118 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om V I EWPO I NT Solving crises in manufacturing K I M CU S T E AU : AV E VA Digitally transforming factories with the data-driven tools of Industry 4.0 will better equip manufacturers to deal with market disruptions and the many pressures they are facing Manufacturers are dealing with several challenges along their value chain. While the sector was already being disrupted before the Covid-19 outbreak, recent events have further exposed structural weaknesses. Supply chains have been interrupted and have had to be redesigned. A volatile demand landscape has hit production cycles and disrupted inventory allocation. Add in labour shortages, an uncertain global economic recovery and increasing regulatory emphasis on sustainability, and manufacturers are faced with seemingly endless concerns about every aspect of their businesses. However, digitally enabled plants can help manufacturers manage the crisis and scale up for the future. In a McKinsey global survey, 94 per cent of respondents said that Industry 4.0 tools helped them to keep operations running throughout the recent disruption. They can sustain and scale operations going forward. AVEVA and Microsoft have responded to industry needs with a strengthened industrial offering to enrich manufacturers’ digital transformation journeys by creating profitable and sustainable business outcomes. Hurt by the labour challenges, companies are looking to replace repetitive tasks with more physical and digital automation. Real-time, cloud-based remote access to plants and factories can improve decision-making and enhance collabouration for greater efficiency. Artificial intelligence can bridge knowledge gaps while optimising production and sustainability. In short, when a plant is digitally transformed, it is better equipped to deal with market disruptions outside the facility’s four walls – whether they are demand or supply related. In Batam, Indonesia, a Schneider Electric factory used digital solutions to leverage innovation across the value chain with quantifiable and sustainable results. The facility produces 11 lines of Schneider Electric products. Although operations were functioning well enough with Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure internet of things-enabled solution, factory management identified several other challenges. In addition to equipment downtime and problems caused by siloed data, there was a lack of visibility into shop floor activity, which resulted in delayed response times to issues on the production line. Schneider Electric executives felt the answer lay in digital transformation. Smart factory solutions from AVEVA and Microsoft helped boost collabouration and unify data across the plant to manage and predict equipment failures, while optimising performance and reducing downtime. AVEVA solutions for digital manufacturing streamline order flow and production “Digital initiatives can support resiliency, maintain momentum and enhance sustainability”
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