Kevin Bull, Product Strategy Director at Columbus, explains how manufacturers can upgrade their supply chain by making digital changes. This makes it easier to respond to changing business dynamics and customer expectations, as well as retain a competitive advantage.
Top smart manufacturing use cases
Manufacturers are strategically prioritising several use cases in parallel to combat uncertainties and sustain their businesses. Some of the top manufacturing use cases we see from our customers at Columbus include:
- Demand forecasting uses historical data to predict future market needs. This can prevent stock issues, improving supply chain efficiency and customer satisfaction. This strategy enhances informed decision-making and profitability
- Asset maintenance, predictive, and uptime solutions use data analysis to anticipate and prevent equipment issues, minimise downtime, ensure smooth production, and cut costs by avoiding disruptions
- Servitisation involves offering maintenance, insurance, and connectivity services alongside your products. This approach generates sustainable revenue streams and builds lasting customer connections
- Mixed reality for remote inspections and commissioning, the shop floor and in-field service connects experts across various locations. This technology enables real-time guidance and instructions, resulting in enhanced training, maintenance, and troubleshooting for improved efficiency and fewer manufacturing errors
Strategically applying these use cases isn’t without its challenges. Each manufacturer faces their own unique scaling challenges that require a calculated approach to processes, planning and implementation to create a sustainable business model.
Let’s look into some more common challenges manufacturers are facing so you can be prepared when starting your transformation journey.
Extracting the maximum value from data
Many businesses now have extensive data archives spanning several years, but are unsure how to extract the maximum value from this data. Typically, this involves consolidating information from multiple sources, including legacy and complex data like weather or currency exchange rates.
Ensuring data integrity is another key concern, with the challenge of alignment, matching, and continuity over time. Data cleansing, sometimes automated with AI, plays a crucial role. Real-time data from shop floor sensors is pivotal for immediate insights and action, especially if quality measures breach thresholds, for example.
Solutions such as business intelligence dashboards offer real-time production insights for informed decisions, boosting efficiency, cutting costs, and refining product quality.
Data connectivity
Manufacturers are increasingly looking to establish robust connections with shop floor assets to unlock enhanced operational efficiency, refine quality control processes, and make better informed decisions.
However, insufficient data-related skills within the manufacturing business landscape means many manufacturers find themselves unable to effectively link with their machinery or manage the influx of data streams from sensors, highlighting a critical gap that needs to be addressed. Also, the convergence of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) often poses challenges, particularly where legacy equipment is still in use.
The journey towards successful connectivity begins with a fundamental question: What specific outcomes are you aiming to achieve from the data? Whether it’s optimising Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) or elevating product quality standards, defining these objectives is a crucial starting point.
It’s also important to recognise that these solutions require tailored approaches due to the unique demands of each manufacturing organisation. However, developing bespoke applications can be tricky without in-house expertise. Tools like Power Apps and Power Automate empower companies to create custom applications that align precisely with their specific needs, without requiring extensive coding expertise.
Leveraging artificial intelligence
AI’s certainly a hot topic in today’s market and offers practical applications when it comes to reconstructing the supply chain.
It can take global big data and spot trends and patterns, with risk identification being one area that’s gaining signification traction among manufacturing organisations. AI can also highlight supply chain vulnerabilities, enabling proactive risk mitigation.
As well as detection, AI can also be used to generate actionable insights. For example, it can suggest preferred suppliers based on their supply chain history, or issue alerts for impending disruptive climate events.
Despite the growing investment in AI, a Gartner survey found that just 54% of AI projects progress from pilot phase to production, highlighting a challenge businesses have in turning their AI ambitions into reality. A good digital transformation partner can support you in navigating and mitigating the challenges associated with integrating AI into your business operations.
Building a sustainable supply chain
Many businesses are making efforts to report on their internal sustainability efforts but achieving a comprehensive sustainability profile requires extending reporting down the supply chain, which can pose challenges.
Sustainability reporting tools provide comprehensive tracking and analysis of environmental and social impacts, enabling businesses to make informed decisions, ensure regulatory compliance, and communicate their sustainable practices transparently. Manufacturers are looking to achieve this connectivity, particularly in linking shopfloor equipment usage with sustainability goals.
Building a well-defined transformation strategy
Often, manufacturers have growth ideas but lack the strategy and suitable software required to achieve them. The key is to support any new technologies with a digital-first culture that’ll accept and support the transformation.
A good digital-first environment is characterised by data-driven decision-making, which is not possible without efficient cross-functional collaboration and a data sharing culture in place.
Ready to start your supply chain transformation journey? Learn more about fine-tuning your digital strategy with Columbus by reaching out to [email protected].
Kevin Bull, Product Strategy Director at Columbus.
With extensive experience in the manufacturing industry, Kevin is well positioned to guide a business through its selection and implementation of a business-critical IT solution.
Contact Kevin at [email protected].
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