The Internet of Things is driving manufacturing at the edge of revolution towards smarter and connected factories. Companies that are taking advantage of IoT in their operations can really unlock the true business value. Research from McKinsey & Company says,
The value of Internet of Things (IoT) applications in factory settings was estimated at USD 3.7 trillion per year in 2020.
In this fierce competition, processes are completely digitized and connected, enabling smart manufacturers to deploy and deliver orders rapidly. This ultimately yields streamlined operations, improved productivity, and an increase in ROI. Many global manufacturers are the leading adopters of smart manufacturing. Some of them include: Siemens, Bosch, FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), General Mills, and Harley-Davidson.
Let’s have a glimpse on what is smart manufacturing and how it is made smarter with IoT.
Smart Manufacturing and IoT
Smart Manufacturing is all about creating an environment where all real-time data – from R&D, supply chain, and operations is made visible and to carry out actionable inputs into an enterprise-wide smart manufacturing engine. Simply put, Smart manufacturing makes use of IoT devices to streamline the process to increase the productivity of the manufacturing operations and improve efficiency. This includes collecting and exchanging data to create endless possibilities for the business.
The realm of IoT in manufacturing is driven by its ability to optimize operations. But IoT has the capability to amend each aspect of product development and delivery, for the supply chain management:
- Factories can measure & reduce energy and waste, with the help of Machine sensors, this ultimately leads cutting costs and environmentally sustainable operations.
- IoT enables better asset tracking and also notifies the updates like when the stocks are running low and helps manufacturers to automate the inventory replenishment process.
- Manufacturers can analyse the data from the other systems and devices to take actionable inputs in days or even hours.
- IIoT helps manufacturers to identify the equipment failures before it happens to reduce the unplanned downtime.
Data Struggles Hard
Manufacturing Industries collects high volumes of data each year. IoT enables the knowledgeable manufacturing process where things like people, products, processes, and architecture are connected to work seamlessly together. The information here is shared in real-time to carry out the streamlined process. Manufacturers can get meaningful data with the help of sensors throughout the supply chain management.
For instance, if an RV manufacturer installs sensors within the engine to get the real-time data, then it also enables a service to the RV that finds out the issues to be addressed instantly by the mechanics. So we can say that the data is not only meaningful to the manufacturer but also helps the customer, along with the entire ecosystem.
Real time data gives a new meaning with IoT. Having global supply chains, manufacturers can make use of the lean manufacturing method to keep lesser stock of the assets. Each part can travel the globe and can arrive at the time of implementation. Putting devices and sensors together helps manufacturers to address the process, taking into account the speed of incoming assets.
Demand Forecast
Today’s digital world enables the manufactures detail what, where, and when they want the product to fulfill the need for personalization. Keeping the customers at the centric point, in the value chains of the products and services, the data analytics helps to predict the demands, and also anticipates the demands.
This no doubt helps to increase the customer relationship. Moreover, the data analytics also helps to respond flexibly and more rapidly to customer demands. Knowledgeable use of data like news feeds, point of sales and also marketing insights helps to filter out the factory floor, ultimately driving the operational efficiency.
Getting into Real
Manufacturing is an incredibly complex field, and bringing innovation into it makes things strenuous. To stay ahead of the market, manufacturers need to get rid of complexity to run the process seamlessly. Moreover, automation and data analysis leverage business to make smarter and better decisions. Connected manufacturing is the key to sharing physical assets, monitoring asset data, predicting conditions, automating operations, optimize equipment, and more. Whatever the end goal is, if things are in place, the technology drives insights that will define each company’s future. Unleashing the known operational insights, businesses are sure to increase productivity, ROI, and outputs.
