Digitization in Manufacturing: The Internet of Things – Now or Later?
One of my favorite candies growing up was Now and Later. The concept was a great idea – eat some now and save some for later. Interestingly enough, the company that created Now and Later candy dates back to 1919, and made this kind of candy cool even before my kids got hooked on Starbursts and Skittles and such. Recently, I heard there were 19 new flavors of Now and Later available – time to try them all.
But I digress. Let’s talk digitization and the Internet of Things (IoT). You will be left behind, if as my title suggests, you get caught thinking that the concept of connected solutions is strictly a concept for the future and that you can someday get on board.
In a recent article and associated white paper, SupplyChain247 shares the concepts around this new technology and a great infographic full of some amazing statistics. Their summary maintains some companies have recognized the value of IoT for years. Others are only beginning to see the applications, or more importantly, the many benefits it will bring their business.
Some two-thirds surveyed agree that digital transformation will have an impact and is, in fact, a key to their growth and competitiveness, and 93% of those surveyed said they plan to accelerate their rate of digital transformation. All of them (yes, 100%) said they will invest in transformative technologies, mainly analytics. It is this digitization in manufacturing, this digital transformation involved around the IoT, that will provide companies with the ability to capture and analyze new types of data at faster rates than ever imagined.
So, now or later? You knew I’d get back to my favorite candy – but why not now AND later?
RMG NetworksTM is in the business of intelligent visual communications solutions, and specifically in the supply chain space, we offer several Visual Supply Chain solutions. These supply chain management tools meet the needs of supply chain managers today who are constantly challenged to increase their facilities profitability by either increasing output without adding costs or maintaining output while utilizing less labor costs.
RMG’s Labor Productivity Improvement tool provides real-time, highly visible metrics and data that enable employees to see how they are performing against goals and the insight to adjust their behavior to maximize productivity (and therefore profitability).
With RMG’s Labor Productivity Improvement tool, supply chain operators can instantly transmit real-time metrics (e.g., picking and packing rates by team or individual members, rankings, actual versus goal performance) via “scoreboards” on large displays and desktop dashboards to employees on the manufacturing or warehouse floor, enabling them to make better, informed decisions on a moment-by-moment basis. The data also can be pushed to mobile devices, enabling management to monitor activity from any location or through preset threshold alert notifications. Some of our customers have experienced productivity improvements of 10-20%.
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