One of the earliest lessons has been that both of these aspects demand a substantial amount of data , but also create an opportunity for huge improvements in efficiency , both within and beyond the production environment .
Balancing act
Rationalized and integrated business units lead quickly to economies of scale that arise from smarter procurement and manufacturing . This is often misunderstood . Savings are not only made by removing duplicated effort across multiple business units , but also in solving multiple instances of the same issues . Common constraints typically include manual processes that taken together , can create a strong appetite for the adoption of new technology .
The balancing act here is to implement consistent technology both across and within the business units or brands , whilst maintaining individual identity and the best results that arise from the autonomy of those operations . Cultural issues such as the ‘ identity ’ of the business can become a significant obstacle to integration and derail efficiency programs if not handled sensitively .
However , it is the second perspective – using customer data to align output to demand and creating a customer-centric organization – that has the final say .
As recessionary fears continue to take hold , sustainability has evolved rapidly from an exercise in greenwashing , to a key focus on operational efficiency in every department . For production , concerns around energy use and raw material consumption are no longer about saving the earth or the right thing to do – they are about saving costs and ensuring business survival .
The zenith of this idea is that as a business , nothing is produced ( or indeed , no activity is undertaken ) that is not then part of a tangible , specific demand . No goods are produced that are not already sold . No travel is undertaken that does not tie into clear benefit such as a new or increased order . Buffer inventory is eliminated . Staff are focused on the highest value tasks as defined by the business .
There have been attempts at this kind of thinking before : lean manufacturing , zero waste projects and so forth . What makes the current situation different is the presence of technology that can not only track the necessary variables throughout the business , from energy use to production output , but also the connection to customer data .
Roadmap to delivery
Two main questions then arise : firstly how a manufacturer can undertake a project that pulls together so many different business disciplines into a cohesive whole and secondly , just how far can it take these projects to yield improvements ?
Implementing a customercentric strategy that includes production efficiency ( and indeed , efficiencies throughout other areas of the business ) is no small feat .
The first phase is discovery – assessing the current state of play and getting a clear picture of the status quo . This typically involves a lot of
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