Virtually all industries across the globe are mapping out their digital transformation strategies, and manufacturing is no exception. Today, factories are more efficient than they’ve ever been largely due to the advantages provided by digital tools. In short, digital technologies are helping manufacturers reduce errors, lower costs and produce goods more quickly.
Whether you’re a business owner or a floor manager on a flourishing factory line, it’s important to know how digital technologies can aid with manufacturing. Failing to incorporate these tools into your own practices can cause you to fall behind your competitors. On the other hand, implementing all the latest digital technologies ensures that your factories will operate as efficiently as possible.
This article will cover some of the most significant impacts digitisation has had on the manufacturing industry and how your business can benefit from it.
AI-Powered Factories
Artificial intelligence is all the rage in the manufacturing industry for good reason. An AI platform for manufacturing facilities can perform tasks that used to take hours in mere seconds. For instance, rather than having a human employee manually go over each machine to check for wear and tear, AI can predict when factory tools need to be repaired or replaced. Fittingly, this new feature is referred to as ‘predictive maintenance’.
Artificial intelligence programs can also use machine learning to design new processes and procedures based on past data. It can do this in much the same way a human being would, only more effectively. AI’s ability to quickly harness massive amounts of information to detect trends and create actionable, data-driven strategies is what sets it apart from human employees, and nowhere is this more evident than in factories.
There’s so much more that AI can do beyond these use cases. It can also be used to improve the quality of products, predict when to order new raw materials and even automate the hiring of human employees. While this can all be a little scary, it’s also incredibly exciting. AI is creating more effective and safer factories, and there’s nothing to suggest that this trend won’t continue in the coming years.
Faster Prototyping
Designing and improving products is now easier than ever thanks to a host of digital tools. Platforms like Figma, Flinto and Origami Studio all allow designers to sketch out prototypes in a fraction of the time it would take using a pencil and paper. Computer-aided design (CAD) applications are commonly used in factories to create brand-new products or change existing ones.
Thanks to the ease of making digital prototypes, it’s much more feasible for factories to offer product design as a service. Rather than simply producing goods based on an existing design provided by the client, manufacturers can now take a more active role in the process of building a product from start to finish. This acts as an extra revenue stream.
Digital product design tools also allow manufacturers to make minor changes to an existing product if there’s a defect in the original design or if the client specifically requests it.
Training Tools
Employee training takes up a lot of time and resources, especially if your manufacturing plant adheres to strict quality control standards. Getting a factory worker up to speed can take months if you’re manufacturing especially complicated products. Teaching new managers your factory’s specific processes can also cost you lots of time, money and manpower.
Digital learning platforms make employee training a much more efficient process. Rather than have your workers sit in a classroom and be taught by another human being, you can now simply let them take an online course to teach them the skills they need. If these are general skills, you can use an external course from a platform like Coursera or Udemy. If you want them to learn skills that are specific to your factory, consider building your own digital learning program.
The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the concept of physical objects being interconnected thanks to technology like sensors, wireless connection and AI. The IoT is incredibly useful in factories, where various machines need to work in sync with each other in order to be effective.
Placing a sensor on machines at every step of the manufacturing process allows factories to gather data that can be processed by AI. This information can then be used to clear bottlenecks, improve quality control processes and identify which machines are due for repair.
These days, mobile phones, 3D printers, cameras and more can all fall under the IoT for a factory. The interconnectedness that the IoT creates allows factories to operate as a single, seamless unit rather than a collection of disparate parts.
Digital Communications
Communication is essential, both within a factory and between a manufacturer and its clients or suppliers. Internally, digital messaging tools like Beekeeper and Slack allow employees to communicate with each other in real time. They also allow managers to get insights from workers on the factory floor.
Externally, factory owners and managers can communicate with overseas suppliers and clients using video conferencing tools like Zoom and Skype. With the advent of mobile phones and tablets, it’s also more convenient than ever to send emails and instant messages.
Many businesses work with manufacturers in foreign countries, where people speak different languages. In the past, this required both companies and factories to hire interpreters. Today, there are machine learning translation tools that can teach existing employees other languages and provide on-the-spot translations when people from different linguistic backgrounds converse. These tools can also be used to translate operating manuals.
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Digitisation has multiplied the efficiency of modern factories. You can expect this trend to carry on in the coming years as technology grows more sophisticated and people find new ways of utilising it from a manufacturing standpoint.
We’ve just gone over some key ways digital tools are being used in the manufacturing industry. If you aren’t already using them in your own practices, today is the day to look into them more deeply. By implementing the latest digital tools in your manufacturing procedures, you can boost your efficiency tenfold and grow your business.
