The 4 big technology trends for manufacturing

by Jo-Anne Ruhl, Manufacturers’ Monthly

As we move into 2015, it is clear that manufacturers can’t just stick with their old ways. Technology-savvy, alert and agile businesses will come out ahead, Jo-Anne Ruhl reports.

BY 2020, it’s predicted there will be 33 billion connected devices on the planet– nearly three times the 10 to 12 billion estimated today.

Manufacturers need to be a part of this growing technology evolution, and take the time to carefully consider their business goals, and focus on market opportunities and pain points that need to be overcome.

It’s important manufacturers research the various new technologies available to them, while considering the short-term and long-term benefits of each.

Smart organisations need to adopt new technology processes to be successful now and in years to come.

Monitoring in real-time

Utilising the information from embedded sensors to transition from preventative maintenance (regularly inspecting and maintaining equipment), to predictive maintenance (such as infrared thermography which monitors equipment’s operating temperature and detects thermal anomalies), is one proven way to lower costs and improve service.

Most equipment is still maintained today on a time or volume basis. However, real-time monitoring of equipment performance, which considers factors such as operating temperatures, flow rates and energy usage, is a far better indicator of when equipment is in need of maintenance. This gives you options to service earlier in the cycle, avoiding machine breakdowns, or later in the cycle, lowering repair costs.

This flexibility in service scheduling can create new revenue opportunities by taking advantage of demand spikes while also safely re-scheduling maintenance plans.

In addition, think of how much time is lost today by multiple engineering visits to remote equipment, first to diagnose the problem and then repair it. Sophisticated self-diagnostic sensors on equipment make it more efficient to identify the fault immediately, so that the right engineer with the right service pack and repair parts are dispatched the first time.

Making a shift to the cloud

“Anytime, anywhere” access to critical business information is a key driver of cloud adoption. Companies that have adopted the cloud are able to move much quicker, with faster time to market, and much faster time to benefit.

Organisations are constantly pressed to automate, integrate, and extend their business processes. Cloud solutions deliver new automation, but also come with new integration and extension models for cloud services.

With data available from anywhere with a web browser connection, manufacturers can improve planning and business decision-making. A cloud solution is scalable, easily accessible from multiple locations, and can eliminate costly annual maintenance and infrastructure costs.

As the equipment industry learns to better adapt to a global economy, they will undoubtedly also need to better monitor a global network of suppliers, contractors and partners. A complete real-time view of the end-to-end value chain is essential to creating the collaborative and customer-centric approach – which cloud technology can offer.

The ability to scale quickly will be paramount to success in 2015. Rapid response is critical when unforeseen events take place – such as new competition that can come out of nowhere and steal market share within months.

On-premise applications aren’t as quick to rapidly structure, expand, and scale up operations, like cloud solutions are, which can put a company at a disadvantage when faced with other fast growing businesses.

Embracing a mobile workforce

In today’s environment, users want to be able to work the way they live. Because of this, they have so many options in the marketplace.

This in turn creates more pressure on organisations to develop clean and beautiful looking interfaces that can be used at a desktop or from a mobile device like seen with Facebook. Applications now should be intuitive, fluid, and natural to use, as well as able to be accessed anywhere, at any time.

This is especially important for service engineers who need to be on the road maintaining expensive assets, not stuck in an office. Social and mobile technologies allow service enterprises to boost their workers’ productivity.

Connected devices are making diagnostic data available remotely, delivering the possibility to identify, diagnose and even repair equipment, via software updates and remote fixes.

Every avoided trip represents a significant cost savings and a boost to equipment utilisation and profitability.

When software anticipates what companies need, it makes everything easier, freeing companies to focus on the bigger picture.

As well, business specific applications for the equipment industry allow organisations to boost efficiency by providing more tailored solutions for sales, the floor, supply chain and logistics.

Users need to be able to access critical information from their own personal device in order to see results in real-time and make better business decisions.

Encouraging a social business

Social collaboration is part of the growing convergence of business and personal technology. As data continues to explode and decisions have to be made faster and more intelligently, social media has a pivotal role to play in the enterprise, not just for marketing but in the systems which underpin crucial back office functions. Through driving user engagement, empowerment to make better, more informed decisions, and boost productivity, organisations that can successfully harness this trend would be able to focus on what matters most, customers.

When employees are able to follow critical data, events, and people, every touch point across your enterprise becomes organised and actionable. Integrated tracking allows users to filter key enterprise data and events between disconnected forms of in-office communication eliminating obstacles to effective and timely communication that decrease efficiency and productivity.

As the manufacturing industry looks forward to 2015, it is clear that the technology-savvy, alert and agile businesses will come out ahead. Embedded sensors, real-time information, mobility and cloud deployment will be major factors that manufacturers will utilise to their advantage. The sooner organisations get on board, the sooner they can reach the next level of customer satisfaction, service innovation and profitability.