DIGITAL FACTORY
facilities will all be possible with the right information made available through the digital factory . By augmenting the human workforce , manufacturers can improve overall quality , throughput and cycle time , for example ,” says Wee .
Adoption Challenges Faced By Manufacturers Asked to reflect on the current challenges for manufacturers when it comes to driving the adoption of digitalisation , Wee breaks it down to four key areas :
1 . Data access : Data silos and legacy IT infrastructure are an area that has challenged manufacturers due to the systems that do not share information with one another or provide a holistic view of the operations .
2 . Workforce training : It ’ s incredibly important to train existing shop floor talent on how to effectively leverage digital technologies . This became evident during the pandemic . It ’ s crucial for technology to be made with ease of use in mind so that the existing workforce can adapt to the digital world .
3 . Vendor landscape : Manufacturers are challenged with selecting vendors to partner with when shaping their transformation journeys . Companies are often overwhelmed by the variety of solutions in the marketplace and must be thorough in the selection of vendor partners . At the same time , they are looking to build a comprehensive digital ecosystem with solutions that work well together without complex integrations .
4 . Initiative prioritisation : Due to innovations and the pace at which technology is evolving , executives struggle to prioritise projects and investments . Lack of prioritisation and innovation governance , paired with low investment budgets , can often lead to competing projects and a divided perspective amongst the leadership .
Overcoming Challenges : The Use Case for Cloud Platforms Those in the industry that are deploying digital factory practices are applying cloud technologies to address core business challenges , such as reliable operations , inventory tracking and management , supply chain optimisation , intelligent production
manufacturingglobal . com 53