Is Your Manufacturing Partner Prioritizing Industry 4.0 and Analytics?

February 10, 2021

Industry 4.0 Manufacturing and The Power of Data

The world leaders in contract manufacturing use data to make more informed decisions and drive continuous improvement efforts. In fact, there's not much they're doing these days that doesn't rely on a heavy dose of data and analytics to back them up.

Some in the manufacturing industry have begun to refer to this large investment in and focus on data and analytics as "Industry 4.0"—a major shift in manufacturing operations where machines are connected to larger systems.

When integrated in this way, machines are fully monitored through the network, giving companies the chance to quickly respond when changes are needed, maintain machines more regularly, and create efficiencies by balancing work orders with machining schedules.

Key Manufacturing 4.0 Metrics

Data intelligence, machine learnings, and analytics are the beating heart of a tech-savvy manufacturer. Key metrics fuel every part of the smart factories' business, allowing for real-time monitoring and providing the tools needed to make informed decisions and responses. These metrics include insights into operational performance like on-time delivery (OTD), material use variance (MUV), or efficiency and productivity rates. It also includes quality metrics like defective parts per million (DPPM), supply chain metrics like purchase price variance (PPV), and safety metrics like near-misses or incident reporting.

These metrics on their own offer a deep level of insight and monitoring. But take it up a notch and imagine the intelligent insight that comes from a complex analysis of these metrics together. With data analysts creating integrated automation and connections, these metrics help find new efficiencies between seemingly unrelated sections of the business. It can help set realistic goals, make better business decisions, stay ahead of industry trends, and even make reliable predictions. A connected suite of business analytics allows for a smarter, more efficient, and more transparent operation.

What Does This Mean For Cadrex Customers?

Cadrex continues to invest in these new technologies as industry 4.0 becomes a much bigger, cutting-edge movement across the manufacturing field. The data from industry 4.0 technologies gives us a more complete look at our entire organization rather than viewing facilities as separate entities. We have built out a big data warehouse to automate data feeds from all sources into a single location. A continuous stream of real-time data gathered from connected systems allows us to make more informed business decisions and create more informed business models by eliminating the need to "throw darts" at solutions.

When you choose to partner with us, you’re not only getting access to our state-of-the-art smart machines (like our sheet metal automation and robotics technology), you’re also getting a high level of monitoring and analytic power from our digital technologies. Our dedicated BI & Analytics team offers an unmatched level of value for customers. A common source of truth—a single data source—allows our teams to collaboratively look at data with the customer and make smart manufacturing and budget decisions as partners. It increases accountability across the organization, too. Working from the same data ensures there are no surprises and gives our customers the information they need to keep their teams informed.

Our team also works to find and solve problems before they happen, whether that’s preparing alternatives to supply chain management interruptions, assembly line issues, or monitoring mass production quality trends for potential problems. Our investment in deep data analytics is just another example of how Cadrex is committed to continuously improving to offer greater speed, flexibility, scalability, and technical expertise to our customers.