Many of the manufacturers we talk to have a limited view of what digital transformation can help them accomplish in their business. Often, they view it through a narrow lens as the integration of advanced technologies into manufacturing and production processes. That’s one element of it, but digital transformation is really a convergence and collaboration between operations and business systems to provide a single source of truth for data.
When that’s accomplished, it creates a plethora of opportunities for your organization to improve operations enterprise-wide. In this article, we break down the five biggest ways Tri Tech Automation can help you leverage digital transformation to open up a world of opportunities in your manufacturing business.
Digital Transformation Breaks Down Silos
Silos are everywhere in businesses of all kinds, and they’re especially prevalent in manufacturing companies. Two of the largest silos in the industry are the ones that separate information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT). But even within these disciplines there are silos often operating with their own disparate production equipment, ERP systems, quality control databases, supply management tools, and CRM platforms. Silos create unnecessary inefficiencies, data blind spots, and communication gaps across the organization.
Digital transformation links all these systems together. Leveraging industrial internet of things (IIoT) devices, cloud computing, and advanced analytics platforms, your company can enjoy a central data hub that facilitates seamless communication between departments and teams.
Digital Transformation Creates Real-Time Data Flow
Next to your people, your data is your company’s most valuable asset. Yet many manufacturers don’t have the systems in place to take full advantage of it. That’s why smooth data flow is one of the earliest and most impactful wins we see in most digital transformations. When sensors on production lines start feeding data directly into manufacturing execution systems (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms, manufacturers obtain instant visibility into production performance, equipment health, and inventory levels.
Suddenly decisions are easier to make because they’re better informed. Complicated tasks like predictive maintenance, demand forecasting, and dynamic resource allocation are made simpler. Frontline workers now have the insights they need to update processes in real time.
Digital Transformation Enables Enhanced Collaboration
Imagine a world where your teams work together across department lines and physical locations in shared data environments; where quality control data is integrated with production line metrics, helping both departments quickly identify root causes or defects and collaborate on solving them. Digital transformation helps make it happen. This enhanced collaboration can even be leveraged with external partners. Unified supply chain data sharing can lead to better coordination with vendors, slash lead times, and prevent disruptions.
Digital Transformation Powers Data-Driven Decisions
Make more informed decisions and fewer educated guesses. When your systems are unified, data is collected from throughout the business. It’s standardized and made available companywide for advanced analytics and artificial intelligence applications. Working from a single source of truth throughout the organization helps your team uncover trends, identify inefficiencies, and pursue opportunities for continuous improvement. With everyone operating from the same accurate data outputs, you also eliminate internal confusion over which information is most accurate.
Digital Transformation Increases Agility and Scalability
Scaling up your business to meet growing demand gets much simpler with a unified system architecture. Whether expanding production capacity, adding new production lines, or adopting emerging technologies like augmented reality for training, digital transformation can create the unified system you need to create a flexible foundation to build upon.
Tri Tech Can Make It Happen
Industrial digital transformation is about so much more than adopting new technologies. It’s about bringing your entire enterprise together to drive better business outcomes. Like many manufacturers, you might be nervous to take this journey alone. But you don’t have to do it alone.
Tri Tech has an entire team dedicated to helping customers identify needs and priorities, lay out a roadmap for digital transformation success, and start taking the steps that will lead to all these outcomes and more. Reach out to schedule a Digital Maturity Assessment today, and take the first step to writing the next chapter in your company’s success story.
