OCTOBER - 20198 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSIN MY OPINIONAs an experienced professional in the industry, can you throw some light on the current challenges that the marketplace is witnessing? Also, how can those challenges be effectively mitigated?In the present scenario, the challenges in the manufacturing industry are based on two aspects. One of them is achieving a Connected Enterprise, which is a critical challenge for businesses that want to drive digital transformation. While companies power digital transformations to propel smart manufacturing, the talent aspect also plays a role in it. As far as the required skills are concerned, it is essential to figure out the best way to leverage people and enhance their ability to meet these challenges.Organizations opt for digital transformations because they want to get increased value. The biggest issue we have observed is businesses not realizing their true objective. At the onset, they must decide what they are trying to improve, and the hurdles they are facing. Regardless of the infrastructure/technology they leverage, if it doesn't address the challenges, the digital transformation initiative will not be successful. We believe organizations must identify their pain points before undertaking any new initiatives. The complexities faced by organizations--in their pursuit of digital transformation--could be unplanned downtime, which potentially costs companies tens of thousands of dollars per minute. It could be additional productivity or lacking agility or flexibility to meet changing requirements. As we tend to incline more toward mass customization, people need to have flexibility in their lines. They need to be able to change faster and meet market demands for the company's success. They should also know how to measure the outcome and identify the metrics they should use to measure that outcome.Once businesses have identified those metrics, they need to securely connect their enterprises. Using a secure network infrastructure and with our supply chain, they can seamlessly interconnect. Then, businesses need to organize and contextualize their data so they can use it. At this point, they can start analyzing the data using AI or data analytics to create actionable information before implementing changes. This process can be repeated.A lot of businesses approach digital transformation as a technology change, but it is more of a culture change. This is another major challenge organizations face. They should understand that culture is always hard to change. While organizations are introducing these technologies and creating a framework for digital transformation, they need to ensure that their organizational culture resonates with it. This statement means that organizations should build a culture of continuous improvement so that their employees come in every day with an aspiration to improve the line. They should inform, help, and support their employees to bring in the changes. What are the latest technologies leveraged by factories, and the emerging technologies in their radar?Among several technologies that have been disruptive to operations, industrial networking is one of them. Be it wired connections such as Ethernet, or wireless connections like 5G, the next few years will witness a drastic change in the way networking drives improvements in performances. Another technological area, comprising AI, analytics, and machine By David Vasko, Director, Advanced Technology, Rockwell Automation
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