REDWOOD CITY, CA—Some 230 small and midsized manufacturers have begun the digital transformation process by taking advantage of an offer by software supplier Pico MES to use its digital work instruction suite of tools for free.

Last August, Pico MES announced that small and midsized manufacturers could sign up to receive a free cloud-based instance of the software with capabilities to build worker guidance instructions, create digital process flows, and assign stations. Each deployment supports up to 10 users.

Pico’s goal was to have 100 new users by the end of 2024, but the company is on pace to reach 260 deployments by the end of April.

“This is not a free trial with a time limit. This no-cost model supports our mission of modernizing the supply base and taking cost out of the equation,” says Ryan Kuhlenbeck, CEO and co-founder of Pico MES.

“There’s a massive digital divide between small and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises,” he continues. “Most MES software isn’t designed for these smaller factories. Some companies offer work instruction software, but if you want to integrate tools and other things with it, it’s a dead end. We want to eliminate barriers to technology.”

Pico’s software is now deployed in more than 15 countries, including India, Australia, Malaysia, Ireland, Korea, Germany, Mexico and Canada. Users include manufacturers of engines, medical devices, appliances, guitars, bicycles, and even glow-in-the-dark hula hoops.

Small and medium-sized businesses continue to rely heavily on manual tools that are difficult to maintain, such as spreadsheets and paper documents, for managing their operations. The reason, says Kuhlenbeck, is that those companies can’t afford software designed for the large OEMs, such as GM or Airbus. In fact, more than 98 percent of new users of Pico software switched from paper-based methods, not other MES platforms.

“The high price and complex onboarding and installation process associated with factory floor technology has long stymied small and midsize factories from initiating their digitization journeys,” he says. “Even industry-standard free trials aren’t worth the headache, as the majority of digital systems take longer than the standard 30 days to implement.”

By offering his company’s digital work instruction software free, Kuhlenbeck hopes to eliminate that digital divide and make it easier for factories to increase output and demonstrate improvements in training time without the barrier of an upfront investment.

Once they’ve created a strong digital foundation, factories can consider adopting Pico’s other software. The company’s tools for data analysis and presentation and for integrating its software with ERP and PLM software are not part of the free offer. A growing number of free users are upgrading to paid tiers on their own, says Kuhlenbeck.

“Every five minute gain from using digital solutions—from answering yet-another operator question, to reworking a part that was built incorrectly—can be reinvested into other factory operations,” he says. “We’ve essentially eliminated price as an excuse, and now the only standing defense is simply ‘I don’t care enough to improve.’”