Continual changes during running production processes, whether on the shop floor or, for instance, in planning, operating equipment construction, idea management, or industrial engineering, are among the recurring challenges for employees of modern industrial companies. Changes for the shop floor can be introduced from any of these areas and have reciprocal effects on planned changes or those that are currently being implemented. An overview of all these change measures is necessary for whichever work area is considered, to facilitate assessment of the effects of new changes and their efficient implementation. Management of change in production, referred to as Manufacturing Change Management (MCM), is required. The project group Digital Manufacturing (DM) has particularized an MCM concept for this purpose, issued under PSI Recommendation 12.

The first step in introducing such an MCM concept to running processes is evaluation within the scope of a pilot project. Yet even introducing a pilot project while processes are underway poses a challenge. New work methods need to be incorporated and evaluated alongside the operative processes. The extent of the pilot project is defined together with the persons and areas involved. Sensible workflows are detailed and changes during running production operation are recorded in a formalized form. The question of suitable IT support is also raised here. The employees of the DM project group faced these and other questions in their pilot projects, and gained varying experiences thereby.

Building on PSI Recommendation 12, this MCM Adaptation Guideline is intended to support the introduction of an MCM in an industrial company. Based on the experiences gained here and in addition to organizational and technical general conditions, different concentrations in the implementation are elucidated and recommendations for practical implementation of the formal concept are offered.