Industry 4.0
In the past few decades, the industrial model has gone through a revolution that has changed the way industries function.
The transition from the first phase of the industrial revolution to the fourth has brought tremendous changes to the way industries operate or rather manufacture.
Often involved in practicing various methodologies such as lean production, Toyota Production System, to Six Sigma, the world of manufacturing has always put its best foot forward to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and increase productivity.
Similarly, when the entire world is accepting the power of mobility, manufacturing is embracing the technology with open arms.
Correlation between mobility and manufacturing
Mobility in manufacturing enhances productivity and drives transformation. We tell you how.
Divided into four phases, the industrial revolution is a legacy that began with the introduction of mechanical production using hydro-electric and steam-powered equipment at the end of the 18th century and has transformed to a level where networking and exchange of information between human and machines have become inevitable.
Well, this is what the modern world calls “Industry 4.0.”
Currently generating tremendous noise, the teamwork between manufacturing automation and modern age technologies such as IoT, cloud computing, and cyber-physical systems is transforming the way manufacturing is reinventing.
There is no doubt that industries across the world are embracing emerging technologies. Adoption of mobile and wireless technologies is one of the most significant elements that support manufacturing to enhance business processes, streamline workflows, especially with regards to field sales, supply chain management, and field services.
Mobility is revolutionizing manufacturing
The manufacturing industry across the world always operates under pressure. The pressure of increasing output, reducing costs, reducing production time without hampering quality are a few demands that the industries need to fulfill to achieve a competitive edge in the market.
The introduction of mobility in manufacturing is one of the most valuable adoptions that help businesses enhance critical capabilities. Additionally, mobility reinforces enterprises to keep up with the growing pace of complex projects of the hyper-connected world that demands real-time solutions.
Therefore, the manufacturing industry now demands the involvement of comprehensive mobile technologies to automate processes.
Decision-makers are prioritizing the impact of mobile technologies, which are used as a driving force toward business success. Introducing mobility into new production strategies, procedures, and processes are rewarding businesses with accuracy and speed at production units. Therefore, the expansion of existing business processes with mobility is delivering tremendous success. And the overall result displays greater communication and collaboration.
Even though manufacturing units are refraining from the modern age BYOD concept for the shop floor, processes are being optimized by focusing on standardizing industrial-grade mobile devices that can be a perfect fit for the manufacturing ecosystem.
Top three ways in which businesses are leveraging mobility to revolutionize manufacturing
Integration of mobile CRM systems
Manufacturing units are integrating mobile CRM systems with distributed order management, pricing, and execution to enhance customer responsiveness. In the world of manufacturing, delivering information to sales teams, customers, and business prospects is driving the need for accelerated adoption of mobile CRM.
Remember, respecting the prospect’s time and offering a real-time response can be the deciding factor between cracking a deal or not.
Generating quotes
Delivering quotes for build-to-order products with the latest pricing and delivery date rewards business with greater sales. When sales reps are in a position to complete and provide a quote within hours later to an in-depth discussion, chances of them winning the deal are high.
However, the mobile integration of configure, price, quote (CPQ) system with pricing and inventory empowers sales reps to complete and deliver quotes to prospects within hours.
Adding transparency to distributed order management
Distributed order management is an essential aspect of the sales team. Powered with an intelligent arrangement of orders, adding transparency can support sales while increasing order fulfillment accuracy. Remember, if the product built is complex in nature, the need for updates increases. Therefore, introduction to mobile apps that are customized to request order status, delivery dates, and configure order alerts can enhance results.
Companies that offer robust mobility solutions
- Accenture
- AT and amp;T
- Atos
- Deloitte
- Cisco
- Honeywell
- DMI
The pace at which mobility solutions are experiencing growth is tremendous. However, the lack of in-house expertise to deal with complexities of the dynamic and heterogeneous IT and mobile environment calls for professional services.
Mentioned above are just a few names that offer end-to-end mobility solutions. Based on your business needs, budget, and several other factors, we recommend you choose the most suitable service for maximum output.
Exploring enterprise mobility solutions that redefine the future of manufacturing
Businesses are rapidly adopting mobility solutions to enhance business processes and operations. They are regularly reshaping processes with effective, efficient, and lean enterprise mobility solutions.
“As per PwC, mobility is on the top of the list for 73% of the interviewed CEOs in the manufacturing industry.”
It is essential to understand that enterprise mobility solutions are strengthening various divisions across the manufacturing business. Right from optimizing the shop floor to logistics and inventory, these solutions have become the need of the hour as even leaders in the manufacturing genre understand the drawbacks of downtime and evaluate the benefits of enhancing productivity by leveraging the goodness of mobile devices and mobility solutions.
Distributed manufacturing
Distributed manufacturing or distributed production is an extremely agile concept that enables accelerated and scalable movement in modern business. This technique uses the network of geographically spread manufacturing units and collaborates using information technology. This setup allows enterprises to focus on centralized and remote management of production across different production centers spread in different geographies.
Advantages
- Reduces emissions
- Reduces logistics costs
- Maintains quality
Process improvement
Digitization tops the priority list for the manufacturing sector. Mobile technology-driven digital transformation enhances data transmission within the organization. As a part of Industry 4.0, more and more businesses are focusing on automating the business process by deploying mobile devices and networks.
The use of mobile devices loaded with built-in data collection tools, RFID/NFC readers, barcode scanners, and various other features add to the transparency quotient of the production process right from the shop floor to procurement.
Data-driven systems and processes
Implementation of mobility in the manufacturing ecosystem improves the traceability and reporting system by reducing the dependency on manual methods that are subject to errors.
With up-to-date mobile technology, hours of paperwork can be eliminated to achieve productivity and employee satisfaction that leads to better communication and engagement.
Key benefits of mobility in manufacturing
The adoption and use of mobile devices and applications by manufacturing businesses are constantly changing. However, to lead in the race, these businesses are turning to mobile technology to transform the way they operate and deliver.
Mentioned below are key benefits that make mobility solutions inevitable for successful manufacturing:
- Improved operational effectiveness
- Greater ROI
- Real-time monitoring
- Streamlined business processes
- Rapid product development
- Improved order accomplishment accuracy
- Improved SCM (Supply Chain Management)
- Reduced operating costs
- Reduced downtime
Conclusion
The everchanging and hyper-connected ecosystem of the manufacturing sector calls for technology and processes that can streamline production right from the production floor to procurement. However, to maintain a balance and reduce inefficiencies and delays, advanced mobile technologies may be a game-changer.
To optimize factory maintenance, supply chain management, order processing, and more, the adoption of enterprise mobility solutions helps enterprises improve their capabilities to enhance overall enterprise processes.
Read through some of our latest whitepapers on mobility to gain an in-depth understanding of the topic.
