As an instrumental part of the manufacturing sector, every development on the shop floor impacts the different steps of a product’s life cycle, from sourcing the material to operating margins. Manufacturers are leveraging technologies such as IoT, IIoT, robotics, machine learning, additive manufacturing, and analytics in shop floor operations to improve shop floor productivity, growth, and deliver unparalleled customer experience.
Embracing digital transformation or strategically partnering with a service provider is no more a choice for the manufacturing sector but an inevitable part of the industry. Industry experts have begun to understand the potential of solutions like IIoT, machine learning, and cloud, which are revolutionizing the manufacturing space and helping companies produce more at reduced costs and time.
Through the usage of sensors, IoT, and analytics, manufacturers can predict and prevent failures on shop floor equipment. Today, with innovative technologies, organizations can schedule maintenance and plan outages, obtain inventory, and assign people with minimal or zero impact on shop floor production. When machine learning is added to this mix, other conditions that determine whether a piece of equipment is performing optimally, including its energy consumption, can be measured.
With automated workflows, synchronized processes with improved means of tracking and scheduling, and optimized energy consumption, smart shop floors can increase the output, uptime, quality of the product as well as reduce the costs and waste. In the wake of different technology transitions, we are glad to feature some of the companies at the forefront in the shop floor sector with their technological capabilities.
We present to you Manufacturing Technology Insights’ “Top 10 Shop Floor Solution Providers - 2020.”