Customised at Scale
Scale is indeed one of the biggest challenges today’s manufacturers encounter. The difference between a local manufacturer creating 100 SKUs a day for a geographically-contained customer base and a larger manufacturer producing 100 SKUs a minute for a national, regional or even international customer base are immense.
For the larger manufacturer, the ability to offer the same degree of customisation and care as the smaller producer must be part of their operating model. The flexibility and reliability of their supply chain is absolutely essential – a fluid supply chain leads to satisfied customers.
Here is how we’re seeing manufacturers reduce risk in their supply chain operations to serve customers at scale.
1. Sustainable Sourcing
It’s increasingly clear that customers are willing to pay more for quality. For large manufacturers, this has brought a rethink over the various facets of their supply chain. Buying from the cheapest supplier may present upfront efficiencies, but can lead to costs further down the line if that supply line is disrupted or proves unreliable. Seeking more localised and sustainable materials increases the consistency of the chain, while delivering on consumer demands for ethical sourcing.
2. Digitisation
The use of sensor-based technologies is one of the biggest shifts in recent manufacturing history. Once-static processes can now be transformed into dynamic supply chain operations, with tracking in place at every stage from sourcing individual components through to end-product delivery. In the past, it was not uncommon for this chain to be disrupted by unexpected bottlenecks, such as a shortage in a particular material or a haulage truck being held at customs. Now, with data analysis at a granular level, such risks can be identified earlier and backup measures can be put in place.
3. Adapting to Emerging Trends
It’s often said that consumers are fickle. The truth is, society is constantly changing, and individual attitudes and behaviours fluctuate as a result. Through modelling and analysis of sales data, manufacturers can identify new trends as they are emerging and adapt supply operations accordingly. Those who embrace machine learning and data science therefore stand to reap massive efficiencies and avoid the risk of running production lines long after demand has faded.
4. Connected Plant Operations
Global manufacturers commonly run production plants across multiple sites, both within key regions and around the globe. In the past, these operations often produced in silo. This approach missed a major opportunity to mitigate supply chain risk. With the flexibility of smart factory operations, manufacturers can now better coordinate production across these sites. If one plant is facing issues, such as shortages of materials or labour, production can be reallocated to another plant as a temporary measure.
5. Contextualisation of Data
As data becomes ubiquitous in manufacturing operations, one of the remaining challenges is relevance: delivering the right data, to the right person at the right time. The data that a manufacturing executive needs to see may be vastly different to what an engineer or plant safety manager requires. In order to reduce risk and improve decision-making, having the power to control how data is served up and contextualised for its intended recipient is vitally important.
Keeping the Customer Satisfied
Manufacturers operate under great uncertainty, seeking to manage the risks that exist on the supply side with societal and behavioural changes on the demand side. In a new era of increased digitisation, the manufacturers that are best able to join these two ends are those that have taken control of their supply chain operations and are resistant to unanticipated changes.
Being able to match what the consumer wants with what they can deliver – reliably, sustainably and at scale – can protect the business in even the most challenging of environments.
