacturers are operating 20–40% below standard productivity targets.
Staying paper-based in 2025 means falling further behind on quality, output, and workforce development.
Our Answer: Eliminate the Digital Divide Entirely
We believe the first step toward digitization should be simple, fast, and free.
That’s why Pico MES is now offering digital work instructions at no cost. No time-limited trial. No bait-and-switch. Just powerful, cloud-based tools designed to help factories move off paper and onto a smarter, standardized way of working.
With your free PICO instance, you can:
- Build interactive work instructions with photos and videos
- Design process flows that guide operators step-by-step
- Assign tasks to workstations and monitor execution
The only limitations are on the number of stations and operators (large factories can upgrade affordably), and access to advanced analytics features that increase our cost to support.
Why This Matters: A New Path Through the Divide
This isn’t a giveaway. It’s a strategy.
We’re building the foundation for a stronger, more resilient supply base, starting with digital clarity at the point of work. Because when instructions are clear, data is captured in real time, and operators are empowered, everything else improves:
- Training time and onboarding is reduced
- Output goes up
- Errors and rework get eliminated
And critically, teams start to see what’s possible. Once you take the first step toward digitization, momentum builds. Those five-minute improvements add up, allowing factories to reinvest time, reduce stress, and unlock new capacity.
It’s Time to Cross the Digital Divide
Every factory wants better quality, more efficiency, and stronger training. But none of that is possible if operators are still flipping through binders or guessing how a product should be built.
We’re inviting every small and mid-sized manufacturer to get off the sidelines. The digital divide is no longer about access. It’s about action.
Start Now—No Budget Approval Needed
Click here to activate your free PICO account and start building digital work instructions in minutes. The future of American manufacturing doesn’t belong on paper.
