For small to medium-sized manufacturers, the beauty of these technologies is that they can build on each other, one investment leading into the next.
For Industry Week
Illustration: © David Burke | Dreamstime.com
In other words, the research has matured. But the implementation, especially among small and medium-sized manufacturers, is still getting there.
I have a theory for that, one educated by years of work at MAGNET, the manufacturing consultancy I head in Northeast Ohio that is part of the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
Most small- and medium-sized businesses believe they’re at a fundamental disadvantage when it comes to Industry 4.0, largely due to the resources at their disposal. They get overwhelmed, then stuck, putting off tech for a future day. They figure they can’t throw millions of dollars into a technological revamp or build a new, state-of-the-art facility anyway. And perhaps some of them are just a bit headstrong, having done things the same way for years or decades.
But all that research reveals there’s much to be gained. Even better, concerns about costs—at least to get the ball rolling—are largely overblown.
Here’s a full breakdown on how small and medium manufacturers can approach Industry 4.0, and what they stand to gain.
What are the benefits of Industry 4.0 for small and medium-sized manufacturers?
The simple answer, over the long haul, is that putting Industry 4.0 technologies into play will save money and increase efficiency. You’ll gain a much deeper understanding of the tools and machinery making up your factory floor, with analytics and insights that can be turned into actual business value.
You’ll make more informed decisions, increase output as well as surge capacity, and—crucially—become much more resilient to supply chain disruption. In fact, six months into the pandemic, 94% of manufacturers said Industry 4.0 had helped keep their operations up and running, McKinsey says.
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