That human efficiency has improved, particularly in the manufacturing field, may be attributed largely to automation and mobility. Scores of processes can be managed simultaneously, with no dip in consistency and output, faster and tirelessly. It has ensured that the ‘global’ can come down to the local level and the local can move up the rungs to go international.
What the manufacturing industry is currently working towards is connecting all the digital data that is created by an organization to mobile devices, increasing accessibility. This real time access will help in controlling, managing and distributing business processes and making mobile collaborations between internal and external human resources easier. Such mobility ensures that you are prepared to make decisions in real time, handle emergencies similarly and track progress on all that is initiated. In fact, with the ability to process through data, an organization is also able to predict changes that may need attention, enabling you to be prepared.
Let’s take a look at what automation and mobility will do for the future of manufacturing.
No Compromise on Quality: There is always going to be a market for good quality. No doubt there. And when a client finds a manufacturer that guarantees good quality, consistently and is able to scale up production as well, then, they have hit the veritable jackpot. Faster production of high quality products naturally leads to higher orders and therefore higher revenues. Automation and mobility enable manufacturers of the future to ensure client satisfaction, without ever needing to worry about the quality made.
Infographic – The Impact of Industry 4.0 Digital Transformation on Manufacturing
Faster Market Readiness: With automation and mobility, manufacturers are assured of a shorter development time. In the current market, moving from ideation to prototypes to actual market ready products have to be done in as short a time as possible to keep pace with the competition. The application of smarter technologies at various process levels will ensure that this time frame from ideation to market-readiness remains at its shortest.
Minimizing Operational Costs: The question of cost arises for several reasons – operational costs, that of acquiring and using premium raw materials, labor costs and of course retention, escalating energy powers and more. Smart technology in the form of automation and mobility ensures that all these costs are reduced significantly, giving your manufacturing business the advantage. These technologies can be further always be applied to newer processes that you bring into your organizations, ensuring the benefits are long term.
Read: Increasing Manufacturing Profitability With Data Monitoring in Cloud
Customization, Without Loss of Quality: Clients demand customization. As a manufacturer, the more you can accommodate this, the better growth trajectory you are looking at. Doing this with the best of resources, in minimal time is what will enhance business revenues. Increasing production rates, with a focus on quality production with minimal downtime is what the use of technologies related to automation and mobility will allow you.
Irrespective of the size of businesses, you need to look at an enterprise-style approach to management in order to ensure that you have customers that are satisfied and come back to you regularly. A culture of quality and consistency is what technology assures you and shrewd business persons understands the value of this.
If the worry at this stage is the replacement of legacy systems, then a simpler approach would be to upgrade the system with technology rather than replace it completely.
Building a Stronger Base for Incorporation of Internet of Things (IoT): The bottom line for any manufacturing business is that it requires IoT and mobility to keep up. Automation and mobility enables the incorporation of IoT into conventional manufacturing units and helps streamline management on a micro and macro level. With mobile apps created to harness the power of IoT, managers can view processes from the ground level up and across production lines as well. The ability to pinpoint an error in real time and correct it as well as anticipate an issue becomes a huge advantage for a manufacturer.
Harnessing Data: With built-in mobility solutions, you also install means by which useful data for analysis may be extracted. Mobile analytic platforms come with data management abilities built in. These can be altered to specific uses and requirements of a manufacturer. This data may be used in multiple ways to upgrade and rework processes as needed.
Bringing Mobility to Administrative Processes: While manufacturing will remain the key focus of the application of technology, global organizations are now seeing the benefit of including these at the administrative level as well. Especially when dealing with multi-national clients, it eases the management of operational costs as well as communication means.
Now with all these advantages to be at hand, it is not necessary that automation and mobility be taken on simultaneously. Breaking down a business by process areas and working application by means of priority will help put things in place. Software that build up to automation and mobility compatibility may be found for specific processes and it is always good to begin at one point and then work your way up and around.
