In reply to Donald Jasurda.

Donald, indeed evaluating tangible business benefits before starting an implementation is critical. Typically such justification is required to gain funds for investment and also sustain momentum and measure benefits once implementation is completed.
Some benefit areas that I have seen at clients are
1. Reduction quality defects / rework / scrap due to improved process control, early identification of out-of-control situations
2. Improved throughput due to reduced number of stoppages etc
3. Reduced cost of maintenance through implementing predictive maintenance
4. Reduced manpower through elimination of a number of data handling activities
Cant get into details in this response but will try to write them up and post them in my next post if possible. Thank you for your question