Manufacturing, an integral part of the supply chain network is in an ever-changing mode. New technologies have overhauled the manufacturing sector. Today, with the advent of Big Data, usage of advanced supply chain analytics for manufacturing, and advanced methodologies of converting raw material into finished goods, the digital world has given birth to a leaner and more agile manufacturing industry. But this age of digitization has also brought with it several challenges and burdens that the manufacturing sector needs to address on a continued basis to ensure that it remains relevant in the competitive marketplace.
One of the biggest challenges that the manufacturing sector faces is increasing regulations and compliance norms. Although it is necessary for manufacturing companies to keep a check on materials used and their procurement solutions, tracking of so many rules, regulations and policies that are constantly changing is a massive burden. It is just not possible manually. Added to that, every country and sometimes, even within one country, compliance policies keep on changing, depending on where the business operates. To stay one step ahead and ensure that their manufacturing processes are glitch-free, manufacturing firms have an onerous task before them.
Manufacturers Win with Innovation
Innovation should be guided by intelligent analytics
Innovation is what drives the world. Manufacturing companies need to need to keep up with innovations and new product developments. They need to remain abreast of market conditions, come up with novel products or concepts, and ensure faster time to market. To save costs, managers may be swayed to compromise on quality or cut costs; however, manufacturers need to diligently avoid this.
In order to remain relevant, innovative and competitive, companies need to become more structured in their approach. Manufacturing companies can only win if they leverage advanced predictive analytics technologies, and keep implementing path-breaking innovations to ensure a steady stream of new product ideas, conceptions and executions.
Next up, manufacturing businesses need to pay utmost attention to environmental concerns. They need to ensure their processes and raw material are not harming the environment or the community. This is a huge cost and if not managed well, it can lead to a huge depletion of brand value.
Leverage Cloud and IoT
Cloud helps in a big way with quality control and performance management
In the face of so many challenges, manufacturing businesses can only be successful if they are able to leverage the right kind of IT, which can understand and support their business, and drive the business in the right direction. Technologies such as Cloud and IoT, among several others, have emerged as the upcoming face of the digital era.
Cloud computing offers the manufacturing sector an unmatched advantage of scalability. As demand grows, so does the manufacturing requirement. Each time, investing in new equipment or resources to accommodate expanding demand isn’t feasible. Cloud computing gives manufacturers the stability and flexibility to adjust their business according to the changing business environment. This technology ensures greater visibility of the manufacturing plant, both locally and globally. It makes your business cost-effective, lowers the cost of ownership when it comes to implementing software and provides greater quality control and performance management.
When Machines Talk to Machines
IoT and nanotechnology help to keep manufacturing lean, agile and in synch with business objectives
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a groundbreaking piece of technology that allows devices to communicate with one another automatically without human input. This is having a profound effect on the manufacturing sector. Thanks to IoT, the manufacturing sector now manages lower down-time due to the fact that machines can notify mechanics about defects and required maintenance. This paves way for increased quality, less waste, and greater visibility of the manufacturing floor via Big Data analytics. This in turn leads to improvements across the board.
Nanotechnology is another much talked about game-changing innovation on the tech front and we will surely see a huge impact on the manufacturing sector in the years to come.
Manufacturing is the focal point of supply chain success. It is the manufacturing function that ultimately brings forth the product or service. Therefore it is necessary that businesses make use of advanced technologies at their disposal to ensure this function is lean, agile and in synch with business objectives and customer expectations.
