Innovation has been a driving force behind progress for businesses across all sectors. Success is often determined by an organization’s ability to select the best new technology, and then roll it out across their business before the competition. However, the temptation of the “shiny, new thing” is familiar to everyone. Many brands have fallen from chasing “cool technology” bought on a whim, without a long-term business plan to justify the investment.

One such arena where new mobile technologies are promising to transform business is within manufacturing operations. There is a lot of talk around tablets on the plant floor, apps planning work flows and touch screens replacing paper. Those that have assessed the value and usability of technology innovation, and have incorporated the adoption of this technology as part of a longer term business plan, are the ones that stand to reap the most rewards.

Mobility Strategy is now a Must Have

If you don’t at least have a mobility strategy of how you plan to leverage this technology now, then you would likely fall into the “laggard” category. I am not saying you need to have your mobility plan executed and completed – my point is that you should have a strategy by now, even if that strategy is to do nothing.

With the digital and global transformation of manufacturing operations, we increasingly live in a world with blurred boundaries. Our work lives are blending into our personal lives, and vice versa. Nowhere is this more evident than with smart phones. According to eMarketer, it is expected that 4.6 billion people worldwide will be using a mobile phone in 2014. Of that figure, nearly half are smart phones. This growth is expected to continue. See the chart at right.

All these smart phone users face the issue on evenings and weekends of “Do I check my work email?” And, of those that do, how often should I look? Of course, readily accessing email is just one feature of a smart phone. Custom developed apps are becoming increasingly common, which can include notifications should an alert be deemed necessary. For example, if you are a plant manager, and you have the option of being notified immediately if a power shut down occurs at your plant, wouldn’t you rather know first? Or, would you rather find out Monday morning, when your output report indicates an issue occurred yesterday, and you didn’t have a choice to do anything to fix it?

As manufacturing businesses work to meet higher customer expectations, shorter deadlines, tighter budgets and increasingly complicated specifications, any “edge” you can achieve can have significant results. The bottom line is that employees are increasingly being liberated from behind their desks, enabling them to be productive on the move. A business that has a shop floor solution that is consistent across the entire organization helps to reduce variation and defects while making it easier for workers to receive instructions and report activities. And, to respond faster to change, adversity, or whatever else that you would prefer to learn about sooner vs. later.

Manufacturers need a mobility solution that complements their existing infrastructure, is flexible to the dynamic environment of day-to-day operations, and can also be readily managed without extensive IT involvement. Given the pervasiveness of mobile communications, your mobility strategy needs to be an all or nothing approach. Businesses that don’t embrace mobility whole-heartedly will soon feel the pinch on their bottom line.

A Leadership Example

Alstom Transport is well on their way with a mobility strategy. Having recently deployed a Dassault Systèmes Manufacturing Execution System, they are now experiencing improved real-time visibility to their plant, greater enforcement of their manufacturing standards, reduced costs and even better quality. This is all thanks to a mobility makeover!

Watch a video on the full story here:

Why bother with paper when task schedules, work instructions and up-to-the minute status reports can be updated and shared via touch screens and portable tablets? Alstom Transport employees can login and out of tasks as they move around the plant floor enabling greater, more accurate data collection to feed continuous process improvement initiatives based on the manufacturing intelligence that is gained.

The aim for manufacturers in this day and age is for information to be distributed, acted upon, collected and analyzed in real-time without obstacles or hold ups. An MES system assures roadblocks to the flow of information are kept to a minimum. Imagine driving around a city and only ever hitting green lights! Once such a uniform system is in place, all employees, whatever their role, operate within the same system thereby increasing efficiency and reducing errors.

Real-time production visibility is no longer a pipe dream and is increasingly being realized by manufacturers of all sizes. As long as teams are fully invested and embrace the system across the whole business, the mobility makeover will make for a far leaner and profitable organization. In this case, the “shiny new thing” in manufacturing is mobility solutions and all the most successful businesses are now jumping on the bandwagon.

If you liked this article, then here are others that may be of interest:

• The Factory of Things: How Manufacturers Can Harness Mobile Technology
• Wearable Technology is a Natural Fit in Manufacturing