With the hype of smart manufacturing, it's easy to forget that these technologies are actually being implemented to run--and growing --the business.
Although members of C-
Kits may rarely interact directly with smart technologies, but they are critical to achieving the strategic goals of the business, including improving customer service, improving operational efficiency, innovating for the future, reducing risk, and complying with standard regulations, improve the management of the company.
Achieving the first two goals always involves solving a series of annoying and lasting problems in the plant, including meeting the growing needs relatively easily
The need for increased agility, speed, predictability and quality is growing.
These demands will never end.
Every progress made from new technologies requires another
End the arms race and serve the customer the way the customer wants it while maintaining the cost-
Effective production.
I ask my MESA colleague to talk about how smart manufacturing technology can help solve some of these problems.
"Things that used to require generations are happening at a very fast pace now," said Eric nisstad, director of Yizi International.
He said that as a consumer goods company, Yizi must produce different products in different packaging and serve different customers around the world with the same high quality.
In China, for example, customers want green tea. flavored Oreos.
In developed countries, the company sells large packages of biscuits;
In developing countries, it sells smaller packages to customers with less discretionary revenue.
Meeting this change is driving "the need for localization and customization," he said, which requires a new production method.
"When you start talking about a need --
"Driving the supply chain, the factory is the core," Nistad explained, noting that the previous factory had-suite.
"If we are going to meet the changing needs of the market, we need to make the factory more predictable, reliable and responsive.
This means that factory capabilities are a more critical component in delivering business value ---
This is the key to intelligent manufacturing.
Let's review the features of the factory.
Agility/flexibility: running the factory synchronously with the market means connecting the products produced by the factory with the products sold in the market.
Ability to move quickly from producing one product to another, or increase production quickly
Selling a product means the difference between taking advantage and missing a sales opportunity.
Speed: speed is required every step from decision to delivery.
In Rockwell Automation, all the production information of the ownership plant can be in real
According to Ken Marapese, manager of operations and engineering services at MES, time is the basis.
"There is no real information --
"Time can lead to a lot of slow, bad decisions," he said . ". (
Full disclosure: Maverick Technologies is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rockwell Automation. )
Predictability: the ability to quickly adjust production to meet unexpected growth in sales of specific products must also be predictable.
Being able to say "yes" to unexpected orders from big customers requires confidence that the factory can deliver.
Quality: of course, no matter what the requirements are, no matter how fast the delivery speed is, the quality must be 100% perfect across the board.
Each of these factory features must be managed relatively easily.
Even if it is necessary to reverse and reverse the factory to issue an order, it must be processed as another part of doing business.
In addition to the factory intelligent manufacturing technology, intelligent manufacturing technology is also changing other key strategies and solving the problem of maintaining C-
Including the following: speed up innovation: Thanks to the so-called "digital cues", new approaches to product development are now possible, throughout the life cycle of the product, all decision makers have access to all information about the product, from design to delivery.
"Creating an intelligent infrastructure that seamlessly connects design, manufacturing, automation, and supply chains to each other and syncs with customer needs is a prerequisite for delivering innovative products to the market quickly and efficiently, raffaello Lepratti, vice president of business development and marketing at Siemens, said.
Smart manufacturing technology enables seamless connectivity, which in turn improves the ability of "companies to deliver innovation, capture market share and please customers faster than their competitors ---
Everything the market needs to grow . "
This smart infrastructure also reduces risk, added Lepratti.
It not only ensures that high-quality products are built using quality processes, but also increases the predictability of revenue and costs, which is critical to achieving revenue targets.
"Smart Manufacturing connects all areas of the Enterprise from sales and demand planning to manufacturing and supply chains, providing visibility and accuracy for financial planning," Lepratti said . ".
It also allows company leaders to see and respond more quickly to risks associated with global economic climate, demand trends, and fluctuations or disruptions in supply chains.
Compliance with standards and regulations: Similarly, smart systems support the ability of enterprises to meet standards and regulations more effectively.
For example, at Sanmina Corporation, all traceability and verification documents are collected and maintained electronically by the system, replacing hard-to-
Manage paper documents known as "travellers.
"Now, the auditor can" just enter the serial number and up will not only pop up the traveler, but also all the hyperlinks to the component trace data, "says Gelston Howell, senior vice president of marketing at sanmina.
Perhaps the most critical thing to improve leadership and management is that smart manufacturing promises to improve leadership and management by streamlining communication across the organization.
For example, Sanmina regards the visibility gained by enterprise executives in the production process as an extension of management --by-walking-
Around, a way to be promoted to a leader to better understand the key to the front line --line work.
As each COO of the company is responsible for up to 20 facilities worldwide, MBWA is not practical.
The company's smart system provides executives with a live dashboard
Factory information--
Along with program alerts, inform executives of issues that require their immediate attention.
With the maturity of intelligent manufacturing technology, there is no doubt that they will solve other problems. suite concerns.
While these technologies seem to be the authority of factory leaders, not C-suite, forward-
Think about how CEOs understand the commercial impact of this digital revolution.