Transcript
Page 1: 5 Top Tips to Improve your Manufacturing Efficiency in 2017

5 Top Tips to Improve

Manufacturing Efficiency in 2017

Page 2: 5 Top Tips to Improve your Manufacturing Efficiency in 2017

Introduction

January is a good time to reflect on the progress and achievements made over the previous year and to plan where you want the business to be in the future months. The increasing economical and political uncertainty will inevitably create a more risky and competitive global environment for manufacturers to operate within. But as well as these apparent challenges, each year brings with it real opportunities to achieve new heights of operational improvement.

Emerging technology was at the forefront of 2016, with the concept of smart factories, big data and digitisation already making a positive impact. As we enter a new year, even more manufacturers will recognise that these new technologies are a necessity to their business and not just an added extra.

Page 3: 5 Top Tips to Improve your Manufacturing Efficiency in 2017

So, we’ve come up with some simple tips designed to help improve your manufacturing efficiency, and which can be easily acted upon immediately. 2017 is a really exciting time for technology, and making even the smallest of changes in these five areas will help to significantly lower operating costs and boost the bottom line, whilst enabling you to stay at the very top of your game.

As the manufacturing industry continues to push through the fourth Industrial Revolution, read our top tips to establish what is important to you and what necessary changes need to be made to your manufacturing operations to achieve significant gains of efficiency in 2017.

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Become a greener1.

manufacturerand more sustainable

With rising manufacturing energy costs and the need to meet social responsibility policies, it is key to drill down into the factors that impact energy efficiency of existing assets and machinery, to eliminate unnecessary energy costs. Manufacturers have begun to realise the long-term cost benefits of sustainability, such as the use of renewable energy. Savings start with monitoring and recording energy consumption; so identify the activities that waste energy and put a strategy in place to reduce them.

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Collaboration between humans

and automation for sustainable

growth and innovation

2.

Automated systems are common place in many manufacturing facilities, but in 2016 we’ve seen the development of advanced automation technology. The largest impact on manufacturing was collaborative automation, which offer the unique benefit of an automated system that is programmed to work alongside human employees, with new safety standards in place so that no threat is posed to employees.

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The term ‘cobotics’ comes from the collaboration between humans and automation, and is popular in the U.S

automotive and aerospace industries. As digital technology systems control more aspects of manufacturing operations,

the relationship between human and automation will become more significant. Respond to the ever-changing market conditions by planning an automation strategy

roadmap, which will future proof your operations for years to come.

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Embrace new IIoT

technologies to become

smarter

3.

As supply chains become more complex and the need for manufacturers to operate globally increases, it is important to embrace the available software technology to meet these demands. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), which connects equipment, people, processes and supply chains is becoming more accessible to all sized manufacturers.

Being at the forefront of Industry 4.0 and taking advantage of technology will allow manufacturers, big or small to achieve business outcomes that weren’t possible 10 years ago, such as improving cost-effectiveness and product quality.

Plan your Strategy

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Consider cyber security

as a critical threat

4.

According to research, manufacturing is the second most cyber attackedindustry after Healthcare. Whilst manufacturers continue to adopt IoTtechniques, they are becoming more connected and are dealing withhuge amounts of data from a wide range of sources. This in turn will openup the door to huge risks and threats to the damage and malpractice ofhardware or software, so it’s imperative to have plans in place to protectthese information systems. Employing reliable, external partners to helpwith security is vital, as most manufacturers are not in the position to dothis alone. Cyber security will be a critical concern for manufacturers in2017, and in order for manufacturers to keep benefiting from digitalsystems, while also keeping employees and their business safe, it willneed to be looked at seriously.

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Adopt predictive analytics

to drive greater efficiency

5.

Big data analytics is a key trend in the emergingtechnology market, driven by the need to becomemore efficient. Predictive analytics in manufacturingwill be determined by a variety of smart sensorsintegrated at every stage of the production process.

The correct data will enable manufacturers to predictwhen machines may break down, when inventory needsreplenishing and so on to create a more efficient costbase, to drive productivity, reduce errors and predictfuture events and trends. As manufacturers begin to plantheir big data and IoT implementation strategies, they willstart to take advantage of these intelligent systems.


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