Rapidly changing consumer tastes and an accelerated pace of new product innovation is pushing the manufacturing industry to adapt. Digitalization in manufacturing can be an instant boost to productivity, enabling manufacturers to hit more aggressive deadlines and meet changing customer demands.
While many manufacturers have already embraced digitization and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies, some are still hanging on to old manual processes. The manufacturers that are embracing digital, however, are radically improving customer experiences and reshaping the industry while focusing on uptime.
DIGITAL MANUFACTURING IMPROVEMENTS INCREASE SHOP’S CAPACITY
As an example, Principle Manufacturing, an MC Machinery Systems customer, was running at a capacity of 54-56 percent. Once they adopted remote360, MC Machinery Systems’ digital monitoring system, they improved their capacity to an average of 74 percent. This is just one example of several MC Machinery customers using data to drive value through data-driven business decisions. Enabling the digital ecosystem by optimizing and automating processes from design to delivery would not be possible without manufacturing analytics.
“Manufacturers need data to identify and prioritize problems that are impacting performance and competitiveness,” states Tony Imbrogno, MC Machinery’s Sr. VP of Operations/Customer Service & Support. “Data will enable them to uncover barriers to maximize uptime and improve their bottom line. It provides insights to prioritize opportunities, test assumptions, find waste, and guide continuous improvement processes.”
There are many emerging smart technologies like cloud computing, analytics, AI, automation, and robotics contributing to the digitalization of manufacturing and optimization of the supply chain.
DIGITAL MANUFACTURING WITH REMOTE360
The first step in beginning the IIoT journey is laying the foundation to connect shop floor devices and start capturing data. remote360, a web-based production monitoring, and support solution will quickly allow MC Machinery’s customers to get their machines connected and start collecting data. Companies that have adopted remote360 have realized that ROI does come, and it comes quickly.
Machine tools are a physical entity that can be used for years and ROI can be easily calculated and seen after the machine is up and running. Data and software are not tangible, so seeing ROI before purchasing the software makes it more difficult. However, once the software is implemented and manufacturers see the data from their shop floor, it allows them to quickly lean processes and increase uptime simply by having visibility.