Enabler of corporate strategy
Smart factories are an integral part of organisations and cannot exist as a standalone initiative. The actual configuration and functionalities of a smart factory are driven by the corporate strategy, e.g. if the corporate strategy is to be “first to market”, then all organisational elements, including the smart factory, must be configured to enable high flexibility and speed.
Evolution – not revolution
Integrating your factories and making them smarter is not a revolutionary event but an evolutionary journey. It can be iterative and requires a big picture road map to show constant progress.
Combination of nine building blocks
No smart factory can be built without three fundamental enablers:
- IT/OT architecture
- Data analytics
- Capable organisations with the right people and change management capabilities
Building on these enablers, we can identify six major drivers for smart factories:
- Process automation
- Autonomous transport/picking/packaging
- Real-time visual shop floor execution/management
- In-line quality management
- Predictive maintenance
- Real-time scheduling
Smart factories can be configured by one or more of these drivers, but it is not essential to have all of them in place at the same time.
You operationalise the three enablers and six drivers by a wide range of evolving technologies, often with varying degrees of impact potential and maturity. A few examples: augmented reality, process mining, digital twins, big data analytics, blockchain, cyber security and many more.
A journey – not a destination
We believe that the smart factory is not a finite destination – it is a continued evolution using technology to add more intelligence to all relevant assets of the current manufacturing/operating system. As such, the path forward is often less clear than in traditional lean projects.
These new technologies are still evolving and often immature, and so you need to formulate your business cases and implementation plans with a more experimental and agile mindset. Even more so as – for competitive reasons – it is not an option to wait for these technologies to fully mature before implementing.
What is the impact?
A lot of companies struggle to distinguish hype from actual value when it comes to the topic of smart factories. An underlying reason is the confusion that arises from a conversation that is focused mostly on technology, IT requirements and enablers.
Typically, smart factories aim to drive the following benefits: