Advanced manufacturing is on its way to transform the industry. And there are solutions in place already that could help even small manufacturers keep up in the rapidly changing business environments.

1. ADVANCED MANUFACTURING –
SOLUTIONS THAT ARE
TRANSFORMING THE INDUSTRY

2. Advanced manufacturing is on its way to transform the industry. And there are
solutions in place already that could help even small manufacturers keep up in
the rapidly changing business environments.

3. Advanced manufacturing is the use of new, innovative technologies and processes to
improve production efficiency and become more competitive in the market.
While traditional manufacturing relies on rigid dedicated production lines and industry-
specific variations of proven techniques, advanced manufacturing utilizes innovations in IT,
automation, sensor networking, materials science, etc. to achieve data-driven, intelligent,
more economically and ecologically viable production.
What is Advanced Manufacturing?

4. According to Deloitte, 83% of manufacturers today believe that by 2025, production will be
transformed by these initiatives.
With corresponding policies and taskforces created on the highest levels of government
both in the United States as well as in the European Union, advanced manufacturing has
come a long way from being a buzzword used liberally by anyone with a vague
understanding of the subject.

5. There are different categories of solutions that fall under the larger umbrella of advanced
manufacturing.
While some of them are truly cutting-edge, there are also solutions that have been around
for decades but are only now slowly entering the mainstream as they are becoming more
developed and affordable to even small businesses.
Advanced Manufacturing solutions

6. Manufacturing data management
Many companies already use digital solutions to streamline manufacturing operations by
planning and scheduling processes, collecting and analyzing data, and improving
communications.
Even though these solutions have been on the market for many decades already, they have
been unavailable for the smaller players.

7. Software of the digital revolution
ERP, MRP, CRM, SCM, WMS, MES, even Excel – all these software solutions have their roots in
the digital revolution of the second half of the previous century.
Although they have been around for a long time, they have been unavailable for most
manufacturing businesses due to their high licensing and implementation costs.

8. They were also designed to be used by specific departments (CRM by salespeople, WMS by
inventory managers, accounting software by finance, etc.), so they were limited in their
functionality to only that single area.
Even when these single-department software were developed further to include features for
other parts of the manufacturing business, such as production planning or maintenance
management, they remained essentially unbalanced.

9. Modern manufacturing software
With the last decade, however, there has been a massive shift toward affordable, easy-to-
use software that integrates all the different functionalities previously offered by standalone
programs and offers manufacturers an all-in-one solution.
MRP systems or manufacturing ERPs are software that act as an underlying infrastructure of
a manufacturing business.

10. Other than allowing manufacturers to plan and schedule their production processes and
material needs, a modern MRP system has the capabilities to manage each aspect of a
manufacturing business, from sales to procurement, from finances to maintenance, and so
forth.
In addition, an MRP system collects vast amounts of data from each of the departments and
helps to translate it into insights.
Cloud-based MRP software can be accessed remotely and thus has the ability to connect all
of the departments at all times, however remote they might be, making the exchange of
information between them instantaneous while automating many processes.

11. Study confirms benefits of manufacturing ERP
In fact, an ERP implementation study conducted among 315 manufacturers and distributors
in November 2018 by Mint Jutras consulting firm produced the following results:
40% of the respondents reported reduced IT costs
38% reported reduced inventory levels
35% reported reduced cycle time
32% reported reduced headcount dedicated to manual data entry
31% reported increased production capacity without added headcount or capital investment
22% reported revenue growth without added headcount or capital investment
51% reported improved data accessibility/availability

12. 40% reported improved inventory accuracy
34% reported improved internal collaboration/interaction
28% reported improved OTIF delivery
23% reported improved external collaboration/interaction
23% reported improved product quality
21% reported increased trust in data
19% reported improved customer satisfaction
17% reported improved employee engagement

13. This is a massive amount of benefits.
Furthermore, the fact that all these improvements were attained by a large margin of
surveyed companies is testimony to each of them being attainable if an MRP system is
properly implemented.
Only 1 respondent out of the 315 deemed their implementation a failure.

14. Advanced analytics
With the data management capabilities of an MRP system allowing you to collect large
amounts of data, you can also use the software to start turning all of that information into
business insights.
Finding patterns and translating the data will not only help you detect hiccups in the
production process or prevent overstocking your raw materials.
It can also provide you with key statistics about your business performance and allows for
better forecasting and decision-making throughout your whole company – from customer
behavior trends to Overall Equipment Effectiveness.

15. This is what modern MRP systems are gradually moving toward – to becoming data
powerhouses that not only collect and do simple processing with the information fed to
them but also perform complicated analyses that predict business outcomes and prescribe
necessary steps.

16. Artificial intelligence and machine learning
AI and machine learning could be some of the more transformative concepts of our era, and
they are already employed in manufacturing on a noticeable scale.
Although AI is not an entirely new field of technology, recent developments like cloud
computing, big data, and machine learning have paved the way for it to enter the world at
large.
If the appropriate infrastructure is in place that would allow for collecting data from
different departments of a manufacturing business on a mass scale, AI could be utilized to
make real-time data-driven decisions.

17. For example, data could be sent in from the production line that would help AI to calculate
and predict cycle time with different variables, which would in turn allow for more accurate
planning and scheduling.
With the help of sensors, AI could be used to spot inconsistencies either in the quality of the
products or in the condition of the production equipment.
In procurement, AI could be used for highly accurate demand forecasts and predictive
ordering while sales teams could benefit from its analytical capabilities to assess
opportunity.

18. But that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Accenture estimates that AI has the potential to grow profits in the manufacturing industry
by a whopping 39% of the predicted baseline in 2035.
Industrial IoT, robotics, and automation
The Industrial Internet of Things comprises interconnected sensors, production equipment,
and other devices used in manufacturing.
IoT solutions could be used for remote monitoring and operations, i.e. keeping an eye on
and guiding machinery, but also for equipment interaction that would allow for
autonomous machinery to create a workflow and prevent accidents.

19. Cooperation between human and machine is already possible on a more intimate level, too,
with wearable IoT-aided gloves and exoskeletons providing workers with extra safety and
strength.
Apart from helping conduct the actual production processes, IoT is an invaluable source of
data that could be used to make your production processes more efficient and safe.
By 2019, the annual sale of industrial robots had tripled compared to ten years before.
As we are still only on the verge of the era of smart factories, the growth of the importance
of IoT and automation will undoubtedly accelerate going forth.

20. Virtual manufacturing
Virtual manufacturing utilizes augmented or virtual reality to model, simulate, and optimize
production processes and products.
Using Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME), product engineers can create
a virtual product model and simulate its performance in various conditions before taking it
into real-life production.

21. Virtual manufacturing also allows engineers to create simulations of manufacturing
processes, which can be immensely helpful to iron out inefficiencies and create a
streamlined production cycle.
Furthermore, augmented reality can aid in studying the processes and performing
maintenance for the production equipment.

22. Advanced manufacturing is not a trend or a buzzword that will fade away in five years,
neither is it merely an umbrella term for individual innovative solutions.
Instead, it is a phenomenon that will only start to grow rapidly in the near future, ushering
in the age of remotely managed smart factories that will employ all the advanced
manufacturing technologies, each complementing and perfecting the other.
Conclusion

23. Because you cannot utilize AI without having the capability to collect massive amounts of
data.
You cannot take full advantage of robotics and automation if you do not have an AI system
guiding the robots.
And the first step manufacturers should take would be to start creating an infrastructure for
their advanced manufacturing initiative.

25. https://manufacturing-software-blog.mrpeasy.com/advanced-
manufacturing/
https://www.mrpeasy.com/