In the ever-evolving manufacturing realm, few sectors witness transformations as swift and constant. The perpetual evolution of consumer preferences shapes the landscape, the consistent disruption brought by innovative technologies, fluctuating regulatory frameworks, and the regular transformation of business models. Adapting to these unceasing shifts in the market has become necessary, requiring organizations to embody a heightened sense of agility.

Andrew Kinder, Senior Vice President of Industry Strategy with our partner, Infor, recently described how we find ourselves amidst the most volatile and uncertain period in recent memory. In this environment of compounded uncertainty, agility is not just an ideal trait but an absolute imperative for maintaining competitiveness.

While sound supply chain management principles can apply to practically every organization, each supply chain is as unique as the businesses it supports. Every supply chain must include its unique blend of elements, such as product mix, go-to-market objectives, and supplier management strategy that best fits its markets.

Industry analysts sometimes squabble over the pros and cons of single-tenant versus multi-tenant deployment. While single-tenant deployment may have been a viable solution for some organizations recently, multi-tenant deployment offers numerous benefits for organizations looking to modernize their operations. As a true cloud-based platform, multi-tenant deployment can provide vast storage, speedy implementation, and advanced security capabilities.Multi-tenant vs single-tenant cloud deployment

Whilst ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is the business management tool used across the organisation, a manufacturing execution system (MES) software is exclusively designed to be used in the factory environment to orchestrate, trace, record, and monitor the entire manufacturing process, from raw materials to semi-finished and finished goods. 

Positioned as an intermediary layer between Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and process control systems, an MES empowers decision-makers with crucial data, enabling them to enhance plant floor efficiency and optimize production.  
 

As the manufacturing world continues to evolve to meet new challenges, there’s a step-change in innovation for the products and services that are delivered and supported. Many industry insiders are expressing the need for a focus on driving sustainable (and profitable) business growth. Deloitte suggests digital investment and supply chain resilience as the key pillars. Partnerships are also increasingly important to achieving sustainable business growth, whether that’s upstream or downstream within your supply chain or enabling partners such as application and technology providers.

In all of those partnering scenarios, it’s important to have a common understanding of your desired outcomes, so you can ensure you’re all speaking the same language, which helps shorten the time to value. Manufacturing is shifting towards industry-specific applications and these applications are now nearly always delivered in the cloud to maximize adoption, flexibility, availability, and security, as well as reducing through-life cost of ownership. In fact, Gartner forecasts end-user public cloud spending to grow by 18% through 2021.

Warehouse management systems (WMS) are essential for efficiently managing the operations of a warehouse. These systems can help streamline processes, optimise inventory levels, and improve accuracy. However, by ensuring your WMS can exploit hyper-automation, your WMS can be enhanced to deliver even more value while continuing to lower operational costs.

So, what do we mean by hyper-automation?

Hyper-automation can be defined as the combination of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics to automate and optimise tasks that were previously done manually. By leveraging these technologies, businesses can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of their operations while also reducing their labour costs.

One of the main benefits of hyper-automation is that it can significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of warehouse operations. For example, by using robotics to automate the process of picking and packing, businesses can significantly reduce the time it takes to fulfil orders while also reducing the risk of errors. Similarly, by using artificial intelligence to analyse data and make decisions, businesses can make more accurate and informed decisions about inventory management, such as when to reorder stock and how much to order.

Furthermore, hyper-automation can also help businesses optimise their warehouse layouts and processes. By analysing data on the volumetrics, demand and movement of goods within the warehouse, artificial intelligence algorithms can identify inefficiencies and recommend changes to improve the flow of goods taking “slotting” as was and putting it on steroids. This can help businesses reduce the time it takes to move goods through the warehouse and double-handling, which can in turn increase the speed of order fulfilment and reduce the risk of errors.
 

The distribution industry has been around for quite a long time and can sometimes be slow to change. For those that may be resistant to change it is best to look at emerging technologies as tools you can use, like a forklift. You wouldn’t think of trying to move pallets around a warehouse without using forklifts, yet some in our industry remain skeptical about new technology. Emerging technologies in the distribution industry are transforming the way goods are transported and delivered. These innovations are making distribution processes more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable.

Getting products to market faster, improving design efficiency, and lowering the cost of new product introductions
are strategic goals that nearly all discrete manufacturers strive for. Infor PLM Discrete can help you accomplish these goals by providing you with a product lifecycle management (PLM) solution that can seamlessly integrate with your enterprise resource planning (ERP) and computer-aided design (CAD) systems.

You’ll empower your employees, suppliers, and partners to be able to share one version of the truth, no matter where product information is gathered and stored.

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