7 Ways Operations Benefits From Smart Factory Applications
The operations team is one of the most obvious choices when looking for a meaningful perspective on smart manufacturing. As the frontline workers, these people will be the first to benefit from any smart factory solution.
What exactly will these benefits look like?
No manufacturers like downtime. Its expensive, frustrating and wasteful.
Downtimes is probably most infamous among operations teams, where the impacts are felt with special severity. Delays, supply chain disruptions, missed deadlines, interrupted tasks - these are just a few things operations specialists struggle with as a result of downtime.
Although downtime will always be part of the manufacturing process, it doens't have to be the end of the world. Smart manufacturing makes it possible to reduce downtime across the board with solutions like preventive and predictive maintenance. When downtime does occur, smart manufacturing tools limit its impact and help Operations implement corrective actions more quickly.
- Streamlined Production Processes
With a smart factory, every day can be a new industrial revolution. That's because smart manufacturing allows your operations team to capture production data, analyse patterns and identify the simplest most effective way to do things. If someone discovers a new best practice, that information can immediately be applied to the production process and shared across the organisation.
- Improved Incident Responses
As anyone on the operations team can attest, it's easy for a small production issue to become a catastrophe. Cushioning the impact comes down to your response - was the right thing done at the right time to solve the right problem? If the answer is no, the operations team suffers because they're the ones who have to get the production process back on track. If the answer is yes, the crisis is averted and the team can focus on working efficiently. Simply put, smart manufacturing helps keep "panic mode" at bay and gives operations experts the data they need to make incident response a breeze.
- How IT Benefits From Smart Factory Applications
Operations workers aren't the only people who can enjoy a smarter, better manufacturing process. In fact, pull back the curtain and you're likely to find the entire IT department basking in their victory - because after all, IT has an important role to play in the selection and implementation of smart manufacturing systems.
Here are some of the basic IT-Specific benefits of smart manufacturing
Smart manufacturing helps IT teams make better decisions. When real-time data is always within reach, IT experts can identify gaps and inefficiencies. Armed with information, they can go forth and select the best tech tools for the job instead of burdening themselves and other departments with superfluous devices.
For example, instead of throwing sensors around, the team can decide exactly how many sensors are necessary and where they'll gather the most useful data. That's a pragmatic choice that saves time and money while delivering far more accurate results.
- Simplified Big Data Management
IT teams and Big Data go together like manufacturers and machines: One really can't exist without the other. Unfortunately, this often means IT ends up buried under big data. That's where smart manufacturing
comes in.
A smart factory has all the tools necessary to manage big data. With effective analytics, simplified storage and unified views of the truth, smart manufacturing solutions improve the quality and reliability of data from across the factory. This, in turn, makes it easier for the IT team to turn this information into actionable insights and otherwise work their data magic.
- Improved Interoperability
That's just a fancy way of saying "smart manufacturing helps IT operations teams get along"
The truth is these departments don'y always see eye-to-eye. One doesn't always understand the needs and goals of the other, which can result in disjointed communication and flawed tech utilisation. However, with smart manufacturing systems at their disposal. IT teams can better analyse operations issues - and, just as importantly, they can suggest solutions grounded in specific, transparent data. That means the operations team will be able to exactly see what IT is talking about instead of taking anyone's word for it.
This leads to a better relationship between two of the most important teams in any manufacturing plant. It also helps align goals across the departments and make decisions that actively benefit everyone involved
Looking for more information? We can help with that...
If you want to know more about Smart Manufacturing and the products that will help you get there, or have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch on 01154 685900 and our Internal Sales Advisors or Technical Support Engineers i=will be happy to chat!
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