Technology has come a long way and rapidly, so in the past few decades. Though inventions in the manufacturing sector have been constant since the times of the first industrial revolution, the rise of sophisticated technologies has transformed the landscape of the industry. Gone are the days when the shop floor of a manufacturing unit was dominated by labor with a handful of tools and machinery. Now, organizations are powered with smart technology that makes optimum productivity possible with improved interoperability, integration, and intelligence. With an expected business value generation of $2.9 trillion by 2021, AI has emerged as one of the most sought-after technologies globally.
The recent upsurge in the use of new-age technology, also known as the fourth Industrial Revolution, has compelled the manufacturers to embrace AI-infused robots, smart sensors, blockchain transactions, and the internet of things.
As per the Gartner Report, AI use cases have been established in 74% of the top supply chain companies across the industries.
These statistics speak volumes about the impact of Artificial intelligence on supply chain management.
Rapid innovation is the order of the day, and manufacturers are leaving no stone unturned to optimize its utilization. Innovation and especially experimental innovation in supply chain operations can seem like a tough goal to achieve for businesses. Managing supply chain activities gets complex and cumbersome in manufacturing companies. If you are a manufacturing business, you might hesitate to invest in new technology for the following reasons:
According to the Gartner Top Insights for the C-Suite 2019-2020, 81% of the leaders in the supply chain field think scaling up operational production use with new experimental innovation can be challenging.
Though the components above may cost your company money, effort, and time, the benefits of introducing comprehensive and reliable technology such as a cloud ERP will supersede the expenses you have incurred. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management has been designed to cater to the pain points of the supply chain process and focuses on the specific needs of manufacturing operations. Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP offers smart features that optimize the crucial supply chain operations of your manufacturing company.
With the advent of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine learning, and Mixed Reality, it is more important now than ever for manufacturing companies to keep up with the speed of technology. Manufacturing companies have taken a step up in the past few years to upgrade its technology to meet the ever-evolving demand of the customers. Microsoft Dynamics 365 for manufacturing companies can streamline their end-to-end operation. This ERP software helps you boost the productivity, accuracy, and agility of your supply chain.
Modern organizations rely highly on analytics and data insights to make strategic decisions to achieve accelerated business growth. Let us dig deeper into the crucial technology components that are driving transformation in the manufacturing supply chain:
Machine Learning in the supply chain offers multifold benefits to streamline the process flow and provide valuable operational insights. Microsoft has harnessed the power of Machine Learning in the SCM module to enhance the functionality of the ERP and optimize the speed of delivery and agility of the process. Also, it enables and strengthens the integrations between the processes, suppliers, and customers with the adaptive streamlining of data. According to a study done by McKinsey, leveraging Machine Learning in the supply chain would help companies reduce forecasting errors by 20% to 50%. The contribution of ML in supply chain planning and execution is tremendous in critical business functions. ML provides vital and real-time data that can help business leaders make smart and informed decisions to promote efficiency in not only the supply chain but also the overall value chain of the business.
Internet of Things (IoT) has touched every aspect of the business across the industries. Even in supply chain management, the number of use cases for IoT is rapidly increasing in the past decade. According to Microsoft’s 2019 Manufacturing trends report, by 2030, we can expect IoT to create a staggering $15 trillion of global GDP by 2030.
IoT intelligence plays a huge part in proactive management. This technology provides notifications for multiple scenarios, including equipment breakdown, delays in production, and quality issues. With real-time notifications powered by IoT, manufacturing businesses can develop better production strategies and provide machine operators with up-to-date information.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 SCM comes with out-of-the-box IoT capabilities that utilize Microsoft Azure IoT Hub to connect mission-critical assets’ signals and business transaction data.
IoT can also help manufacturing companies significantly enhance production uptime, quality of production, and throughput. With real-time visibility of end-to-end stock and production, this technology enables proactive shop floor and equipment operations management.
Equipment downtime and breakdowns can hinder the productivity of your manufacturing operations if persistent, and it can also result in financial losses. IoT offers smart support that improves predictive maintenance efforts, which not only reduces downtime but also brings down disruptive failures. Implementing the out-of-the-box IoT scenarios on your manufacturing floor is simpler as there is no coding involved in the procedure.
You can now enhance the efficiency and safety of your workforce with the help of the mixed reality technology, which is part of the Dynamics 365 SCM. By leveraging this technology, you can efficiently perform the maintenance on your business-critical assets. Dynamics 365 Mixed Reality helps you eliminate redundancies and errors that can cost the company. Additionally, the mixed reality tools improve training effectiveness and enable instant collaboration.
Want to leverage technologies like ML, IoT, and Mixed reality to boost the supply chain of your manufacturing business? Deployment of a cloud-based solution such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management can help you improve vital operations of the functional domains of the supply chain like planning, production, warehouse, stock, and transportation.
You can take the following steps to upgrade to Dynamics 365 Supply Chain and avail the benefits of the advanced technology: