“Produce More with Less Resources”, is the key of all the Industrial revolutions over the centuries. The current revolution is expected to provide a leap forward in terms of efficiency.  Live tracking of performance, WIP,  Production Control with the reduction of paper and removal of duplicate manual efforts are key to success in this era. Digitizing and transforming the shop floor is going to be the effort involved to achieve the above. Let us explore in detail about functional areas that will be improved on implementing the digital transformation. Here is the top seven benefits of digital transformation.

Improved Efficiency

Manufacturing companies make large investments in machinery and they need to achieve the maximum returns on their investment in a short span of time. Improved efficiency is one of the key benefits of digital transformation. So manufacturing industries can expect a high level utilization and performance with the help of digital transformation. It reduces production losses, achieves greater competitiveness and improves machine utilization.

The reliability of manually estimated overall equipment efficiency will not be fair at all time. Hence they need a production monitoring solution that estimates the essential KPIs with the real-time status. The right OEE software will provide a real-time insights into production, improving performance & operational efficiency.

Optimal Work Load

Optimal Work Load is one of the most considerable metrics. Especially resource allocation, scheduling and assigning tasks depends upon optimal work load. Consider an example, In the early period of business, filling documents manually can be quick & quite easy. However, when the business scales up, manual data collection has become very cumbersome. It is important that you need to file, find and store documents in a quick & effective way. When you decide to assign an employee, it will be very time-consuming and its access time will be too long. However, when you deploy digital transformation, all data can be effectively stored and retrieved in minutes. Even it is a smart way to display a report. Finally, Digitalization will be the best solution & right way for optimal work load.

Flawless Data Collection & Storage

Manufacturing industries need to implement several process improvements in order to guarantee high quality products and reduce costs. Industries are realizing the essentials of flawless data collection to improve operational efficiency. The process of data, in fact, provides customers with highly effective tools in evaluation options and traceability. Data Storage is useful because the past data analysis helps to make decisions in a difficult situation. In a simple term, digital transformation converts raw data into meaningful insights. It helps to make the right decisions at the right time.

Track Materials Easily

The journey of raw material to production goods is an important process in the manufacturing unit and tracking it seems to be a difficult one. This is because the end to end flow will decide the profit of the entire industry. Monitoring & measuring the raw material usage, bad quality outcomes, the progress of final products to enter the sales market are the most responsible & complex processes in the field of manufacturing as errors may rise at any phase. Tracking & measuring such process manually will not be accurate. However, Digital transformation provides a smart way tracking of end to end system without any paper work enabling easier tracking of materials.

Production Co-ordination

One of the biggest drawbacks in traditional manufacturing is the lack of proper communication medium. This reflects on the outcome of product and the quality of work. However, production coordinator needs to ensure that the production department meets its quality standards & their production target. Without proper & effective communication between departments, it is impossible for them to coordinate their team & get effective results. Hence, in recent times, the emerging technology of using mobile & software applications will simplify communication and enhance collaborative work. This will also ensure the flexibility of knowledge sharing for industrial growth.

Increased Profits

The overall global economy depends on the manufacturing industry. Moreover, the profit of manufacturing industry is a huge key in the financial market. But the overall profit will get disrupt  with some factors like low machine utilization, downtime, worst OEE, manual tracking & manual performance management.

However, the above challenges can be simply solved by digital transformation. It provides an overall picture of the company from financial to inventory. It helps to create a more stable, predictable production environment. Tracking overall equipment efficiency over time is the foundation for improving production line performance and process quality at the same time.

Resolve a hidden factory

The first step of productivity is to discover a hidden factory. The concept of the hidden factory was primarily focused on quality, especially the waste and costs caused by bad work. Some of the hidden factors are mentioned below:

• Schedule Loss
• Availability Loss
• Performance Loss
• Quality Loss

All these factors can be rectified with the help of smart OEE tools.

Flexibility

Digital transformation enables a remote control of entire manufacturing processes. So many industries already started using digital transformation technologies for proper stock management, human resources management, scheduling & utilization. Still, there are so many areas that every manufacturer should concentrate on. Manufacturers should highly adopt digital transformation as it enables the use of more flexible technology to transform the entire factory.

Hope the above listed benefits of digital transformation provides you the better understanding on why to implement it.

Do you have any requirements?? We will provide you a customized solution specific to your needs.

Productivity is an ultimate goal of the manufacturing industry. Especially, high production on a short span of time without any bad quality is a big dream of an Industry. However, to achieve this, the manufacturing industry should think of some key factors like people, process, digital maturity, and good management. Productivity Loss is an addressable hotspot of success. The key issue which every industry faces is the productivity loss which results due to variation of estimation time to execution time, bad quality products, worst raw material, improper Visibility, no schedule, no measurement metrics, unoptimized process, & cost inefficient.

By using the 6 ways mentioned below, you can definitely improve productivity. Let us have a deeper look in it.

Analyse and Understand Availability Loss

The first & foremost is the analysing and understanding about failure which will almost help you choose the successful way. Similarly improving productivity where productivity loss actually occurs is a major point. Losses are activities that absorb resources without creating bringing any value to the organization. The difference between Planned Production Time to runtime is called availability Loss. Mostly Equipment failure & Setup Adjustments are key factors that comes under an Availability Loss. A simple solution is the measurement of OEE which helps to rectify the problem.

Isolate Slow Performing Machines

The Slow and worst performance of the machines will have a heavy impact on productivity loss. It is necessary to analyse and measure every machine in a production line with the performance metrics. Now, compare its performance with various machines & detect slow performing machines. Then isolate such slow performing machines and so it won’t affect the workflow of the production line. Finally, diagnose & find out the reason behind the slow performance of machines and rectify it.

Start Micro Planning

Pre-planning the goal of production is an important one. Micro planning determines the detailed implementation of the identified process. On the whole production process should be segmented as a small process with proper planning. This method has a high level chance of improving productivity.

Monitor WIP (Work in progress)

WIP (Work in Progress) is a concept used to describe the flow of manufacturing costs from one area of production to the next, once the raw material arrives. Monitoring of WIP will effectively improve productivity. This is because, it is easy to rectify if there is a delay in progress.

Up skill your workforce

Collecting brains makes an effective solution that every team members like production unit members, quality members, maintenance members, superior, financial team members, selective members from various shifts, technology team and management will be gathered to conduct an effective meeting about productivity loss, Market status, financial Management, Digital Transformation and futuristic Plans. The outcome of the meeting will definitely decide Industrial growth.

Optimize the Process

Once you have retrospect, workflow and output of meeting will start identifying areas where technology and process need some update or change. Now optimize the process and redefine fine-tune architecture with the latest technologies and follow the optimized process definitively to improve productivity.

To know more….Talk to our experts to discuss about your requirements at your shop floor to improve your manufacturing productivity.

Adopting new technology is a growing symptom of all Industry and similarly manufacturing Industry is not an exception. Industrial revolutions have made many improvements in manufacturing and service systems. Because of remarkable and rapid changes appeared in manufacturing and information technology, industries realized the importance of adapting to new technology. These advancements are conduced to increase productivity both in service systems and manufacturing environment. In recent years, manufacturing companies have faced substantial challenges due to the necessity in the coordination and connection of disruptive concepts such as communication and networking, embedded systems, adaptive robotics, cyber security, data analytics and artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing. These advancements have paved the way for the extension of the developments in manufacturing and information technology. It is a necessary one for the manufacturing industry to maintain current trends and standard for industrial growth. Let us have a look on top 5 manufacturing technologies that every manufacturing industries should adopt.

Why to implement in before 2025?

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change  – Charles Darwin”.

For every 5 years, technology as well as dependent Industry is continuously evolving and shaping up the future strategies. Organizations continually try to adopt new technologies to overhaul their Industry infrastructures and to keep up with the pace of changing market dynamics. Industry’s futuristic vision and mission can be accomplished only by futuristic technologies. In next 5 years especially, manufacturing industry will face dramatic changes. So it is mandatory to adopt this simple formula to succeed.

The smart way to overcome all challenges & problems in the manufacturing Industry is the optimistic use of technology.

Here is a list of essential manufacturing technologies :

• • IoT (Internet of Things)
  • Automation and Robotics

  • Predictive Analysis

  • Artificial Intelligence

  • Mobile applications

IoT (Internet of Things)

The Internet of things plays a vital role in the manufacturing industry. In today’s world, there is a heavy demand for customization with the increasing customer expectations, the complexity and many other challenges which encourage manufacturers to find new more innovative ways to remain competitive. IoT is a way to digital transformation in manufacturing. Industrial IoT employs a network of sensors to collect critical production data and it uses valuable manufacturing units to maximize productivity by maintaining production up times, reducing costs and eliminating unwanted time. IoT will help manufacturing industries improve their manufacturing efficiency.

Automation and Robotics

Automation plays a major role in manufacturing field. It is simply, without human intervention but a smart human intelligence way to get the manufacturing process done. It provides world-class quality, without any delay, while reducing errors & waste and increasing productivity.

 Automation and Robotics avoid,

• Improper data handling
• Skilled Labour
• Bad Quality
• Skilled Labour Shortage
• Unpredictable Time Estimation
• Approximation and Inconsistency
• Cost ineffective

Predictive Analysis

Manufacturing industry needs effective data for decision-making and a proper way to increase productivity. Predictive analysis is definitely the right way to guide the entire manufacturing industry. It is used to make predictions about unknown future events. It uses many techniques from data mining, statistics modelling to analyse current data to make predictions about the future. It combines the power of historical data with AI and Machine learning technology to understand, monitor and identify trends, predict potential problems and it provides recommendations to improve the process and maximize performance. It avoids unwanted navigation in decision-making situations.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has a great impact on the manufacturing industry. It ultimately empowers manufacturing Industry to continue to be the backbone of the global economy. It is the next level of success in the manufacturing industry. Experts predict that artificial intelligence will be a game changer for the growth of the manufacturing industry.

Mobile applications

Mobile applications provide more flexibility in manufacturing and help increase productivity. It eliminates the use of paper and it helps maintain the fully paper free environment with the access of storing key documents and data on cloud environment. Manufacturers can access such data at anytime and anywhere. It boosts up employee productivity and saves so many resources.

Proactive Leaders deeply think and never stop taking initiatives. It’s your chance now. Get utilized with these manufacturing technologies.

To know more….Talk to our experts to discuss about your requirements at your shop floor to improve your manufacturing productivity.

Manufacturing Industry has a major key role in the economic growth and development of countries. Historically, it has been the heart of all developed and developing nations. Also, the economic growth of the country relies only on the increase in productivity growth. Manufacturing Industry plays a key role in the success of the socio-economic system, because of its close relationship with economic welfare and hence it has a major impact on national growth also. But it has been facing huge difficulties and challenges. The internal Manufacturing ecosystems will not be a systemic & proper intellectual system which largely creates a negative impact on industrial productivity. This is because some shifts yield better output with a high productivity rate and some with an average productivity rate and the final overall visibility will be irregular resulting in lack of productivity. Hence, the goal of productivity increase & economic growth is fully dependent on a new chapter called Digital Transformation. Let us have a deeper look on digital transformation in manufacturing industry.

What is digital transformation?

Digital transformation has been the trending term frequently known as the adoption of digital technology to transform services (or) business by replacing non-digital or manual processes with digital processes. It is a journey of strategic planning, organizational change and it starts empowering manufacturing teams with new methods to create a highly responsive productive environment.

Industrial Revolutions

Industrial revolution refers to the simple change and transition in the manufacturing industry. Till now, it  has made a 4 master changes and it will continue to trigger next level of growth in the manufacturing industry.

The First Revolution was the transition of new manufacturing processes which begins in Europe and the United states, during the period of 760 to sometime between 80 and 840.The transition involves moving from hand production methods to machines.

The Second Industrial Revolution was a rapid standardization and the industrialization period which occurs in the late 19th century. This Industrial revolution waves largely impacts the build out of railroads and steel production. The new arrival of electrical steel, boosts mass production.

The Third revolution begins during the period of 1970. It revolutionized the use of electronics and IT into further automation and production. Outcomes of Industry 3.0 introduced a more automated system into the assembly line to easily perform human tasks.

The Fourth Industrial revolution is the new decade of manufacturing industry. It is the recent trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. The goal is to enable autonomous decision-making processes & monitor assets and processes in real time.

Industry 4.0  & Digital Transformation

Digitization impacts all the systems of the global world and also on the recent forms of society. There are some distinct ways in which digitization becomes effective which is the Digital transformation and presentation of information. It is not just about technology, it is about re-imagining business.

The global economy relies on the growth of the manufacturing industry and the recent trend totally changes the minds of customers demanding more customized products. The digital world could provide so many valuable solutions to meet the demands of customers. With the help of digital transformation in manufacturing, the entire industry will be under the control of our hands. Moreover, digitization provides so many benefits like paperless environment, easy & instant communication, Proper Production Planning, Downtime and Machine idle time reporting, with an improvement in productivity and profit, enhanced data collection and quality of products.

Why is it needed?

In the Hyper competitive Business world, adopting and adapting is a more important one. The increase in competition in the field of manufacturing Industry puts more pressure on organizations to reduce costs, improve customer experience and increase profitability.

The manual process of collecting data and logging it in documents or spreadsheet is an unreliable & long one. Calculating Machine idle, Availability Loss, Performance Loss manually will not be accurate and also manual calculation of overall equipment efficiency will not be fair at all time. This is where digital transformation comes in providing more accurate & reliable measurements. A disconnected industry without digitization is nothing but just an island of data. There will not be any flow between start to end. Every department that is shop floor, Management, sales etc will remain isolated and there won’t be any possibility of exchange of information because there is no connectivity between them. With the digital transformation in manufacturing industry, it is easy to build a connectivity within industry. So that, everything from data acquisition to reporting will be simple & clear. Every emerging industry needs valuable solutions to their problems and most importantly they want it fast. The digital transformation can achieve it providing a good customer experience.

Top 5 functional areas that need digital transformation

Inventory Management

Observing your customer’s needs and making wise decisions on how to manage them though inventory is a challenge in today’s buying environment. Even with the availability of technology many companies still have outdated inventory management systems and manual processes.The demands of customers are constantly changing and now they are expecting distributors to be more flexible with their orders. If there is a limited visibility in inventory management, there won’t be any proper traceability.

Hence they need automated inventory management with real-time status to streamline work operations.

Quality Management

In the business competitive world, product quality is very important to create a brand in the market. Bad quality reflects sales and marketing, consumer relationship & finally will damage your brand value. Defective product will cause rework costs, refunding cost, Lost sales etc.

Hence, a complete production monitoring & management solutions can solve the basic quality issues by avoiding the production of rejects.

Production time and Downtime reporting

Industry expects the best productivity with lower downtime & proper utilization. These are key functional units for the production environment. If you manually measure Production time and downtime reporting it will be unreliable and will cause a tedious problem. This is where production monitoring comes in providing a complete report on downtime. This enables you to act proactively on the occurrence of downtime.

Traceability

Entire Manufacturing Industry has many departments and various shifts. Hence, the overall workflow and process disconnect will not be clear. However, digital transformation in manufacturing helps in providing overall visibility much easier with the support of mobile applications and various software applications to access and view visibility remotely.

Customer relationship management

Customer relationship management refers to maintaining and creating good relationships with customers. It is not only about business it is also about creating a strong personal bonding with the people. This will definitely lead to a new value creations. If the customer is satisfied they will remain in business forever resulting in an increase in customers. Without digital transformation maintaining customer relationship will be a difficult process.

Top 5 Challenges in implementing Digital Transformation

Feasibility Study

The challenges, industries have been facing should be observed & understood well. Analysing what actually the problem is & what can be the solution is a major one. This is because most of the times, the problems faced and the solutions provided will be a contrast to each other. So the implementation of digitization will become more difficult.

Skilled Labour

Human Resource availability is a major challenge in the manufacturing industry. Skilled Labour shortage have a big impact as it stresses them to complete a job in a short span of time. Due to overtime work, low salary & no growth there is a possibility of quitting the job by Labours.

So as a result, the manufacturing industry will struggle for productivity.

Struggles to adapt

The major challenge is that many industries are not ready to adapt to it. However, the only way to adapt to a constantly changing and rapidly disrupted present is to speed up and operate at pace.

Limited Budgets

Small Scale to Medium-sized manufacturing industry facing financial reasons to adapt a digital transformation. Many manufacturers will hesitate to adapt to digitization thinking as it could cost them an arm & leg. But the thing is digital transformation will simplify work process & resource utilization, improving productivity & ROI.

Employees are ready to implement

It is human nature, that the routines will always make us feel comfortable and we will seem to be grim when our routines are changed and the uncertainty enters our lives. Experiencing a digital transformation is the epitome of discomfort. So it may make employees feel threatened. Hence, changes in employee mindset are major challenges.

Benefits of Digital Transformation

Improved  Profitability

The arrival of digital transformation boosts the measurement of work, performance & availability metrics. This provides the data on overall equipment efficiency helping manufacturers to take decisions on improving overall efficiency. If the efficiency improves there will be a definite improvement in the profit.

Improved Customer satisfaction

Advanced level of technology and its growth increases customer satisfaction. Even for the demand of customization, digital transformation can help implement it fast & satisfy customer expectations.

More Reliable

Reading data manually from machines is unreliable. IoT provides M2M communication enabling automotive data acquisition which improve reliability and accuracy.

Improved Productivity

Machine and Operator performance can be evaluated. With proper software along with tools and process that work together can streamline workflow and improve productivity. By automating many manual tasks and integrating data throughout the organization, team members will get empowered to work more efficiently.

How can we help ?

The numerous solutions & software’s are available in market to succeed in Industry 4.0 race. Factovize is one of the best solution provider as it totally optimizes the shop floor, & Connects entire factory, establishing an end to end data visibility and overall traceability providing a fully paper free environment along with Quality Control and Management, Proper production planning,WIP tracking/traceability,Valuable Reporting.

Conclusion

Factovize MES will Optimize your shop-floor to maximize profits. It provides the best solution to identify Loopholes or Low performing departments with a complete view of the production.  Organisation can work proactively & look ahead to make long term decisions and think smart.

To know more….Talk to our experts to discuss about your requirements at your shop floor to improve your manufacturing productivity.