5 key digital technologies that are transforming the manufacturing industry blog - techigai

10/27/21, 2:55 PM 5 Key Digital Technologies That Are Transforming The Manufacturing Industry - Blog - Techigai
https://techigai.io/5-key-digital-technologies-that-are-transforming-the-manufacturing-industry/ 1/15
5 Key Digital Technologies That Are
Transforming The Manufacturing Industry
If there’s one industry that has compelled to go through a constant
operational and technological evolution with the growth of ecommerce over
the last few years, it’s Manufacturing. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic,
manufacturers are now in a race to digitally transform their businesses to
ensure efficient streamlined processes and optimal productivity. But, what
technologies should you incorporate into your business? Scroll down to
learn more.
MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION CLOUD
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Manufacturing is not just about making products anymore. With the onset
of the pandemic, manufacturers globally are keenly looking for new ways to
increase the productivity of their units, lower human interventions in their
production process, and minimize their production costs. Not to mention to
also connect better with their customers digitally.
While industry 4.0 helped
increase the productivity of machines using technology, it’s now time for
industry 5.0 to connect humans with machines.
As a manufacturing
U
U
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company, you need to be abreast with the latest technologies to revamp
your way of doing business to stay ahead of the competition. Let’s closely
study 5 key emerging technologies in manufacturing and how they help you
drive business outcomes.
1. INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS (IIOT)
WHAT IS IIOT?
IIoT is the network of sensor-fitted industrial
devices that is connected to the internet to
collect and share data.
Assuming your current manufacturing ecosystem runs on manual or semi-
automated workflows, gathering huge amounts of data about your products
not only consumes more time but delays your decision-making, which in
turn leads to delayed responses to your customers.
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is the simple solution here. It connects
various industrial products using network sensors through the internet to
help you make informed decisions using real-time data.
It incorporates technologies like big data, machine learning, machine
automation and cloud integration to perform:

automation, and cloud integration to perform:
Resource Management
Proactive Maintenance
Supply Chain Management
Production Analysis
Let’s take a practical use case and understand the
IIoT concept better.
You own a food packaging plant and one of the biggest losses from the
production process comes from wasted raw material and perishables.
Leveraging sensors and IoT devices within your production process can
help automatically track demand, check current stocks and place orders
only when required. This can help eliminate waste and lower overheads.
Not just this, IIoT solutions can help detect damage and degradation of
packaging and products during transit and storage using special sensors,
there by help you maintain quality of your products and eliminate
unnecessary costs traditionally borne due to ill-handling of products.
BENEFITS OF IIOT IN MANUFACTURING
According to a report, IoT in manufacturing is
expected to reach USD 53.8 Billion by 2025
with a CAGR of 10.1%.
Real-time monitoring of your equipment
Preventive/predictive maintenance
Reduced operational costs
Smart supply chain management to prevent thefts and abnormalities
Better decision-making and customer support
2. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
HOW IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE POWERING
MODERN MANUFACTURING?

AI combined with cloud and IoT can do
wonders for your business by dramatically
improving the efficiency of the equipment,
reducing operating costs, and improving ROI.
Many authors, philosophers, and mathematicians throughout history
believed artificial intelligence cannot surpass the realm of fiction.
However, AI has paved its way throughout the globe in many forms. It was
in 1961 that artificial intelligence had its first glimpse in the manufacturing
industry. George Devol created the first industrial robot, Unimate, an
automated assembly lines in one of General Motors’ production units.
AI can come a long way from there. Now, AI has some high-end algorithms
that can completely transform the way your manufacturing business
operates. Here are some of the major ways AI can be a savior for your
manufacturing business.
1. Prevents Hazards
As you know, no matter how cautious you are, accidents and injuries in
industrial plants are inevitable. With the help of AI, almost 90% of these
accidents can be prevented.
If you deploy a feature like remote access control for operating heavy
machinery, your workers can be free from working in hazardous situations
as they don’t have to manually lift up or control this heavy equipment.

So, by utilizing proper AI protocols, you can achieve zero accidents in your
industry.
2. Improves ROI
Manufacturers around the world have seen as much as 40% increase in
their productivity. How? Let’s take another use case. You own a agricultural
equipment and vehicle manufacturer. Most of your machineries perform
heavy-duty tasks, and are quite expensive. Embedding an AI-powered
component in your machinery can help predict the ideal time for
maintenance, based on data collected overtime. This can not only help
better plan the production time accordingly, reduce costs of downtime due
to wear and tear, but also allow you to plan inventory requirements
beforehand.
All these will, in turn, reduce the operational costs, which skyrockets your
ROI.
3. 24X7 Production
No matter how efficient, skilled, or hard-working your human workers are,
they cannot work non-stop and are prone to make human errors once in a
while.
AI can not only help you keep the production going round the clock, but also
ensure the products are made without any defects every time. This means
happy customers and more profits to you!
Some other benefits of AI in manufacturing:
Reduction of transportation and warehouse maintenance costs
Quality control throughout the manufacturing process
Automation of routine tasks
TOP COMPANIES LEVERAGING AI IN
MANUFACTURING
Enterprises worldwide are augmenting their
manufacturing processes using AI-powered
quality inspection, maintenance, new product
development, and more.

1. BMW group harnesses the power of AI to study the images of various
components during production to spot deviations instantly.
2. Nokia uses an AI-based app to alert the operator at the production unit if
there are any inconsistencies during production.
3. Thales SA, a global supplier of electronics systems, uses AI to maintain
high-speed rail lines throughout Europe.
4. Canon created an advanced Defect Recognition system to test their
high-precision components of machinery for increased accuracy.
5. Nissan is implementing new AI models to create new design models for
their vehicles.
3. CLOUD COMPUTING
CLOUD COMPUTING IN MANUFACTURING
Cloud computing virtually can transform
almost every aspect of a manufacturing
company, from ERP, data analytics, finance
management to integrating supply chains and
workforce training.
Cloud computing connects various databases, software, and servers
through the internet, making it possible to maintain a remote database to
retrieve the required data on demand.
When it comes to manufacturing, cloud computing allows you to seamlessly
connect different industrial plants, so all pertinent data can be maintained
in a single database over the internet.
For modern manufacturing, fast production and delivery are essential to
keep up with the ever-increasing customer demands. With all your
company’s data in one place, your employees and the supply chain team
can access the data from any device on time to make informed decisions.

BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING IN
MANUFACTURING
As of 2021, more than 66% of manufacturing
companies across 17 countries are
implementing cloud for data management,
supply chain collaboration, and data security.
Managing large volumes of data under one roof
Share data across the globe within seconds
Operational efficiency
Reduced operating costs as there’s no requirement for IT maintenance
Your entire business knows what’s the current status of the project
running
Streamlines workflows for reduced errors
Fast data processing and sharing
4. ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION (RPA) &
HYPERAUTOMATION
RPA IN MANUFACTURING
RPA allows businesses to be on the frontline
by automating most of the daily tasks at a
large scale.
Manufacturing doesn’t just involve production. It also involves repetitive
tasks like managing assets across various departments, which not only
require a lot of human resources but also demand a lot of your valuable
time. Moreover, man-made errors are quite common in these scenarios.
So, what’s the solution? It’s automation! Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
is one of the imperative domains in the automation field, which makes it a
cakewalk to build, design, and manage software robots that can emulate

numerous human actions like understanding and extracting data,
performing other defined tasks.
Coming to the manufacturing industry, RPA has already been in use for
decades to monitor production activities across the site. In an effort to
enhance the overall efficiency, the sector is now employing RPA even in the
back offices. With this implementation, routine tasks across the industry like
payments processing, import and export processing, generation of
expenditure reports, and finance contracts will become error-free and time-
saving.
Manufacturing isn’t just limited to the production floor, and the supporting
back offices. Today, with the rise of technology adoptions, there is a need to
maintain and manage digital assets and processes as well. For that,
industry leaders today are using RPA along with AI and machine learning to
automate and connect disparate processes such as integrations, DevOps,
monitoring, and management to boost efficiency and productivity at scale.
Benefits of RPA in manufacturing:
Maximizing productivity
Increase in savings
Reduction of resource costs
Improved accuracy in the assigned tasks
Increased agility during operation
Applications of RPA in Manufacturing:
1. Purchase Order Creation – With RPA, the entire process of PO creation
can be automated based on a workflow, which takes care of data extraction
from independent systems, seeking email approvals from respective
department heads, and processing the concerned requests of PO
generation.
2. Inventory Management – RPA helps in automating many supply chain
processes like reordering products, sending notifications on the stock
levels, conducting audit trails, and creation of live dashboards and reports.
3. Customer Service – RPA can take up 65% of tasks your customer
service department currently holds, like replying to customer queries,
tracking the shipment status, updating customers with the status, and
closing their cases.

WHEN YOU IMPLEMENT IOT + AI + RPA IN YOUR
MANUFACTURING BUSINESS, YOU CAN
WITNESS
UPTO
HIGHER FACTORY
OUTPUT
200%
UPTO
LOWER OPERATING
COSTS
40%
UPTO
FASTER
TIME-TO-
MARKET
50%
5. INTELLIGENT MOBILE APPLICATIONS
MOBILE APPLICATIONS IN MANUFACTURING

Mobile apps for manufacturing allow various
stakeholders to easily and securely access
necessary data related to products,
machinery, and operators from anywhere.
The working of a manufacturing plant can be chaotic and takes a lot of
close monitoring and inspection to ensure the machinery is running
properly. As it is not safe for humans to access all areas in the plant,
especially when high-end, hazardous machinery is running, to seamlessly
handle the internal operations across the plant, technology is imperative.
Mobile apps, in particular, play a vital role in manufacturing as they can:
Connect with all the tools and machines across the plant
Generate data of every step of the workflow
Prevent chaos at the facility by improving quality checks
Track location of the location, shipment status, and delivery status
Help in building digital simulations of a physical product – ensures quality
product building
Auto-store data of the machines, sensors, and other operators to
preferred locations
TOP MOBILE APP TYPES FOR THE
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
As per a Forbes article, 81% CEOs of
manufacturing businesses consider mobile
technology to be strategically important for
their success.

Mobile applications for any business come in many forms and you need to
get the right developer to build apps based on your necessities. Here are
some of the most used mobile apps by experts in manufacturing:
IoT Apps: To track the health of machinery through sensors
Logistics Apps: To provide real-time location-based inventory data to
employees
Quality Control Apps: To automatically email reports and store them on
cloud servers
Benefits of mobile apps in manufacturing:
Quick decision-making
Easy data access and sharing
Increase in productivity of employees
Easy to track shipments
Data access of all the machinery
CONCLUSION
The smart factory market size is expected to
touch USD 134.9 billion in the next 5 years
from around USD 80.1 billion in 2021.
Now you know how eminent technologies can transform your
manufacturing units. The next steps to consider if you want to leverage

“
At least 40% of all businesses will
die in the next 10 years … if they
don’t figure out how to change
their entire company to
accommodate new technologies.
JOHN CHAMBERS
digital transformation to propel your growth should be:
1. Taking a deep dive into your business and understanding your current
and future objectives.
2. Creating a vision for your transformation journey.
3. Creating a realistic and well-rounded strategy for implementation.
4. Aligning decisions such as areas that require digital transformation and
related budget etc with the said strategy.
This process, however, is easier said than done. Along with the tremendous
benefits of digital transformation, there are certain pitfalls you might
encounter, and even the best of plans can go wrong without the right
execution.
Identifying a collaborative partner with the necessary industry
expertise to see you through to success is crucial. Our engineers have the
acumen to understand the intricacies of your business to deliver the
changes it needs. In short, they stay with you throughout the
transformation journey to ensure successful outcomes. Let’s talk!

Publish: October 6, 2021
INSIGHTS
Here are our thoughts on the latest in
technology, and some compelling stories of
our shared success.
CASE STUDY
Intuitive Shopfloor Management Mobile
App for a Toy Manufacturer
Read More →
CASE STUDY
Invoice Process Automation for a
Logistics Management Company
Read More →

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incredible together!
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