As COVID-19 takes over the world by storm, the pandemic highlighted the importance of digitalising your manufacturing operations towards Industry 4.0 and for your factory to work smarter. Here are 3 proven benefits of smart manufacturing.
1. Supply Chain Management and Optimization
Industry 4.0 solutions provide companies with more control, visibility, and insight into their supply chain. With more efficient and effective use of resources, these companies with smarter technologies in place are able to respond to market demands quickly and more accurately. Thereby, gaining competitive advantage over their competitors.
2. Predictive Maintenance/Analytics
Without IoT systems in place at your business, preventive maintenance is done manually and is dependent on routine or time. Industry 4.0 solutions, on the other hand, enable producers to forecast when possible problems will arise before they occur. Preventive maintenance is significantly more automated and streamlined with IoT systems in place. Systems can detect when faults arise or machinery needs to be repaired, allowing you to address possible concerns before they become larger issues. Companies can use predictive analytics to ask not only reactive questions like "what happened?" or "why did it happen?" but also proactive questions like "what is going to happen?" and "what can we do to prevent it?" Manufacturers can use these types of data to shift from preventative to predictive maintenance.
3. Asset Tracking and Optimization
Industry 4.0 solutions help manufacturers become more efficient with assets at each stage of the supply chain, allowing them to keep a better pulse on inventory, quality, and optimization opportunities relating to logistics. With IoT in place at a factory, employees can get better visibility into their assets worldwide. Standard asset management tasks such as asset transfers, disposals, reclassifications, and adjustments can be streamlined and managed centrally and in real time.
In conclusion, Industry 4.0 able to help you improved productivity and efficiency, better flexibility and agility, increased profitability, at the same time improves the customer experience. The purpose of going over these use cases is to get you thinking about how smart manufacturing could be integrated into your own business. As a tip, start implementing a holistic manufacturing ERP software, such as EPICOR ERP software that employs connected solutions throughout its entire manufacturing process to improve your competitiveness in the market.