Grace Nam in Laser Fish Learn how manufacturers can thrive in an unpredictable climate. artificial intelligence Machine Learning
Manufacturing currently holds the third largest market share for AI (13%), with the market value expected to grow from around £4.2bn in 2024 to £123bn in 2033. The rapid increase in investment is not surprising given the clear benefits that new technologies bring, from streamlining entire production lines to accelerating decision-making processes and enhanced quality control.
However, despite the abundance of AI and ML tools available to organizations, many sectors of the manufacturing industry remain Traditional ways of handling data and documents, distributed technologies and complex processes pose challenges for companies in this sector.
As the industry makes improvements by adopting new technologies and integrating systems, it is time to evaluate what has worked well and what has been overlooked. Rising costs related to logistical uncertainties and fragile supplies of critical raw materials are creating headaches for business leaders.
Combined with dirty information, poor document trails and slow processes, this is a recipe for disaster. Digital transformation is becoming increasingly critical to survive and thrive in this competitive marketplace.
Smart digitized systems and processes, such as cloud document and data management systems, can control and organize important documents (storing files on multiple servers and making them accessible over the internet). Leading DMS can also provide multi-layered protection against missing documents to structure data and act as a single source of truth, complying with regulations and helping streamline processes.
Additionally, hybrid work models are here to stay, so process automation solutions that support remote employees are essential to the success of the future workforce and for businesses to attract and retain a new generation of talent.
1. Time Saving
AI frees up time for human employees, but it doesn’t replace them. Employees waste countless hours performing administrative tasks that could easily be supported by digitalized systems.
Digital and automation solutions not only reduce the scope for human error but also save significant time that can be redirected towards customer support. Additionally, manufacturing companies can implement AI and ML-powered processes to streamline business areas and consolidate delay-prone processes, as well as enhance costly processes related to compliance documentation to create better process cycles.
In a recent small business survey of more than 300 manufacturing professionals, one-third of respondents reported experiencing work delays several times a week across various operational processes.
As AI enhances process automation capabilities, time-consuming elements of the manufacturing process can be made rules-based and decision-driven.
This means that employees can replace manual tasks in these processes with machine assistance. Assigning tasks traditionally managed by skilled labor to AI doesn't eliminate the need for human employees. Rather, AI acts as a digital colleague, allocating your organization's talent to tasks that require intuition, intervention, and creativity.
With an endless amount of data available for analysis, plans to implement and integrate new technologies will evolve depending on what scale and granularity a particular organization wants to tackle. On the smaller end, this could be using AI to centralize customer information and order history. At the larger end, artificial intelligence could be used to gather product information that contains hundreds or thousands of parts, each with a unique identification number.
Another example is analysing data on supplier performance to help manufacturing organisations better understand what to expect and prepare ahead of potential pitfalls.
AI-powered technologies are also being implemented to solve interoperability issues, allowing computer systems and software to exchange and leverage information across platforms, helping to streamline processes by allowing data to be shared between different software and technologies.
By leveraging process automation and increasing data processing speed, organizations can expect to improve their operational efficiency. These improved systems reduce costs, increase scalability and flexibility, and enable more efficient sharing of data across the business.
This is not just about keeping up with technology trends, it is a must-have for manufacturers looking to make critical decisions faster, address high-cost functions effectively, streamline operations, ensure accuracy of compliance documentation, provide more room for innovation, increase ROI, and improve sustainability.
2. Reduce errors
Investing in AI reduces the room for error. Some of the benefits of AI seem similar to those brought about by integrating IoT, but the actual impact is very different and AI offers a much broader range of opportunities.
While IOT focuses on supporting machine and network enablement, AI supports functions that were traditionally limited to the realm of human responsibility and intelligence. While IOT focuses on connecting physical objects over the internet, AI works to harmonize the entire process and bring structure to unstructured data.
The strength of AI lies in its accuracy. AI has the potential to change employees' lives by eliminating delays, reducing tedious manual tasks, and narrowing the scope for error. Leveraging digital tools to seamlessly move data between business sectors not only increases efficiency, but also contributes to creating a happier work environment that attracts and retains top talent.
This is especially important considering the fact that the manufacturing industry is expected to face a skills gap as modern technology is adopted at an unprecedented pace.
3. Acquiring new talent
New technologies attract new talent. Technical skills gaps not only slow productivity, they often limit growth and stifle innovation.
With such rapid development, it is essential that the manufacturing industry has the talent it needs to keep up with the latest technology and train its current workforce who must adapt to this modernisation. If they don't, they risk having problems delivering on contracts. A slowdown across the industry could have a negative impact on the UK economy as a whole.
AI and machine learning are offering the manufacturing industry the opportunity to achieve new levels of efficiency and lay a solid foundation for future growth and innovation. From sales and supply chain management to quality checks and inventory management, AI can streamline complex processes, predict potential issues, and ensure timely delivery of projects.
Responding to the demands of young workers, the highly accurate information it provides improves the working lives of almost everyone in the industry, helping them make faster, more informed decisions.
Combining human intuition with the speed and scale of AI technology will enable manufacturers to stay competitive and continue to grow and evolve for years to come.
Grace Nam sStrategic ssolution MetersManufacturing and Healthcare Managers Laser Fish
Featured image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com virtuality
