Companies need to recognize that a great customer experience hinges on a delightful product experience. The traditional boundaries between R&D, Manufacturing, Logistics and Operations are dissolving within the enterprise and across the supply chain.
With Industry 4.0, companies look to break silos in their processes, gain visibility, and drive customer centricity to achieve much higher levels of efficiency, optimization, and ultimately deliver on new business models. As a result. many organizations are on a journey to digitally transform their manufacturing processes.
Developing smart connected factories with advanced automation and integration of shop floor processes that optimize performance and ensure compliance. Operational excellence in manufacturing and the supply chain becomes a key differentiator for companies, allowing them to address complexity, risk, and cost challenges across the extended supply chain.
SAP is uniquely positioned to provide operational excellence by eliminating the black box, siloed nature of shop floor solutions. Manufacturing has become a integral part of the extended supply chain with real-time insight into work in process status, financials, supply chain, logistics, and change impact analysis.
The rise of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology, blockchain, and machine learning infused in business applications builds on much higher computing and processing power; it also precipitates the rise of a fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0).
Digital Supply Chain Design to Operate
The Digital Supply Chain that is integrated from design to operate acts more like a network. Visibility, communication, planning, analysis, and execution are all orchestrated across critical operational phases based on real-time inputs and requirements.
Connecting Digitally is enabled through leveraging Innovative Technologies
- Blockchain, IOT, Big Data, Machine Learning, Blockchain, AI, Analytics (all SAP Leonardo), sentiment analysis and 3D printing
- IOT and unstructured data such as sentiment analysis are generating previously unimaginable levels of Supply Chain Big Data.
- This Big Data is leveraged to drive smart assets and products with Machine Learning, and AI, and improve the end user experience and ability with Predictive Analytics.
- Blockchain can increase data security and trust with increased transparency, auditability, and regulatory compliance
- 3D printing has great potential across digital supply chain from rapid prototyping of designs, through additive manufacturing and in the rethinking of after sales services spare parts inventory through reduce inventory costs, increased flexibility and responsiveness and printing on demand services
Leveraging technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, and predictive maintenance embedded into your end to end business processes from:
- The Design of new smart products and assets
- To the handover to Manufacturing (MAKE)
- Through the delivery via multi-model and omni-channel logistics processes.
- And including the after sales maintenance and service (OPERATE) of the operational assets in the field
- At all times, having integrated business planning processes (PLAN) across the end-to-end supply chain
The goal is to connect everything digitally to perfect operational reality as much possible.
Design with the customer in mind
In the design phase, organizations need this level of connection to monitor trends and innovate in the direction customers want. Increasingly, organizations want to design smarter, Industry 4.0-enabled products and assets that have built-in sensors to capture real-time data once they are in use in a live environment. It’s also important to think in terms of compliant product lifecycle management – which requires product development to be integrated into the supply chain from the beginning.
Plan with visibility across silos
To be more responsive and reduce the time of planning cycles, organizations need to connect across departmental silos for a unified view of real-time supply and demand that helps balance inventory and service levels. To speed planning cycles and react faster to change, planners want synchronized planning processes that break down silos and tools to quickly run simulations for better decision-making.
Manufacture with flexibility, speed, and efficiency
When it comes to manufacturing, sophisticated digital supply chain capabilities and greater connectedness can help organizations increase shop floor visibility, identify process bottlenecks, and manage operations with greater agility. This, in turn, facilitates smart factory capabilities where rigid production lines are transformed into flexible manufacturing cells – making it possible to shift from mass production to mass customization.
Deliver on time
The delivery phase is a critical aspect of the supply chain that can make or break the customer experience. With Industry 4.0 capabilities, organizations can streamline logistics and ensure better delivery experiences. Connected vehicles, for example, can optimize delivery routes based on real-time weather and traffic conditions, support real-time tracking, and monitor conditions such as the temperature in freezer compartments. Next-generation warehouse technology, meanwhile, can leverage robots and augmented reality to assist staff, increase productivity, and get the goods to customers faster.
Operate with new business models
Finally, many organizations are transforming the operating phase with IoT-connected assets that plug directly into the digital supply chain. This helps drive new business models where the manufacturer owns the asset and charges the customer for usage, uptime, or some other metric. With such a model, the onus is on the manufacturer to provide the most-cost efficient maintenance – which is now possible with advanced analytics that help companies monitor asset health, predict issues, and respond proactively.
The Digital Supply Chain that is integrated from design to operate acts more like a network. Visibility, communication, planning, analysis, and execution are all orchestrated across critical operational phases based on real-time inputs and requirements. Work and data flows span functional silos – leading to greater flexibility and consistency. Benefits include reduced financial and operational risk through early detection and greater customer satisfaction through quicker resolution of issues.
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