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MANUFACTURING
A FIRST 4 STEPS TO SUCCESS Khaled AlShami, Director, Solution Consulting, Middle East & Africa (MEA), Infor discusses what it takes to ensuring that companies are executing their industry 4.0 strategies efficiently
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gainst the backdrop of an increasingly uncertain global economy, one area of consistent investment has been digital transformation. Within manufacturing, that means the ongoing evolution towards Industry 4.0. The rationale is simple enough. Manufacturers that are willing to embrace Industry 4.0 connectivity and modern automation opportunities stand to see significant improvements in productivity—not only on the shop floor, but also across the enterprise. Another reason that these programmes are still being developed is because they can engender a great deal of confidence amidst volatile markets. Industry 4.0 improvements
SMARTSMB / June 2020
are all very tangible and quickly identified and measured. According to a joint survey on smart factories from PwC and the Manufacturing Institute, productivity gains, reduced labour costs, and uncovering new revenue streams are among the top benefits for manufacturers that have deployed Industry 4.0 technologies. This confidence is so strong that while many manufacturers are still in the research and pilot stages, the survey reports that 73% of them are planning to increase their technology investments over the next year. But where exactly should manufacturers look to secure these early wins and focus their investment plans to deliver not only resilience but growth?
1. Shop-floor optimization
Manufacturers can use Industry 4.0-ready technologies to help digitize shop floor processes that are still largely paper-based. Today, many manufacturers still use paper trails to monitor the progress of work orders, the location of parts, and sometimes even the assembly sequence and steps for a specific order. This is not only inefficient in the immediate, ‘here and now’ but it restricts the speed and agility that is vital for new product development to help drive the future growth of a manufacturer.
