admin We are in the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0 and in this era Information Technology (IT) and advanced manufacturing capabilities are playing a significant role in the product lifecycle to reform manufacturing companies. Resulting faster production time, extensive cost savings, higher insights of operations, affordable customer support, and benefiting manufacturing companies.
Manufacturing companies leveraging the latest in growth-inducing technologies are flourishing with greater speed and winning the market. Embracing the change and adapting this eco-system is the only solution to stay ahead of competitors for manufacturing companies.
Supply chain/ Blockchain as Cantilever
The supply chain, blockchain technologies are influencing different areas from management, tracking and transaction reporting in manufacturing companies.
Savoir-faire manufacturing companies do not bother much from price wars by adopting new technology that simplifies supply chain management, which in turn benefits more efficiently, more visibility and control over inventory, reduction of operational costs, and improved customer satisfaction and retention. Today’s supply chain technology solutions address manufacturing companies’ needs in a variety of areas, including Manufacturing Optimization, Logistics Optimization, Sales and Operations Planning, Product Lifecycle Management, Business Intelligence, Network, and Inventory Optimization, RFID, Procurement.
A third of over 2,000 industrial companies have digitized their supply chains while nearly three-quarters expect to by 2020, according to PwC.
Leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT )
According to a report, almost 63% of manufacturing companies believe that applying IoT to products will increase profitability over the next five years and are set to invest $267 billion in IoT by 2020. IoT’s expansion is due to widely available Internet access, smaller sensors, and cloud computing. IoT, achieve a variety of goals including cost reduction, increased efficiency, improved safety, meeting compliance requirements, and product innovation. Manufacturing companies understand that IoT empowers them to make informed strategic decisions by providing crucial, real-time information. Nearly a third (31%) of production processes and equipment and non-production processes and equipment (30%) already incorporate smart device/embedded intelligence.
The inception of Big Data and AI/ Machine learning
Today, wide data is available for manufacturing companies as IoT is transforming almost every surface into a sensor for data collection and providing real-time insights. Manufacturing companies can segregate and analyze data in ways that provide them with a comprehensive understanding of their business. This enables manufacturing companies to improve production, optimize operations, and address issues before problems arise. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning come in – having the ability to manage volumes of data generate legible insights and proffer solutions will greatly increase manufacturing companies’ responsiveness, improving efficiency and helping identify new business opportunities.
Synergism of AR and VR
Nowadays, most of the manufacturing companies have encountered some form of virtual or augmented reality. Whether it is start-ups or large-scale global brands, manufacturing companies are set to see more of this technology incorporated into existing processes and products to enhance the overall experience and to create mutually beneficial partnerships between man and machine that positively impact manufacturing companies. AR and VR interfacing seamlessly with computer-aided designs, manufacturing companies can use VR to quickly make modifications and additions to products during the product design stage before they go into modeling and manufacturing processes. It can also decrease inspection time and helps in detecting errors, which enables manufacturing companies to complete tasks faster. AR technology can also be used for training; workers can be shown how to perform a task and use the data feed to rectify their mistakes, which makes it possible for manufacturing companies to train quickly and effectively unskilled workers for high-value work.
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