Chapter 10: Building Internal Buy-In

The technology is the easy part. Getting everyone in your organization aligned around an automation initiative is where many manufacturers get stuck. In this episode, the Formic team walks through what it actually takes to build internal buy-in — from the C-suite all the way to the production floor — using a real customer story as the anchor. When one manufacturer's CFO pushed back on a Robots-as-a-Service model, the conversation shifted the moment he understood what outright ownership actually required: a robotics engineer, years before ROI, and equipment that couldn't grow with the business.That story illustrates the core principle of this episode: building buy-in means speaking to what each stakeholder actually cares about. The CFO cares about cash flow and total cost of ownership. Managers care about whether deployment will disrupt their team's productivity. Operators care about whether automation makes their day harder or easier. The episode includes a detailed buy-in checklist organized by stakeholder group — executives, managers, operators, and cross-functional teams — with specific questions to answer and communicate at each level. When people feel heard and informed, alignment follows naturally.Key Takeaways:Internal buy-in requires translating automation's value into language that matters to each stakeholder — what works for the CFO won't land with the frontline operatorThe CFO conversation often shifts when total cost of ownership is laid out clearly — the hidden costs of outright ownership (engineers, maintenance, obsolescence) frequently make Full Service Automation the smarter financial choiceOperators and frontline employees are more likely to embrace automation when they're involved early and understand how their roles will evolve — not just that they willReal stories from peer manufacturers are one of the most effective tools for building internal support — seeing how similar businesses succeeded makes the path feel achievableThe buy-in checklist covers four groups: executives focused on growth and margin, managers focused on workflow and performance, operators focused on daily tasks and safety, and cross-functional teams focused on alignment and communicationWhen you've thought through the concerns of every stakeholder and can answer them clearly, trust builds — and trust is what gets everyone on the same pageAutomate Now is written by the Formic team — Saman Farid, Danijel Lolic, Molly Garrison, Brooklyn Kiosow, and Shawn Fitzgerald — and edited by Brooklyn Kiosow. Formic helps U.S. manufacturers automate for the first time through Full Service Automation: no large upfront investment, no in-house robotics expertise required. If this episode made you think about where automation could work in your facility, start the conversation at formic.co.0:00 Intro — The CFO Story1:19 Different Stakeholders2:23 Automation as a Helpful Tool3:23 The Power of Real Examples4:03 Buy-In Checklist: Executives4:56 Buy-In Checklist: Managers5:35 Buy-In Checklist: Operators6:15 Buy-In Checklist: Cross-Functional6:47 Key Takeaways