Reasons not to delay further digitisation of your manufacturing plant

The next-generation manufacturing plant will incorporate digital technology to maximise its efficiency and increase productivity. The next-generation manufacturing plant will incorporate digital technology to maximise efficiency and increase productivity.

As more facilities adopt additional technology, customers will expect a certain level of service. You can remain competitive by digitising your manufacturing plant and reap the following benefits:

• Reduce energy consumption. Digitising your manufacturing plant can save you money beyond simply increasing productivity. Digital technology allows you to track your energy usage in real time. With this information, you can see which equipment uses the most energy. This gives you the opportunity to make changes and save money on energy costs at your facility. The result is increased profits. There are companies, for example, that have achieved savings of up to 30% in energy usage by adopting digitised processes. Others have predicted savings of more than £1 million through the continued use of automation and the digital information it generates. These savings often allow digitised facilities to pay for themselves through ROI within a few years, depending on the amount invested.
• Improve communications with suppliers. Through real-time communications, you can find out where your supplies are at any given moment. This enhanced supply chain information can help you better manage your operations. Improvements in supply chain management are particularly evident in aspects of the system that are reported at short notice. Recent data indicates that 43% of factories worldwide have seen a sharp increase in their ability to procure products just in time with digitalisation.
• Predict maintenance. To keep your facilities running longer, it is best to predict when to perform maintenance rather than react to breakdowns. With the predictive maintenance, Connected devices send a signal to workers to repair any equipment as its reliability declines. This process also reduces your need for on-call maintenance staff, as your equipment will run longer with less unplanned downtime. For example, a large chemical facility digitised its maintenance and experienced an 80% drop in unexpected downtime.
• Increase productivity. Digital technology can help your current employees become much more efficient. For example, at a Dutch parcel delivery company facility, employees equipped with augmented reality glasses saw a 251% increase in efficiency. The glasses showed workers the best and fastest route through the warehouse when picking up items. They fulfilled 9,000 orders in 10 days and picked 20,000 different items with much greater accuracy using the glasses than they had historically been able to.
• Increase innovation. With product development, you can increase innovation by reducing the time from development to implementation. With real-time data, product development can more quickly meet changing demands. High-tech data evaluation can even predict when trends will shift, similar to how predictive maintenance works. Meeting customer demands quickly can reduce the amount of unsold product, which reduces waste.
• Increase efficiency. The operation of a facility can be carried out from a centralised location. This improves a supervisor's ability to view all lines and take control where necessary. When working with a central control system, a supervisor can be everywhere in the plant at once. With controls at their fingertips, making immediate decisions is simple, reducing downtime. With a digitised supply chain, companies can increase revenue by 2.91% and increase efficiency by 4.11%. These same savings in a supply chain are also reflected in manufacturing plants.
• Make your storage smarter. The industrial digitisation makes your storage facilities smarter. You can make your warehouses and document storage centres more efficient and reliable. Digitising your paper documents protects them from natural disasters while freeing up space. Warehouses with automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) use available space more efficiently. A warehouse with AS/RS can have taller shelves and narrower aisles than a facility that relies on forklifts and people for retrieval. In addition, automating the storage system reduces the number of trained employees needed. It also keeps workers in the warehouse safer., as they will not operate forklifts and other heavy machinery for the storage of items.
• Digitise your plant for the future. Although it requires an investment, digitising your manufacturing plant will bring you numerous benefits. These can put your facility at an advantage in the fast-paced world of increasing technology. If you do not integrate automation into your plant, you will lose your advantage and could fall behind. Do not leave your facilities in the 20th century. Get the technology now to upgrade your plant.

Since you are interested in learning more about digitising your manufacturing plant, we invite you to review How to choose your ideal technology partner for digital transformation in food and beverage plants and also the checklist for in-depth maintenance of centrifugal pumpsas well as to subscribe to our Newslettera newsletter that provides you with technical content about the best technological solutions for industrial plants, focused on automation and maintenance.