North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event heads to Orange County Convention Center in October 2024. FABTECH provides a convenient "one stop shop" venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers, see the latest industry products and developments, and find the tools to improve productivity, increase profits and discover new solutions to all of your metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing needs.
North America's Largest Metal Forming, Fabricating, Welding and Finishing Event
Smart manufacturing requires the smart use of data.
That’s the core message of the Smart Manufacturing track of presentations, taking place at FABTECH 2018 on Tuesday, November 6. The timely sessions include presentations from thought leaders who are at the forefront of smart manufacturing.
I’m pleased to be part of the Smart Manufacturing session which puts the focus on how to drive value and transformation in the world of connected manufacturing and the Industrial Internet of Things.
In advance of the event, it’s important to understand how to facilitate “digital transformation” to drive value and performance improvement.
Digital Transformation Defined
Digital transformation has been described as aligning and optimizing technology to improve performance, and drive value for customers and employees to more effectively compete in an ever-changing digital economy.
With disruptions from technological advancements such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), manufacturing organizations must work toward digital transformation, using real-time data to make decisions quickly, to mine for actionable intelligence, and to create a competitive advantage.
This has never been truer than now as organizations enter the age of the Industrial Internet of Things.
What is the Industrial Internet of Things?
What makes up the Industrial Internet of Things?
Think of the Industrial Internet of Things as manufacturing or distribution related hardware and software that work together through internet-of-things-style connectivity to track and enhance manufacturing and industrial processes. Innovations in connected manufacturing, sensors, machine learning, and other areas all contribute to applications in the Industrial Internet of Things.
With IIoT, the impacts to the manufacturing sector are far more disruptive and demand new levels of data integration. Smart manufacturing, on-demand production and delivery, intelligent sensors and automation all play an important role.
Like the tightly linked data connectivity that makes up the Internet of Things, the Industrial Internet of Things is all about optimizing operational efficiency and automation, with IT systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as a key driver.
Wanted: Data Integration
With the interconnection of machines, sensors, production tracking, process tracking and other initiatives, such as “Lights Out Manufacturing,” which is truly an automated production operation, effective implementation of IIoT depends on integrated data availability.
Ready access to business intelligence will have a significant impact on forecasting, inventory control and customer service. Linking manufacturing devices to input production data, such as product counts, temperature variables, quality output tracking and alerts, is one area where manufacturers could reap immense rewards.
Imagine a scenario where the product is exchanging data over the internet, enabling the manufacturer to monitor for usage and wear and tear and anticipate needed maintenance without an equipment failure or disruption in business continuity.
In another scenario, think of how the forecasting process, which in the past has been an inexact, time-consuming and imperfect process, can be eliminated by communicating point-of-sale inventory information directly to the manufacturer. This exchange of information would allow the manufacturer to transition from the make-to-stock production model to the more profitable make-to-order model. The manufacturer could focus on only producing the in-demand products, resulting in less need for slow moving inventory.
Business intelligence which once relied on historical transaction data to support decision making now becomes a tool to reveal the present reality and improve decision making.
With the smart manufacturing era’s greater reliance on data integration and connected technology, security implications are of utmost importance.
It’s essential to ensure that IIoT data is secure and available to senior managers and only those individuals closest to the machine sensors on the shop floor. Data integrity and security require strategies to mitigate risks and safeguard data.
Real-World Scenarios
As we’ll be covering in the Smart Manufacturing session of presentations during FABTECH 2018, there are many real-world scenarios where enterprise software operationalizes IIoT data without the necessity of human intervention.
We’ll summarize cases where it’s possible to issue work orders automatically when sensors track production and process monitoring in real time.
We’ll also discuss process monitoring for maintenance. This level of automated data integration can enable scheduling of the appropriate technicians and adjust production schedules based on fault reports and overall equipment calculations.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, what’s key in smart manufacturing is the use of integrated data in the context of overall business processes, which requires tighter integration with IT applications like ERP.
The industrial Internet of Things, when fully realized, has the potential to deliver cost savings and a competitive differentiator to those technology adopters wise enough to grasp its potential. Slow adopting manufacturers will end up at a disadvantage.
Author Bio
Jeff Carr is Founder and CEO of Ultra Consultants, an independent research and enterprise selection consultants firm serving the manufacturing and distribution industries. Jeff is a leading independent voice in enterprise system technology. Jeff will be speaking as part of the Smart Manufacturing FABTECH 2018 session Tuesday, November 6, 2018. www.ultraconsultants.com
FABTECH 2024
About the Expo
North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event heads to Orange County Convention Center in October 2024. FABTECH provides a convenient "one stop shop" venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers, see the latest industry products and developments, and find the tools to improve productivity, increase profits and discover new solutions to all of your metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing needs.
