Alice Chambers |
Microsoft’s cloud, security and Windows services have helped science materials company Dow to improve its access to data and workflowswhile reducing its manufacturing and operational costs.
Dow controls its factories via remote plant monitoring technologies and has been investing in interconnectivity, automation, machine learning and real-time data since 2014. With the help of Microsoft partner Accenture, Dow has deployed an automation system to collate, clean, organise and store its data in formats that are easily accessible.
The company has integrated elements of multiple data sources into a single data hub on Microsoft Azure, which allows analytics capabilities in manufacturing and operations.
Dow has also used Microsoft Power BI to help employees make decisions based on real-time analytics, Microsoft Intune to control access to devices and Azure Kubernetes Service to develop and deploy its application in the cloud.
“The ability of Microsoft to bring expertise to bear on challenging problems is critical as we continue to grow our technology transformation across our manufacturing environment and the company as a whole,” said Billy Bardin, global digitalisation director at Dow. “Our ambition is to be the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive, and sustainable materials science company in the world. Digital tools have helped us drive our competitive advantage and continue to elevate our position in the industry.”
Workers are also able to collaborate using newly deployed devices running on Windows 10 with voice and video meetings.
“Building on our Azure data, analytics and application infrastructure, we’re seeing improvements in equipment uptime, production efficiency and employee collaboration,” said Clark Dressen, senior director of information systems at Dow. “The power of this solution is apparent across the business, facilitating everything from better logistics to streamlined work scheduling, with a bottom-line impact.”
Dow will continue to streamline and simplify its current processes, and plans to enhance its use of artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation to continue delivering customer-focused, inclusive and sustainable materials.