PRODUCTIVITY REVOLUTION
Digital manufacturing solutions are defining the future of productivity and output says Greg Moyle
When it comes to digital manufacturing , what ’ s really at the heart of the conversation is data . Without the collection of information from smart machinery , manufacturers would simply not be agile , resilient and adaptable to modern challenges . It ’ s the ability to access and analyze this data that is critical for smart factories be successful and productive .
Over the past two years , modern businesses have been inundated with disruption around every corner . This ranges from supply chain struggles and the ongoing war in Ukraine , to a significant skills shortage and huge inflation increases . With competition more fierce than ever , and consumers demanding more than they ever have before , businesses have needed to work smarter and with far greater efficiency . The organizations that have done this best , have been those who have embraced information and data . For many , harnessing data has not only helped them to stay afloat , but grow and thrive .
In some areas , the uptake of technology and smart machinery has been slow . In fact , for many , there was a reluctance to move away from the traditional way of doing things , where pen and paper and phone calls were the only way to identify how successfully a manufacturing line was operating . But , as it became increasingly clear that information held the key to unlocking productivity , and as more competition started to adopt smart machinery , almost all have been forced to evolve their processes .
Delivering Industry 4.0
At the heart of this change is Industry 4.0 . Since its onset , organizations have continued to drive advancements , and have found themselves in an overall enhanced state of productivity . For instance , the speed at which the mRNA vaccines were developed during the pandemic is a case in point . Not only were they incredibly fast to be approved , but they were manufactured in a way that the industry had never seen before . Manufacturers had to leverage a data-led approach to keep up with the huge global demand , cope with ongoing social distancing requirements and reduce the costs involved with creating a totally new vaccine .
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