We recently hired a young marketing team, and one of them casually asked, “Who’s our ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)?” Tough question—especially in the fragmented world of manufacturing. I have seen four types of ICPs—every mid-sized manufacturing company loves the idea of this shiny new thing called Industry 4.0, right until it is time to reach for the checkbook.

That is when the dilemma begins: should we buy a billed system or build our own thing? Then they flirt with Newbies, fall for the Freebies, get bullied by Bigbies, and try becoming Wannabies. After months of data drought, they call us quietly – “Can you help us get real data?”

Some Flirt with Newbies:
These are mushrooming start-ups with a glossy website, one brilliant UI/UX designer, and a lone CTO who knows IoT, cloud, maybe even Kafka—but has never seen a shop floor. The software looks great until you try using it. Buyers become beta testers. Flirting never gets to dating—soon they get jilted.

Some Fall for Freebies:
These are the “complimentary” systems bundled by machine OEMs. Not real solutions—more like accessories to tick the Industry 4.0 checkbox. Built by sleepy subdivisions, they promise the moon during expos, then vanish like a neta-ji after elections. If it is free, it is probably not serious. After initial dating and some heavy petting, they are done with the freebies.

Some Get bullied by Bigbies:
Global empires with armies of consultants and a 152-slide PowerPoint. Solutions that work—if you have ₹2 crores, two years, infinite patience, and a PhD from IISc. Most mid-sized firms just nod politely and smilingly walk them to the door. They know these are high-maintenance types and way beyond their bank balances.

Some take matters into their own hands to be Wannabies:
Mid-sized firms whose MD, sitting on a pile of IPO funds or from a VC, proudly say, “We will build our own system.” They hire a bright new IT manager, hand him a whiteboard, a geek squad, and loads of optimism. After all, it is software, and “my nephew who has an “MS in CS in the US “can pitch in with AI too!” Classic playbook scene; I have seen it a dozen times:

• ₹1.2 crore burnt in 2 years on dev tools and CFT meetings
• 10 machines connected, odd day good data, even day nothing
• Beautiful dashboards that say nothing useful
• Team members polish their CVs—”developed IoT product.”
• IT manager quits, with team—with the source code in his tiffin box

Meanwhile, their competitor 10 km away implemented a plug-and-play system in 3 weeks, improved OEE by 20%, and did not write a single line of code.

It is time to stop treating software development as a coding hobby by manufacturing companies. Unless its core business is writing firmware and handling databases, let the pros like us handle it. Industry 4.0 is not a coding project. It is a work culture shift. Build what gives you a strategic edge. Buy the rest from pros.

“Who’s our ICP?” Still a tough question.