MAY/JUNE 2020 DIGITAL MANUFACTURING
Every manufacturer
stands to benefit
from digital
technologies
alongside the 27% who say
digital adoption is not even on
their radar, a further 26% say
they are thinking about it but
don’t know how to implement it.
Some traditional SMEs might
associate technology with high
upfront costs or are concerned
about operational disruption
and lack of skills within their
workforce. Or they may look at
the networked smart factories
of major OEMS liks Siemens or
Daimler and simply conclude it
is not for companies like them.
It is important to
remember, however, that
digital transformation does not
happen overnight. Continuous
improvements, like replacing
spreadsheets with an effective
ERP, mean businesses can add
value to every process in a short
space of time, while avoiding
major upheaval or cost.
Digitisation is not
an optional extra for
manufacturers. COVID-19
underlined the fact that remote
working is no longer confined
to professional services – those
working in manufacturing also
need to access stock levels,
production data and employee
information when working
from home. A secure remote
login, made possible by cloud
technology, means no valuable
time is lost fighting against
clunky legacy software and
spreadsheets.
It is no coincidence that
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
remarked that the pandemic had
resulted in ‘two years’ worth of
digital transformation in two
months’. Beyond Covid-19,
technology can certainly address
some of the issues facing the
sector, including skills shortages,
poor employee engagement,
sustainability, political instability
and competition from overseas.
Whatever challenges lie
ahead, businesses that adopt
a lean manufacturing strategy
– driven by digital technology –
are in the best place they can be
to not only survive but grow.
customer orders, with no unnecessary waste.
All eyes are now on the pharmaceutical
industry as the race continues to develop and
produce a COVID-19 vaccine and antivirals –
and advanced planning and scheduling (APS)
software could play a key role in getting them to
market sooner.
A single dynamic plan, which is continually
updated with real-time data, enables teams to
work quickly and productively, while reducing the
risk of error due to manual intervention.
As well as identifying potential issues like
bottlenecks, planners can also conduct detailed
‘what-if?’ analysis to determine what the impact
of switching or increasing production would be
on their daily operations. Planners know
immediately where there is capacity to take on
new orders, or when to book an engineer visit to
avoid machine downtime.
A single schedule helps to break down
departmental silos, promotes collaboration
and reduces task duplication – which could, in
turn, lower both production costs and the price
of the vaccine.
A digital disconnect
Despite all the benefits digital technologies bring,
there is still a disconnect between businesses
wanting to adopt them and actually doing so.
According to research published last year, threequarters
believe they could ‘improve design and
production processes’, while the same percentage
again think it could ‘streamline internal company
processes from shopfloor to admin’. But,
26%
are thinking about
digital but don’t know
how to implement it
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