Doing more on less is already likely a key part of your business strategy, but are you utilising smart technologies to their fullest potential to help you achieve that goal? Working with complex supply chains, facing disruptions and staying competitive in a constantly evolving landscape requires efficiency in order to keep costs down, productivity high and quality exemplary.
By leveraging the insights, control and added capabilities smart and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies provide, you can drive strategic efficiency wins across your business and aid business, product and customer growth.
“The right mix of technology adoption that strengthens the core (process automation, data analytics) while also pushing the edges can improve efficiency” 1
- Deloitte
Make your supply chain more efficient.
Connected with a low-latency 5G local network, use technologies such as robotics, IIoT sensors, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to boost efficiency across your supply chain and production line.
“Futuristic automated robots, cameras, and sensors have already been seamlessly integrated into many factory shop floors, while data tracks the plants’ operations to fuel compelling decisions that optimise the efficiency of everything within. AI-powered analytics can even already enable ultra-accurate forecasting and risk management, transforming resilience against the toughest social, environmental, and economic challenges.” 2
- The Manufacturer
Use AI to discover inefficiencies and suggestions on how to improve them. With constant data-gathering, processing and analysis, the insights AI can afford you will help you make your resources and budgets go further. AI and IIoT technologies can provide efficiency-based insights on:
- Transportation routes, e.g.– suggesting more fuel- and cost-efficient routes that help your products arrive at their destination faster and in better condition
- Warehouse and product conditions, e.g.– alerting you if the temperature drops below or above optimal levels or helping you avoid stock outs or overstocking
- Demand levels
- Cost-effectiveness of suppliers
Additionally, AI can help you diversify and future-proof your supplier network. With external influences like geopolitical issues, economic downturns and natural disasters, there are plenty of unforeseen issues that can threaten your efficiency as a business. By diversifying your supply chain, you can reduce the impact of disruptions from a single source, and help ensure a more reliable supply and maintain production levels and speeds. Boost efficiency by spending less time mitigating supply chain disruptions and more time on boosting product and customer growth.
“IoT-enabled supply chains are inherently more efficient. The real-time data provided by IoT devices allows businesses to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies quickly”3
- Entrepreneur
Operate a leaner, more efficient workforce and OT landscape.
Mitigate skills shortages and help ensure your workforce are working on the right things at the right time with smart technologies. Empower your employees to do their jobs even more effectively and efficiently with AI, robotics, IIoT, and augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) technologies.
With robotics and IIoT technologies automating manual or repetitive tasks, your workforce can spend time on more strategic work. Robots can fulfil orders, move products and materials and do heavy lifting and manoeuvring. IIoT sensors can reduce the requirement of human monitoring of machines, warehouse conditions and stock levels. Automation can take manual data-entry from your workers’ to-do lists. In addition to the time and cost savings, automation reduces human errors, meaning less time wasted on fixes and corrections.
“Manufacturers are facing an unprecedented set of challenges that are increasingly affecting their ability to produce, deliver and sell goods and meet rising customer expectations. All these are driving the need for the deployment of automation.” 4
- The Manufacturer
Facilitate lights-off manufacturing and remote working. Machine learning (ML), automation and AI can help your workforce monitor, control and manage your OT and equipment remotely, reducing the need for human presence. Recruit from a wider pool of talent, and make OT operations more efficient.
Boost efficiency by reducing the resources and costs required for machine maintenance. ML, IIoT sensors and AI can enable predictive maintenance, monitoring vibrations, temperature and energy use in real-time. By flagging any aberrations from the normal operating parameters, you can predict when machinery is likely to break down, removing the requirement for costly scheduled maintenance. This can also help improve machinery lifespan, too.
Predictive maintenance, IIoT tools and AI can help you use less energy and water too. With insights gleaned from these technologies, you can help your equipment and facilities run on less without compromising output. AI can provide insights into how much energy is used and where consumption can be reduced, so you can report on and inform your sustainability strategies. Your customers and partners want a sustainable supplier, as this will help them with their sustainability objectives too.
Immersive and interactive technologies like AR and VR can make training and maintenance more efficient. With AR glasses overlaying operating or maintenance instructions over machinery, workers can be upskilled more efficiently, without as much human resource spend.
Embrace the promise of smart technology to make your manufacturing even more efficient. Leverage automation, AI and other technologies and underpin them with the low-latency, high-bandwidth network required to keep your business connected and productive. Reduce the human effort, time, and costs of repetitive tasks, logistics and maintenance across your facilities and supply chains. Efficient manufacturing landscapes produce higher quality products quicker and with fewer resources. Future-proof your business and stay competitive by making your manufacturing even more efficient.
Let’s co-innovate and leverage the power of cutting-edge technology. Together we can enable incredible, productivity, efficiency and resilience-based wins across your entire business. We know this because we’ve already done it with other manufacturers. Our industry experts have decades of relevant experience, enabling them to provide practical and effective advice. Then, our global network, computing and security expertise and extensive ecosystem can help you put those technologies into practice. We can help you de-risk transformation, accelerate change and achieve the promise of Industry 4.0.