We can attribute more profits, increased productivity, and better customer service to big data use in manufacturing. Utilizing big data can be the difference between manufacturers reacting and their ability to take proactive business approaches. Let’s look at how big data is impacting manufacturing in a big way.
Yield and throughput
Knowing the resources it takes to produce a product from machine to labor, time, tools, materials, inspection, packaging, and more is powerful. Savvy manufacturers can use this information to save money, improve quality, and produce more of what’s making the most profit.
Efficiency
Big data can make it easier for business leaders to see inefficiencies. The increased visibility data provides helps them isolate where problems have occurred and where they’re occurring with frequency. Supply chain data such as knowing which vendors and partners are on time with their shipments, where loads are sitting, and where costs are rising can have huge business impacts. Certain products and projects go together better than others; learning why and replicating those efficiencies is also a valuable way to improve processes.
Customer service
Knowing when you delivered what to whom can provide insight into what you’re doing right and where you need to make improvements from a customer standpoint. When you start fixing challenges and improving processes across the board, you can improve your customer service. Having information on your costs and knowing what you’re providing to your customers can help justify and back-up cost increases. It can also give you powerful information on warranty data.
As an example, let’s look at the car industry. By utilizing warranty repair information, car company analysts can determine which parts mechanics are fixing most frequently and come up with replacement options. Auto industry experts are also using data to:
- Determine problems at the design stage before putting costly mistakes into production.
- Utilize vehicle information to provide data on vehicle health.
- Improve design, quality, and function for the future.
Maintenance improvements
Decrease downtime and increase profits through machine performance information. You can use big data to find the optimal time to perform maintenance on specific machines, when machines need servicing based on increasing maintenance needs, and which machines are breaking down to the point of needing to be replaced. Big data has helped company leaders nearly eliminate breakdowns.
Big data can help manufacturers become more agile and flexible, better adapt to customers’ needs, and improve business performance and profitability. Knowing your business from a data perspective provides maintenance and plant supervisors with powerful information they can use to improve machine performance and eliminate critical breakdowns.