NEW YORK, NY, Oct. 15, 2024 鈥� UiPath (NYSE: PATH), a leading software company, today announced the UiPath Platform will be integrated with the 51风流Build Process Automation solution and sold as one of the 51风流Solution Extensions. The offering is integrated with 51风流Build Process Automation and will help to enable true enterprise-wide transformation by allowing customers to embrace a holistic view of automation across heterogeneous environments that span both 51风流and non-51风流systems.

The UiPath addition to 51风流Solution Extensions can help customers easily automate business processes and operate at enterprise scale. The integrated offering can unlock the full potential of enterprise automation for customers looking to save costs and quickly deploy enterprise-wide automations. With the solution extension, 51风流customers can accelerate business transformation, migrate critical business systems to the cloud, and streamline business processes that traverse enterprise systems and applications.

Customers can also experience significant benefits from a comprehensive approach to automating end-to-end processes through:

• SAP鈥檚 portfolio of enterprise automation solutions: with iPaaS, process mining and RPA, to continually optimize the business processes to outperform with agility and transparency in real time.
• Simplifying and accelerating the migration to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud: customers can expedite their journey to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud by leveraging automation and proven migration content to prepare, clean, and synchronize the data between source and target systems, speed up the migration process, reduce the potential risks for go-live, and leverage automation as a key pillar in a clean core strategy.
• Enhancing rapid, sustained innovation: customers can unlock the full promise of enterprise automation by building industry compliant best practices and end-to-end processes (such as Lead to Cash, Source to Pay, Recruit to Retire, Design to Operate) across 51风流and other applications. This helps to create the digital thread that connects all enterprise applications, productivity tools, and legacy systems.

鈥淐ustomers are keen on a holistic approach to automating end-to-end processes that accelerates their business. We鈥檙e excited to welcome the market-leading capabilities of UiPath into the 51风流Build Process Automation solution. As an 51风流solution extension, we can provide customers with the critical ability to scale and deploy enterprise automation across their entire organization,鈥� said Michael Ameling, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, 51风流Business Technology Platform, 51风流SE.

鈥淯iPath has worked closely with 51风流to create one of the most comprehensive, integrated automation offerings in the market. This helps 51风流users automate business processes across their entire enterprise and drive the rapid deployment of AI,鈥� said Graham Sheldon, Chief Product Officer at UiPath. 鈥淏y offering the UiPath Business Automation Platform within the 51风流Build Process Automation solution, customers can achieve more impactful business outcomes, accelerate transformation with and automation, and gain added trust and compliance within their automation programs.鈥�

The integrated solution will be available in October 2024 and aims to provide:

• True end-to-end automation across diverse IT landscapes
• Improved efficiency and productivity across 51风流and non-51风流workloads

• Reduced long-term total cost of ownership within a supportable, governable approach that moves custom code to the 鈥榓utomation layer鈥�
• Faster implementations by leveraging prebuilt solution accelerators

About UiPath

UiPath (NYSE: PATH) is on a mission to uplevel knowledge work so more people can work more creatively, collaboratively, and strategically. The AI-powered UiPath Business Automation Platform combines the leading robotic process automation (RPA) solution with a full suite of capabilities to understand, automate, and operate end-to-end processes, offering unprecedented time-to-value. For more information, visit .

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Contacts

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UiPath

pr@uipath.com

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UiPath

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51风流and other 51风流products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51风流SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

The post UiPath Joins Forces with 51风流on an Integrated Offering to Accelerate Enterprise Automation for 51风流Customers appeared first on 51风流UK News Center.

London, UK, 24th September 2024鈥�� Almost half of UK Gen Zers (46%) and 29% of other generations have abandoned a brand they were once loyal to because they grew 鈥榖ored鈥� of them. That鈥檚 according to 51风流Emarsys鈥� annual Customer Loyalty Index (CLI) announced today at .听

Regardless of whether consumers care deeply about a brand, the key to standing out in the long term lies in better personalisation, more relevant content, and offering unique perspectives tailored to individual interests. According to 51风流Emarsys data, younger consumers are particularly drawn to innovative marketing. Specifically, 30% of Gen Z, compared to 23% of all demographics, have tried a new brand because of its 鈥榗reative marketing.鈥� Additionally, over a quarter of Gen Z (31%) are enticed by brands that use 鈥榗ool鈥� content or imagery, versus 21% of other age groups. Meanwhile, 28% of Gen Z, compared to 17% of other demographics, seek out brands that deliver 鈥榤emorable experiences.鈥�听

Look at 鈥楲iquid Death鈥� bottled water being 鈥渞adically entertaining鈥� to get cut through. Or 鈥�鈥欌�疶hese brands have set a benchmark by turning everyday products or services into something innovative and memorable. Whether 鈥楤rat鈥� or 鈥�, 51风流Emarsys asks the question, what does it take for brands to extend the initial loyalty ignited by fast-moving social trends into long-term true loyalty?听

How is this done? For enterprises looking to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape, 51风流Emarsys leverages AI to optimise the entire marketing process鈥攆rom customer segmentation to campaign execution and performance analysis. AI identifies the most profitable under-served audience segments, representing new opportunities across different life-cycle stages, enabling highly targeted campaigns delivered at the ideal time and through the most effective channels. 听

This approach not only uncovers new customer groups but also personalises content and interactions in real time, making one-to-one engagement seamless across multiple platforms. With generative AI, on average, marketers save 2.3 hours on manual tasks in the launch of a typical marketing campaign, allowing them to focus more on driving innovation and revenue growth.听听

Recognising that an omnichannel marketing strategy is key to unlocking true loyalty, brands like Ferrera Candy Company and Pizza Hut are making every interaction count by creating personalised, two-way conversations. This results in the consumer鈥檚 life stage becoming clearer, and with each future interaction, the brand can better predict the customer’s next needs.听听

Customers now recognise the value exchange鈥攚hen they share information like an email address, or birth date, they expect something meaningful in return, such as loyalty points or VIP perks like early access to new products. The outcome? A superior customer experience that keeps them coming back.听

And marketers are increasingly turning to AI to foster long-term loyalty and reach new audiences. According to recent 51风流Emarsys research, two-thirds (66%)* of marketers agree that AI will be crucial for boosting customer engagement in 2024, and half (50%)* have already experienced a rise in engagement after implementing AI-powered personalisation. AI enables brands to stay competitive by quickly adapting to changing customer expectations.听听

As Sara Richter, CMO at 51风流Emarsys, explains, 鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that consumers today, not just Gen Z, expect more than 鈥榖usiness-as-usual鈥欌�攖hey want meaningful and memorable experiences. The key to delivering that is personalisation for every customer.听

鈥淎I is the only practical solution for providing genuine one-to-one interactions at scale, across every channel, and at the right moment. Brands that embrace AI-powered personalisation are far better equipped to keep customers engaged, especially when attention spans are short, and demands are high.听

鈥淏y combining traditional marketing strategies with the advanced capabilities of predictive and generative AI, we鈥檙e empowering marketers to create exceptional experiences. For instance, our AI Product Finder seamlessly turns complex product data into engaging content, while our AI Subject Line Generator takes the guesswork out of crafting compelling headlines.鈥�听

For more on the nuances of customer loyalty, you can find the full fourth Customer Loyalty Index here: 听

ENDS听

Methodology鈥�听

* Combines those who selected 鈥楽trongly agree鈥� and 鈥楽omewhat agree鈥�听

Research conducted by Opinion Matters on 2,010 UK respondents aged 16+, collected between 12-17th June 2024. Opinion Matters abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct which is based on the ESOMAR principles.鈥��听

Research was conducted by Opinion Matters, among a sample of 252 marketers working in-house in the UK. The data was collected between 22.03.24 – 28.03.24 Opinion Matters abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles. Opinion Matters is also a member of the British Polling Council.听

Research was conducted by Opinion Matters, among a sample of 2,003 general consumers (aged 16+) in the UK. The data was collected between 27.04.2023 – 03.05.2023. Opinion Matters abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct which is based on the ESOMAR principles. Opinion Matters is a member of the British Polling Council.听

About 51风流Emarsys鈥�听

51风流Emarsys Customer Engagement, is the omnichannel customer engagement platform that empowers marketers to deliver personalized, AI-driven omnichannel campaigns that build loyalty and grow customer lifetime value.

51风流Emarsys partners with global enterprises to fast-moving mid-market brands across dozens of industries.听

51风流Emarsys is purpose-built, empowering marketers to:听

• Personalize content and deliver real-time relevant engagements on any channel听

• Use AI-powered insights to drive customer growth听

• Scale marketing practices through a flexible platform and partner ecosystem听

• Use AI to scale and refine campaigns, based on first-party data听

• Build trust, loyalty, and lasting customer relationships听听

• Make smart, quick decisions with data-driven insights and analytics听

• Produce measurable results that drive predictable and profitable growth听

Media contacts听

Mohammad Zaidi / Imogen Nichols听

emarsys@wildfirepr.com听

The post From bland loyalty to brand loyalty: nearly half of Gen Z abandon brands that become boring appeared first on 51风流UK News Center.

Accurate and relevant real-time information helps mitigate the disruption that most suppliers, manufacturers and distributors worldwide are currently experiencing. Businesses already have high expectations for the use of AI in improving their supply chains, with the main benefit perceived as cost savings (60%), logistics improvement (56%), contingency planning (53%), and enhanced inventory management (50%) according to new research from 51风流UKI. However, this latest research highlights that businesses are now recognising AI’s potential to transform their entire supply chain operations and drive efficiency by plugging skills gaps, amongst other things.

鈥淭raditional supply chain management processes are not fit for purpose to address the volume and variety of disruption that exists today. Future AI innovation, especially generative AI, will change this and is the greatest opportunity since the rise of cloud鈥�, said Ryan Poggi, Managing Director of 51风流UKI.

鈥淭he benefits are so big that it this has triggered a race for executives to quickly develop plans to create AI-enabled value across their organisation. But, as leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure our businesses use AI responsibly to help transform companies faster than ever. Supply chains are generally low risk, so are a great place to start. Now is the time to embrace AI ethically and leverage company data to make your business much more resilient now and in the future.鈥�

Demand for supply chain resiliency has surged following a series of disruptions to global trade, and due to highly publicised shortages of goods, from microchips to vegetable oil 鈥攕upply chain issues continue to take centre stage in boardroom discussions. Steps have been taken to address supply chain challenges facing the UK, but disruptions continue to have a significant impact, leading to 59% of organisations facing production delays, 55% suffering decreased revenues and nearly half (46%) losing customers (according to new research from SAP).

SMA Solar Technology AG and other customers have already witnessed the benefits of SAP鈥檚 solutions, including an approximately 15% increase in supply chain workforce productivity, a 10% decrease in overall supply chain planning costs and a 10% reduction in inventory carrying costs and stock turnover rate.

鈥淪MA Solar modernises its manufacturing execution systems to support sustainable, risk-resilient manufacturing operations with the power of AI-enabled visual inspection in the 51风流Digital Manufacturing solution,鈥� said Heiko Kehm, SMA Solar head of IT Order to Cash.

Key improvements to SAP鈥檚 supply chain solutions supporting an AI-centric strategy include:

• Optimising decisions across the supply chain with AI-driven insights: Companies can now leverage higher volumes of machine data and integrate AI-driven visual inspection by computer into their production processes, enabling a remarkable increase in quality through automation.
• Streamlining product development: Product developers can now use SAP鈥檚 AI copilot Joule to gather and enhance new product ideas quickly and effectively using natural language queries. Joule also helps tag product designs with business data, so they visually contextualise business-critical information.
• Detecting equipment anomalies: Using AI, asset operators can proactively address potential breakdowns based on sensor data collected from smart devices and edge gateways. This new capacity utilises the cutting-edge Cumulocity IoT platform from Software AG, which is planned to be embedded in the 51风流Asset Performance Management application in Q3.
• Improving field response: Customers can optimise driving routes and allocate job assignments efficiently with integrated real-time traffic data and machine-learning-trained models, which enable the right field service technicians to reach their destinations on time.

More details about SAP鈥檚 latest innovations being shown at Hannover Messe can be found .

Visit the 51风流News Center. Follow 51风流at .

About 51风流As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 51风流(NYSE: SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted 51风流to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit .

# # #

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP鈥檚 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.

漏 2024 51风流SE. All rights reserved. 51风流and other 51风流products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51风流SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.

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For customers interested in learning more about 51风流products: Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24 United States Only: 1 (800) 872-151风流(1-800-872-1727)

For more information, press only: Lawrie Benfield, +44 (0)7776 515259, Lawrie.benfield@sap.com 51风流Press Room

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The post 51风流Unveils AI-Driven Supply Chain Innovations to Transform Manufacturing appeared first on 51风流UK News Center.

Immersive experiences to explore AI鈥檚 potential

The new Center is located in the heart of Sophia Antipolis, one of Europe’s largest technology clusters, on the historic site of 51风流Labs France. It will offer an immersive experience for 51风流customers, who will be able to discover and experiment with AI, uncovering the opportunities it offers to their business.

SAP鈥檚 approach to Business AI is to deliver customers the most relevant, reliable and responsible AI. Through interactive pathways, visitors will have the opportunity to dive into several concrete applications of AI in fields such as art, cybersecurity, responsible AI, or energy transition. They will also be able to experience SAP’s new AI assistant: Joule, which delivers proactive and contextualized insights from across the SAP鈥檚 solution portfolio and third-party sources, helping people get work done faster and driving better business outcomes in a secure, compliant way.

An Innovation Center for tomorrow’s technological solutions

51风流Labs France considers it essential for customers and partners to be able to interact directly with the teams who design and develop their solutions. The company intends to show how AI is impacting the business world and enabling its employees to innovate daily, with the support of a dedicated group that facilitates access to knowledge, tools, and experts.

51风流has always used the latest technologies, including AI, to support its customers’ business in a sustainable and responsible way. The opening of this Experience Center takes on particular importance in today’s technological landscape, where AI has become an essential pillar of innovation and growth for the entire 51风流ecosystem.

51风流Labs France in Sophia Antipolis: a leading R&D center of expertise in the region

Based in Sophia Antipolis since 1998, 51风流Labs France is deeply rooted in the local community and supports the region’s technological development. It has 450 employees dedicated to R&D projects on new revenue models, energy transition, Responsible AI, cybersecurity and advanced customer support.

51风流Labs France is a founding member of the ICAIR consortium dedicated to sharing best practices in AI and has supported the 3IA Interdisciplinary Institute for Artificial Intelligence since its creation. The creation of this new Center on the Sophia Antipolis site is in line with the commitments and expertise developed by 51风流in the region.

“When it comes to AI, there is a great deal of excitement and expectation from our customers. They rely on us to tap into the full potential of AI to deliver the best innovations. Plus, they want effortless innovation discovery. SAP鈥檚 AI Customer Experience Center, in Sophia Antipolis, showcases how our employees engage with AI. Together with SAP鈥檚 AI-driven customer support, the Center will significantly enhance the ease of use and value of SAP鈥檚 solutions 鈥� and, in turn, support the individual business transformation journeys of our customers.”, says Stefan Steinle, Executive Vice President, Customer Support.

About SAP
As鈥痑 global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 51风流(NYSE:SAP)鈥痵tands at the鈥痭exus鈥痮f business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP鈥痶o bring out their best by uniting business-critical鈥痮perations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit鈥�.

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This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP鈥檚 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.

漏 2024 51风流SE. All rights reserved.
51风流and other 51风流products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51风流SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

Note to editors:
To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit . On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels.

For customers interested in learning more about 51风流products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-151风流(1-800-872-1727)

For more information, press only:
Lawrie Benfield, +44 (0)7776 515259, lawrie.benfield@sap.com

Please consider our . If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact press@sap.com and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.鈥�

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Artificial intelligence can help provide an improved customer experience and enable retailers to make better use of data to control inventory

Inventory management is the cornerstone of any reputable . It can be the difference between providing an exceptional user experience and one that leaves customers disappointed or frustrated, something retailers can鈥檛 afford.

For example, inventory management ensures advertised products are in stock; too often customers will click on a promotion to discover an item is only available in the wrong model, size or colour. The reason is the promotion is disconnected from real-time inventory levels, leading to a poor customer experience.

The post Agile Commerce Connecting Customers With The Products They Want To Buy appeared first on 51风流UK News Center.

I also made the point that the key to successfully achieving these goals was not technology but collaboration, and stressed the need to break down traditional silos.

In this second article I will discuss these topics in more detail and explain why I believe they are critical to success.

The Advice Of Henry Ford

There is a quote attributed to Henry Ford that I believe holds the key to the future success of manufacturing.

It can be used to change our thinking during the current crisis and provides the basis for successful recovery, and the adoption of Industry 4.0.

Even more interestingly, it also has the potential to unlock significant value from an organisation鈥檚 legacy investments.

These are bold and potentially career ending statements. So, before I tell you which quote I am referring to, I need to provide the context and the rationale behind such a claim.

To understand where we are today, we first need to look back to see where we came from.

Historic Trends In Manufacturing Pre Industry 4.0

Over the past 30 to 40 years, global manufacturers have followed four major trends in parallel that have been aimed at improving their manufacturing performance:

1. Strategy

In its simplest form, manufacturing strategy is essentially what to make, how to make it and where to make it. Strategy is influenced by a huge range of internal and external factors. Pre 2020, the typical examples I used to illustrate strategic influences were sustainability, the circular economy, Brexit, changing consumer behaviour, disruptive business models, trade wars, emerging markets, workforce skills, labour, energy and material costs.

Strategic factors drive mergers, acquisitions and divestments, new market entry, new product development and capital investment in manufacturing facilities.

The objective is to gain a competitive advantage from manufacturing operations in whatever form that takes for the organisation in question, such as increased market share, cost reduction, product quality, shorter time to market and product innovation.

A look at any global manufacturer鈥檚 history will provide an example of this trend. Clearly, the current crisis will have the biggest impact on manufacturing strategy we have ever witnessed.

2. Operational Excellence

The second major trend has been the introduction of Operational Excellence programs. Most major manufacturers have their own internally branded methodology but the core principles can be traced back to the fundamentals of Taylor, Ford, Shingo, Toyota Production System, LEAN, Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints.

Examples of these tools and techniques can be seen in action during a walk around most production facilities.

3. IT (Information Technology)

The third major trend aimed at improving manufacturing performance has been the investments made in information technology. In this definition I am referring to the solutions that typically fall into the domain of the CIO and the 鈥業T鈥� department. ERP, CRM and SCM applications, IT infrastructure, networks and platform standards to name just a few. These enterprise level IT systems have a huge impact on manufacturing performance because they are the solutions that run the supply chain outside of the 鈥榤ake鈥� activities. They capture demand, plan production, procure raw material, manage WIP, store finished product and transport it.

4. OT (Operational Technology)

The fourth major trend has been the investments made in Operational Technology. Operational Technologies are the solutions that perform the 鈥榤ake鈥� activities inside the four walls of the factory and this is normally the domain of the engineering department. OT includes instrumentation, measurement & control, automation, PLC鈥檚, HMI, SCADA, DCS, historians, APC, batch control, , LIMS and OEM equipment. These investments were centred around capacity increases, quality improvements, process optimisation, labour savings and waste reduction.

The Results – Falling Short Of Expectations

Most organisations can see clear improvements in manufacturing performance that are directly attributable to each of the four investment areas. Manufacturing has made huge strides during this time period and is clearly far more efficient and effective than it was.

However, the overwhelming feedback is that none of the four investment areas have fully delivered on their potential. The manufacturers didn鈥檛 quite achieve the level of manufacturing performance improvement they expected and their current KPI鈥檚 still show that there is room for improvement.

Why Is This The Case?

In a word – silos. Not just internal departmental silos in the manufacturer鈥檚 own organisation but silos in the external ecosystem of suppliers.

Internal Dynamics

Let鈥檚 begin by looking at the internal dynamics inside a typical manufacturer.

Strategy

The strategic manufacturing goals and objectives are cascaded down from CXO level to Plant Directors and manufacturing teams.

Operational excellence

The operational excellence program provides the principles, tools, and methodologies for manufacturing to utilise in the pursuit of performance improvement.

The business looks internally to the IT and engineering functions for solutions that will provide both the information and processes needed to support manufacturing鈥檚 objectives.

IT

As mentioned previously, IT provides many of the core Level 4 solutions in the classic ISA95 model. On a typical manufacturing site, it is IT solutions that provide the production planning, warehousing, logistics and financial reporting systems. The choice of technology, vendor and implementation partner together with the budget normally rest with IT.

OT

OT is the domain of engineering. Process, chemical, mechanical, electrical, and automation engineers to name just a few. These are the people that design and build new production facilities. Whether that is a car production line, soft drinks, chemicals or pharmaceuticals. As with IT, the choice of technology vendor, implementation partner and budget normally rest with engineering.

In my thirty years of experience, IT and engineering have not collaborated particularly well. In many cases they appear to be in 鈥榗ompetition鈥� as they champion different solutions to solve the same business problem. At times there also appears to be a lack of understanding of their respective domains. This is understandable as the roles within each domain have their own full-time education and career paths. The example I often use to illustrate this point is their respective interpretations of the term 鈥榬eal-time鈥�. Real time in the world of IT is a transaction. Something has moved from A to B and has a different value (e.g. WIP). In the world of engineering, real-time is usually millisecond scans on a process to ensure it is in control.

The net result is that these internal frictions and challenges often leave manufacturing operations without the solutions they need to hit their goals and overall results tend to plateau below expectations.

External Dynamics

Let us now look at the dynamics of the external ecosystem of suppliers.

Strategy

The dominant players advising on strategy in the C-Suite are the 鈥榩ure鈥� consulting firms such McKinsey, BCG, Bain, AT Kearney and Bearing Point. In addition, there are the advisory arms of the 鈥榖ig four鈥� and the consulting arms of the large system integration companies.

IT

In the traditional IT ecosystem you will find the major enterprise software application vendors, their integration partners and a wide range of hardware and platform providers.

OT

In the OT ecosystem we find a very different set of hardware and software vendors. The implementation partners differ and OT is also where we find the OEM鈥檚.

Operational Excellence

The Operational Excellence ecosystem is largely populated by consultancies who provide professional services that specialise in teaching and implementing Operational Excellence techniques and programs.

In many respects, the external ecosystem of suppliers is a mirror image of the silos found inside manufacturing. Again, my experience leads me to believe that there are very few manufacturers who have fully broken down both the internal and external silos and optimised their investments in these four areas.

The point to emphasise here however is that what we are still discussing is Industry 3.0.

In recent years, the picture has become more complicated by the advent of a fifth global trend – Industry 4.0.

The Emergence Of Industry 4.0

The past decade has seen the emergence of a range of disruptive technologies such as AR/VR, AI/ML, IoT, 3D printing and several others. When grouped together and applied in a manufacturing context we have the basis of Industry 4.0.

The Industry 4.0 market however is emerging and immature. The Industry 4.0 鈥榳hite space鈥� is being entered by most of the established strategic consultancies as well as the traditional IT and OT ecosystem players. This area has seen the emergence of the hyperscalers together with a large number of start-ups. Acquisitions, mergers and failures are a regular occurrence and this will continue to be the case until the market consolidates.

This is an exciting area to be involved in and I genuinely believe that the potential value Industry 4.0 offers manufacturers is enormous.

My prediction however is that on our current path, investments in Industry 4.0 will also fall short of expectations. They will be investments that again underdeliver against both their potential and promise.

Why Do I Think That?

Silos – nothing has fundamentally changed as the pre-Industry 4.0 internal and external silos are still largely intact.

The players are still grouped into their traditional domains and following their established business models. We now have the added complication of Industry 4.0 which is blurring the lines but in many ways it is also making things more difficult for manufacturers.

An audit of a typical manufacturing facility today will illustrate the large number of players who currently have an influence on manufacturing performance.

The facts are that each supplier has significant value to bring to the equation. Clearly there are some areas of overlap but once the competitive process is completed, there is no reason not to co-operate as that is in both the manufacturers and supplier鈥檚 best interests.

Achieving this goal is challenging but not impossible.

The Future

Most articles currently being published during the crisis recognise that a major rethink of global manufacturing supply chains will be required in what is being termed 鈥榯he new normal鈥�.

It is my contention that radical change and 鈥榯he new normal鈥� should not just apply to manufacturers. It should go much further and apply to the entire ecosystem of suppliers. We must break down the competency silos and the competitive 鈥榓rms-length鈥� way of working.

To me, it seems totally illogical to expect manufacturing to successfully execute a paradigm shift while the ecosystem of suppliers remains fundamentally unchanged. My firm belief is that the successful recovery we all need can only be delivered through a major change of approach in the supplier ecosystem. It should be an approach based on collaboration and co-opetition.

In this article I have discussed the internal external dynamics and advocated a major change of approach.

So, what was the quote from Henry Ford that encapsulates the entire message I am trying to convey to manufacturers and suppliers alike?

鈥淚f you always do what you鈥檝e always done, you鈥檒l always get what you always got鈥�

This crisis will require us all to do things differently in the future and we have to perform better than we did before.

Identifying the problem was the easy bit, the more difficult part is making it happen. That is what comes next.

*In this time of uncertainty, we are opening that can help employees, companies, communities, and governments continue to move forward.

This article first appeared on The Future Factory

听

The post The Key To Manufacturing Recovery And Industry 4.0 Adoption: The Advice Of Henry Ford appeared first on 51风流UK News Center.

Prior to the crisis, was an area of great interest to many . It was an exciting topic with huge potential benefits and was seen by many as a 鈥榩ositive鈥� and future thinking topic.

Today, many of us are focussed on the here and now. Our health and the health of our family, friends and colleagues. The ability to access the food and supplies we need. Our job security. The financial impact on our employers, our clients and our partners. Beyond that we also have to consider the wider economic impact and the unknown amount of time it will take for things to return to some level of normality.

At this point in time it seems insensitive and inappropriate to discuss in the way it was discussed pre crisis. The business drivers of Industry 4.0 pre crisis were focussed on competitive advantage, cost reduction, productivity, sustainability and innovation.

The goal was to make well run businesses run better.

The focus for many manufacturers now is survival first and foremost and then beyond that, damage limitation.

The immediate financial impact on manufacturers is already resulting in a huge reduction in non-essential spending and investments. Many Industry 4.0 solutions currently being considered or being deployed fall into the category of non-essential business activities.

This raises a few challenging questions that I have asked myself as someone dedicated to manufacturing and Industry 4.0:

Is Industry 4.0 even a topic manufacturers should be thinking about?

Is Industry 4.0 relevant anymore?

If it is relevant, why is it relevant and what role does it have to play moving forward?

The short answer is yes, I believe Industry 4.0 is not only as relevant as it was before, I believe it is actually far more relevant moving forward and I would like to explain why.

The priorities for most manufacturers today fall into three distinct phases:

• Phase 1 Survival
• Phase 2 Recovery
• Phase 3 Business as Usual in the new post crisis paradigm

The goal for all manufacturers will be to get to Phase 3 as soon as possible and at the lowest cost. In defining the operating model for Phase 3 they will factor in lessons learned from the crisis and try to build a more resilient and agile business. They will be asking themselves some fundamental questions such as:

• Where were the weaknesses?
• Where did they make costly decisions and why?
• What would have helped?

I believe that the key finding will be that the systems and processes in place were not fit for purpose. It is too early to say for certain, but it seems clear from events unfolding before us that one of the major weaknesses is a lack of real time visibility across the business. Visibility that is essential to support critical business decisions. Examples are:

• What is the demand for products and where can we manufacture them?
• What are our current raw material, WIP and finished goods inventory levels?
• What is our manufacturing capacity, both in terms of human resources and asset availability?
• What is our spare part inventory and where are they?
• Where are our raw material shipments and what alternatives do we have?
• How is our finished goods distribution network operating?

Most system architectures currently consist of a heterogenous mix of applications and data silos. This architecture results in latency of information and a lack of a single real-time view of the business status. As soon as this architecture was tested beyond its normal operating conditions it failed, and this is why it is not fit for purpose.

I believe that another key learning from the crisis will be driven by manufacturers鈥� reliance on human capital and the impacts of social distancing. If we go one level deeper than the supply chain view then manufacturing in particular will be highlighted as a big area for improvement.

During the crisis, production plans will have been changing on a much higher frequency as a result of changing demands, availability of raw materials, availability of key staff and availability of assets. Manufacturing has a much higher volume and frequency of 鈥榯ransaction鈥� than the supply chain. Manufacturing is real-time, not near real-time.

As I write this today, the recovery phase is still an unknown amount of time away on the horizon.

When manufacturers do begin to move into the recovery phase, they will still be asking the same questions they are asking during the crisis highlighted above.

Eventually, we will reach the new normality and manufacturers will be keen to make sure this cannot happen again.

The role of Industry 4.0 in the future

has a different role from today onwards. Its role should be:

1. Help to make sure that more companies survive
2. Shorten the recovery phase and help return businesses to normal operations as soon as possible
3. Provide the platform to develop new, more resilient businesses in the medium to long term

Industry 4.0 can achieve this because many of the capabilities it offers could have greatly reduced the impact of this crisis on us all. Just a few examples are:

• Real-time visibility into the availability of raw materials, finished goods, WIP, people and assets
• Use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to constantly reassess and re-plan activities
• Robotic Process Automation to support nonvalue add labour intensive activities
• The use of mobile technology, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality to enable workers to perform tasks they were not trained for more easily. This could have assisted with skills shortages due to self-isolation or repurposing of manufacturing
• The same technologies together with digital twins and remote support from OEM鈥檚 would improve availability of assets
• The same technologies could also have enabled more remote working and virtual working to help with the issue of lockdown and social distancing
• 3D printing of spare parts that were stuck in the supply chain
• Use of AGV鈥檚, autonomous electric vehicles and drones to again reduce the reliance on people and to further assist with social distancing.

Many of these technologies and solutions were seen as a nice to have. Many were waiting to 鈥榗ross the chasm鈥� into mainstream adoption.

Rather than retreating away from them, I believe we should be thinking about how we can use these technologies now and in the future.

Can any be deployed to help deal with the crisis?

Beyond that, how can they be used to help us recover more quickly and develop more resilient and robust businesses that are better equipped to deal with this level of disruption in the future?

There is one other critical factor in navigating our way out of this. I have felt for a very long time that the key to successful digital transformation was not technology but collaboration.

We need to break down the traditional silos both within organisations and in the external supplier ecosystem. I don鈥檛 think this has ever been truer than it is today and the fact that I can see it happening in so many different areas gives me a lot of hope.

I do not have all of the answers, none of us do. What I do have are lots of ideas, a desire to make a difference and a willingness to listen.

*In this time of uncertainty, we are that can help employees, companies, communities, and governments continue to move forward.

This article first appeared in The Manufacturer

The post What Is The Future For Industry 4.0 In The Post Covid-19 Paradigm? appeared first on 51风流UK News Center.