Cloud solutions offer cost reduction, efficiency, flexibility, and digital and smart capabilities that manufacturers can maximize. While manufacturing has arrived late to the party that is cloud computing, it is not too late to embrace modern manufacturing operations management. The manufacturing industry needs cloud computing. Despite the time-consuming traditional on-premise management, 2022 manufacturing operations are dependent on the constantly changing global supply chain, with plants distributed far from one another, and a significant number of employees working remotely.
The current state of cloud in manufacturing has progressed from having been too complex and/or expensive to the launch of various cloud providers’ discrete technology components fit to aid in the management of manufacturing. From voice recognition and image processing to machine learning, the cloud manufacturer toolbox contains more solutions that it is safe to say that “cloud has been enabling different ways of working in the shop floor” writes by Thiago Martins, the global leader of Accenture’s Manufacturing Execution System practice, as published on the Accenture blog site.
The following are 3 more reasons to integrate cloud in manufacturing:
Agility
The changing environment calls for the need of manufacturers to keep track of real-time data and expanded analytics capabilities, and the cloud offers just that. This agile approach to manufacturing will surely enable manufacturers to effectively act, identify, and solve issues more quickly.
Cost Reduction
The traditional cost of on-premise systems are relatively greater compared to the total cost of cloud-based solutions. This is because businesses only pay for the resources that fit their operations and there is little to no need for expensive hardware for IT support.
Global Deployment
Global business expansion and cloud-based systems can grow simultaneously. The beginning of manufacturers’ digital transformation journey calls for a dependable pilot that can effectively apply across their global footprint of facilities.
Adopting the cloud in manufacturing affects both the business efficiency and the IT efficiency. Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, Industrial Internet of Things, No-Code/Low-Code platforms, Mobility, and Geoprocessing among others perform as the main access gate to software innovation that the cloud provides. In business, enabling subject matter experts to communicate across dispersed plants and eliminating data silos are best for successful collaboration. Reducing IT infrastructure footprint, increasing disaster-recovery capabilities, accurately scaling capacity, and automation of administration are few benefits for IT in the facilitation of cloud in manufacturing.
Modern businesses are exposed to a rapidly growing marketplace of innovative cloud applications and manufacturing companies must embrace this in order to successfully compete. The strategy in adopting the cloud has no end to it – once adopted, the organization must evaluate the needs to sustain their benefits from it.