The Rising Need for Transformation in Manufacturing

At the beginning of 2020, whispers about a new, potentially deadly virus reached our ears. Since that moment, the word pandemic never left the headlights — or our collective consciousness.

Countries laid out their battle plans in a common effort to win a world war. Our invisible enemy disrupted our routines, and “business as usual” never became usual again. Industries across the globe had no choice but to embrace transformation to keep their business alive. That included the manufacturing sector.

Rising urgency for transformation

According to recent research, 94% of manufacturers are adjusting their business in new ways to increase their performance and expand1. They need to accept that, whilst business transformation might ‘shake’ every level of their business, embracing it might be the only way out of a tough environment.

The two main transformation drivers for manufacturing leaders are:

1. Embracing new technologies
2. Achieving greater innovation

The total industrial capacity utilisation in the United States is currently at 79.7% — an improvement over the 77% pre-pandemic levels2. Still, these unpredictable events have forced the need for agility in operations, so it’s safe to assume there will be a continued and increased interest in flexible manufacturing practices.

Another hot-button trend is remote working, which has charged interest in digital twins. A digital twin is a virtual copy of a physical asset or product that collects real-time data and can be accessed anywhere to appraise and optimise performance. With 5G facilitating the Internet of Things (IOT), digital twins are set to be one of the big things in what is being called the fourth industrial revolution.

What is the fourth industrial revolution (also known as Industry 4.0)? Well, the first was steam power driven, the second was electric, the third was computer and robotic, and the fourth is cyber physical systems.

With IoT, all assets can be networked and managed digitally. Autonomous vehicles and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking of goods will facilitate faster and more efficient supply chains.

Big data and machine learning will improve agile practices and predictive maintenance regimes. The list of changes goes on and on, but the topic often neglected is the human factor.

In the third industrial revolution the customer was king, but increasingly, leading manufacturing organisations are addressing not only customer experience, but employee experience as well. Days are numbered for autocratic, top-down management structures. Having a digitally empowered workforce should, in theory, lead to faster, more local and effective decisions, further driving cost efficiencies and innovation.

Historians may one day label 2020 as the start of the fourth industrial revolution and the year ahead will be one of transition, with different goals across different manufacturing companies. But in common, facing this storm of challenges, they should all focus on increasing agility in operations and increasing investment in digital initiatives.

How Renoir is prepared to meet the demands of our clients

Renoir has long been associated with agile manufacturing. More recently, we have established our credentials as an invaluable facilitator of digital transformations, both in ensuring digitisation addresses real business needs and most crucially in managing the human factors in system adoption.

We partner with our clients to deliver sustainable cultural change and tangible financial and operational benefits through strengthening current processes, management systems, people competencies, and by leveraging technology and data analytics.

A digitally connected ecosystem and real-time visibility assist in the removal of silos across functions, resulting in lower costs, smaller inventories, and fewer lost sales. How do we make this happen?

1. Industry 4.0 Solutions
   Build factories of the future by embracing digital capabilities that will enhance your operations and turn you into an innovation powerhouse. We will guide you to implement the technologies, processes and new way of work that will make you an Industry 4.0 leader.
2. Business Transformation
   Develop an implementation roadmap to make fundamental changes in how business is conducted to keep up with the shifts in the market. Transform your operations and operating model design, and create strategic alignment of processes, people, systems and long-term business objectives.
3. Procurement
   In today’s highly competitive environment, procurement needs to be a strategic function and not just operational. Transform procurement by improving processes, developing vendor base and product alternatives, and building suitable strategic sourcing models.
4. Centre of Data Excellence
   We have established Centres of Excellence worldwide with in-house data engineers, data analysts, data scientists, solution architects, digital programmers, and project managers. We utilise the best-in-class data analytics and visualization solutions that best fits the needs of your operations.
5. Experts in Adoption
   As part of the engagement, Renoir has more than 25 years’ experience in taking projects to full adoption using our behavioural and cultural change methodologies. This guarantees that we leave the organisation and your people with the ability to continue to grow value long after the project is delivered.

Renoir begins every project with a thorough evaluation to determine root causes, then designs the optimum strategy to bring the highest returns before helping businesses implement it.

You can talk to one of consultants today to see how our solutions can help your organisation address the unique challenges efficiently and sustainably.