While 73 percent of manufacturers plan to increase their investment in smart factory technologies during the next year, nearly half report that they are in the early stages of a transition. A smart factory journey promises strong value, but it can be counterproductive if embarked upon incorrectly, resulting in reduced efficiency and wasted capital.
This article will explore five steps for a successful smart factory journey. It will outline how a leading automotive safety supplier, which has asked not to be named, implemented these steps to connect operations and leverage advanced analytics to bring OT and IT data together to provide meaningful insights.
Step 1: Map out your smart manufacturing strategy
For a successful smart factory initiative, organizations must create a “north star” business objective, then define opportunities and establish a clear vision and milestones accordingly. The automotive supplier began its “factory of the future” initiative by identifying the top business areas that needed improvement, then grouped them into categories and mapped out the benefits of each project area after the company’s initiative was complete. For example, in the process-automation category, a benefit included automating manual processes to reduce downtime and improve quality.
Step 2: Create smart project pilots to prove value
Once a strategy has been established, it is critical for organizations to establish digital proofs of concept. They can then use early successes to gain buy-in from all levels of their organization to secure funding and support for a larger rollout.
Step 3: Define the capabilities you need
Using lessons learned in pilots, organizations must define the capabilities needed to achieve the vision, then design and implement a scalable data model to act as a backbone. Enterprises must continue changing systems, structures and processes that do not fit the smart factory vision. The automotive company recognized that it needed to shift from using paper for metric tracking and instructions to a digital format, in order to utilize the data to make better decisions and improve training. Tracking metrics digitally would allow manufacturers to make quicker decisions by having access to all data in one location in real time.
Step 4: Become smart manufacturing wizards
Leveraging data-driven insights will improve decision making and deliver a greater competitive advantage. Those on the manufacturing floor must stay involved, as they will have day-to-day interactions with new tech and can offer first-hand insights on how to best improve processes. The automotive safety supplier implemented a set of dashboards to unite different data sources from systems and machines across IT and OT. This has enabled line leaders to have maximum visibility across their operations and view, in real time, how the company is tracking against KPIs, as well as make informed decisions accordingly in a spirit of continuous improvement.
Step 5: Transform into a smart factory
Maintaining a sense of urgency will ensure that a smart factory initiative does not lose steam. Enterprises must institutionalize new approaches to capture the full potential of the smart factory and continue to find ways to turn data into new strategic assets. Throughout the journey, be sure to celebrate your successes and wins.
John Woods is Kalypso‘s global director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. John is an executive-level management consultant with a strong global client-service track record across a diverse range of industries. Based in London, England, he specializes in delivering value from digital product innovation and digital transformation.