The Future of Manufacturing Technology & Cloud ERP

The future of manufacturing technology for SMB’s is secure in the Cloud ERP as it is future ready.

Manufacturing firms prefer cloud-based ERP systems to access critical data in real time anywhere along their supply chain.

The increased competition in the connected global economic village has forced manufacturers to increase agility with lower response times. All firms must now seek to continuously increase their speed of transactions & responses, accuracy of data & reporting.

What is the buzz about the Cloud ERP!

Cloud-based ERP systems offer advantages to manufacturing like increased data storage, real-time data access on the go, easy scalability, and reduced cost structures.

Firms can improve order fulfillment with lesser lost orders, respond to changes faster and efficiently manage inventory.

Mr Pat Garrehy, said on the Manufacturing Business Technology website- “Manufacturers are spending less on infrastructure, maintenance, and lifecycle costs by as much 54 percent, thanks to cloud ERP.”

The technology and science of the Cloud

The cloud itself is being transformed as it integrates into other new technologies that impact manufacturing technology.

As Mr Garrehy says that we need to ask the following questions before selecting a solution:

How do we access both structured and unstructured data from a variety of sources?
Can we make better use of that intelligence by connecting people and data to machines and other systems?
How do we gain business intelligence from all that data?
Can we make that intelligence available to everybody in the supply chain in real time?

The development of the cloud is showing us the way to answer these questions. New technologies can leverage the ability to access data stored in the cloud and turn it into business intelligence.

The new technologies and the future

Mobile Technology

Cloud-based ERP with mobility integration gives manufacturers instant access to data from any location globally on any mobile device. Mobile technologies integrated with an ERP allow stakeholders to access critical data in real-time from any location and at any time. Every department, from the shop floor to inventory control and distribution, can benefit a lot from greater mobility. Potential issues can be tackled before they grow to become contingencies. Inventory tracking and shipping becomes much faster.

A study from The Aberdeen Group found that companies who have implemented mobile software realized an over 40 percent increase in efficiency.

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is beginning to transform a scattered digital landscape into an interconnected one.

The Internet of Things will allow machines themselves alert relevant staff when it needs an intervention like maintenance or service. This reduces human intervention and monitoring saving time and effort. Machines can be controlled remotely and connected to their supply chain and other operations. Industry analysts are predicting a future influenced by widespread adoption of the IoT. Some predict that by 2025, 50 billion devices and things will be connected to each other. IoT can improve manufacturing efficiency and smart devices can automatically sense, predict, and respond effectively without intervention or delay.

IoT devices get their data from the cloud. The cloud ERP of the future will automatically reorder of materials based on current inventory levels and orders shipped. The integration of the cloud and the IoT will move manufacturing closer to a fully automated shop floor and this space is evolving as we speak.

Wearable Devices

Connected wearable devices may be the next big thing that impacts the cloud ERP space for manufacturing along with IoT. As per Mr Garrehy: “Google Glass is a natural forerunner. For example, think of the shop floor worker accessing critical data from the cloud in a pair of eyeglasses. Glass technology could also serve as potential replacement for old, expensive bar code readers and scanners. Wearable devices could affect everything from new hire training to worker safety. Wearables could eliminate the time and expense of training new line workers on software, doing the logging in and data entry for the workers. The wearable device is also a smart device that collects data and sends it to your computers and cloud-based software applications, freeing the worker from having to enter the information on a physical computer and making him a lot more productive.”

The integration of cloud ERP and wearable technology will allow equipment operators and shop floor workers to access & transmit live data and complete transactions through their wearable devices. The cloud ERP applications will turn this information into actionable intelligence for decision-makers hereby boosting efficiency and productivity with lower costs.

What is the Future for Manufacturing Technology

Mr Garrehy further says: “When these advances in technology are integrated with cloud-based ERP systems, the benefits to manufacturers are magnified. What they need is a cloud ERP solution that represents every step in the manufacturing process that increases efficiencies, controls costs and ultimately increases revenue. Manufacturing firms want cloud ERP applications for sales order management, purchase order management, production engineering, inventory management, lot and serial control, scheduling and capacity planning, and shop floor control. They want a system designed to support multiple companies, multiple divisions and multiple sites.”

Manufacturing firms are in the process of finding a way to leverage these new technologies to remain competitive, relevant and profitable. The integration of these technologies in a work in progress in most cloud ERP solution providers and this space will see a lot of traction in the near future.