I know of several good use cases for big data related technology in manufacturing operations management and I am sure there are a few more out there but sorry to break it to you…it is not a magic bullet for manufacturing improvement!
Instead, I hope that Smart Manufacturing gets the attention in 2016 that it deserves as a new way to look at connectivity, manufacturing platforms and linkages in the manufacturing enterprise and extended product value chain.
The real value of connectivity of manufacturing equipment and systems is not found by trying to mine a stream of sensor data emanating from machines in the plant in the hope of finding some pearl of wisdom. Wisdom that must have been escaping our shop floor managers’ imagination for years because it was buried in the data. I don’t think so.
The real value of connectivity is found in being able to orchestrate and streamline business processes from desktops to machines, across department walls, across tiers of manufacturing operations management, and across tiers of suppliers— layers of production support processes that have been relegated to email, spreadsheet and other manual cumbersome and error prone methods far too long. Of course, orchestration requires data and metrics, but manufacturing processes and systems need to be designed to acquire certain data with the intention of doing something with it. It is planned data usage, transformation, integration and aggregation driving real innovation. The mining of all machine data in hopes of finding meaningful patterns in the future is not a solid innovation strategy.
In one article Gartner research mentions that 70% of captured manufacturing data goes unused today. [1] The question should not be “What can I do with this data?” the question should be “Why am I capturing data I don’t need”. The solution to that problem is to stop capturing data that does not have a designed use as part of a monitoring or control process.
An LNS article in 2015 titled “Analytics: The New Frontier in Manufacturing Operations and Business Performance” boasts analytics as the new frontier for manufacturing systems. [2] However, looking at the data in that article we can come to a totally different conclusion. LNS found that manufacturer’s top objectives were:
- Ensuring consistent quality of products
- Responsiveness to customer order demands
- Increasing production capacity and capabilities
- Getting new products to market faster
Then LNS finds that the top challenges for meeting the above are:
- Lack of collaboration across different departments
- Disparate systems and data sources
- ROI justifications for improvement investments
- Difficulty coordinating across the supply and demand chains
And, finally, the LNS survey lists the following as the most critical areas of software for manufacturers:
- Production Execution Management
- Quality Management
- Real-time Performance Visibility
- Data Collection and Reporting
- Supply and Demand Response
- Overall Equipment Effectiveness
- Analytics
Analytics was listed as #7, yet it somehow got the headline of the article. Does that make sense? Instead note what did get a lot of attention: “lack of collaboration across departments” and “difficulty coordinating across supply and demand chain”. Those are the real opportunities for improvement in manufacturing business processes. Instead of more articles pushing the hype agenda for big data and analytics, in 2016, it would be great to see more emphasis on manufacturing process improvement enabled by integration standards that connect machines, processes, systems and the entire Smart Manufacturing value chain of the future.
There is hope in the horizon, one article from Gartner in 2015 suggested that Big Data might be passing the “peak of inflated expectations” and heading for the “trough of disillusionment” in the hype cycle. As manufacturers discover the real use cases for big data technologies they will be able to properly prioritize the importance of its usage within innovation initiatives and stop looking at the technology itself as the innovation.
More on Smart Manufacturing in this article: On the Journey to aSmart Manufacturing Revolution
References:
[1] "Predicts 2016: Opportunities Abound for the Factory to Reach Its Potential", Gartner, 2015
[2] "Analytics: The New Frontier in Manufacturing Operations and Business Performance", LNS Research, 2015
[3] "Hype Cycles for 2015: Five Megatrends Shift Computing Landscape", Gartner, 2015