The research, commissioned by Panasonic and undertaken by Aberdeen, showed organisations have recognised the importance of using technology to improve time-to-market, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and advance innovation, and are accelerating their efforts.
According to the survey, the top five pressures to improve operations were:
- Increasing pace of innovation/changing business models – 34%
- Customers’ demands for competitive differentiation with higher quality – 34%
- Need to reduce costs – 31%
- Improving ability/flexibility to respond to business demands – 30%
- Need to shift manufacturing and sourcing due to supply changes – 30%
In the study, Aberdeen defined best-in-class manufacturers by their ability to develop the most complex products at the fastest rate and at a reasonable cost. They are ahead of the others in their percentage of products that meet revenue targets, percentage of complete and on-time shipments and their year-on-year ability to decrease manufacturing cycle times.
Aberdeen was able to quantify that best-in-class manufacturers:
- Generate 31% more new product introductions that meet production targets
- Realise a 2.4 times greater year-on-year decrease in production downtime
- See a 1.4 times greater year-on-year decrease in time-to-decision
- Report 37% more products meeting quality targets upon design release
- Experience a 34% increase in year-on-year overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
As this study shows, digital transformation is just the start of the journey towards realising the smart factory,” said Edin Osmanovic, head of sales, logistics solutions, Panasonic Business & Industry Solutions. “It is a prerequisite to enhance process optimisation that delivers increased benefits and enables businesses in the sector to become best-in-class. Those organisations are using technology as an enabler to innovate and to drive efficiencies to cut costs while maintaining quality.”