Industry Talk

Regular Industry Development Updates, Opinions and Talking Points relating to Manufacturing, the Supply Chain and Logistics.

Half of manufacturers will invest in data collection technologies in 2019

New research by InfinityQS, the global authority on data-driven enterprise quality, has revealed that 50 per cent of manufacturers are to invest in data collection technologies in 2019. This was closely followed by 33 per cent of manufacturers planning to invest in process capability improvement technologies over the same period.

The survey obtained responses from 118 global manufacturers to understand their level of digital maturity, gain a deeper insight into their existing digital infrastructure and determine their IT expectations over the next 12 to 18 months.

According to Jason Chester, Director of Channel Programs for InfinityQS: “The survey result is an interesting indication of where manufacturers are in their digital transformation journey. Manufacturers’ intentions to invest in data collection technologies means the penny may finally be dropping, as their dependency on manual data collection processes only hinders efficiency and productivity levels and the impact that waste has, financially, on their bottom line.

“This move towards automatically harvesting production data from across the entire manufacturing process will enable manufacturers to benefit from a real-time, holistic view of operations across different production lines, sites or regions which will unify the quality control processes.” 

Jason adds: “However, with only 33 per cent of manufacturers also planning to invest in process capability improvement technologies over the same period, it is clear that manufacturers are failing to connect the dots and make the most out of the data they are collecting. 

“Collecting data is one thing but using data to effect process improvements is where the real opportunities lie as it not only enables all staff to monitor production and quality processes in real-time, identifying and responding to shop-floor issues as and when they occur – but it also enables them to form a more complete picture over the performance of their operations. This enables them to target improvement and optimisation efforts where the biggest impacts can be gained.” 

Chester concludes, “It is encouraging to see that manufacturers are finally moving away from the pen and paper processes. However, it is crucial that they understand how to correctly analyse and use this data if they hope to deliver real value from these investments. This will allow manufacturers to identify where the big opportunities lie and will help to decrease costs (efficiency), increase value (quality) and reduce uncertainty (risk) in the long run.”