Technology Mastery
A free playbook for mid-sized manufacturers. It sets out the method I use to review, recover and run technology, written down so your leadership team can use it without me.
Written for the people who run the business.
Owners, managing directors and finance directors of manufacturers with roughly £10m to £200m turnover, where technology has become critical but nobody on the board owns it.
It's most useful if any of these sound familiar.
- Spreadsheets run alongside the ERPBecause nobody trusts what the system says.
- Month-end keeps getting longerAnd the numbers arrive too late to act on.
- Stock figures are argued overProduction, sales and finance each have their own version.
- A systems programme has stalledBudget spent, go-live slipping, the team worn out.
- Peak trading hits a ceilingThe systems can't keep up with the orders.
- Security is someone's side jobAnd the board can't say how exposed the business is.
The method at a glance
Four stages take you from not knowing where you stand to a funded plan with named owners.
- 1
Discover
Interview finance, operations and IT leads. Visit sites. Gather costs, contracts, policies and past reviews.
- 2
Assess
Rate each of eight areas against good practice, and map the risks and dependencies between them.
- 3
Recommend
Set out usually three options, scored and costed, with the team, partners and governance to deliver.
- 4
Plan
Fix critical security issues in 30 days, then run a 12 to 24-month roadmap with board decisions by date.
The eight areas
Every review rates the same eight areas, so progress can be tracked from one review to the next.
- Strategy and alignment
- Infrastructure and cloud
- Cyber security
- Business systems
- Data and reporting
- People and capability
- Suppliers and contracts
- Cost and value
What's inside
Eight parts, twelve figures and seven templates you can use straight away.
- 1Why mid-sized manufacturers struggleThe early warning signs, and why the business rarely has the people to dig itself out.
- 2The methodDiscover, assess, recommend, plan. Rescue, restart or stop. Options, tenders and the roadmap.
- 3Owning securityThe first 30 days, NIST CSF 2.0, and reporting to the board.
- 4AI: govern first, then adoptFinding shadow AI, setting policy and putting AI to work safely.
- 5People and governanceBuilding a team to replace yourself, and a decision rhythm that fits.
- 6The method in practiceFour anonymised case studies, with results.
- 7Notes for US manufacturersCMMC and what changes on the other side of the Atlantic.
- 8If you only have this playbookWhat a finance director can do alone, plus the templates.
Rate your business in two minutes
Rate each of the eight areas honestly to see where the playbook suggests you start.
The method in practice
Three results from the case studies in part 6. Clients are described by sector and size.
orders processed a day at peak after a new ERP
Manufacturer, about 100 staffto bring each acquired retailer onto group systems
Retail and wholesale group, about 360 staffa year saved on licences while a stalled ERP restarted
Manufacturer with UK and US factories
About the author
Gareth Rooney is a fractional CIO and CTO and the founder of Aspirica. He has 25 years in IT, 18 of them leading technology functions, and won CIO 100 UK awards in 2025 and 2026.
The playbook draws on his work as IT Director and Group IT Director inside manufacturing and retail businesses, and on his own review method.
More about GarethGet the playbook.
Free, with no sign-up. Share it with your board, your finance team or anyone it might help.
Want help applying it? Email gareth@aspirica.co.uk.