In this second of our three-part series leading up to Manufacturing in the Age of Experience, we dive into the concept of Sustainable Innovation and Excellence.

Manufacturers strive for Sustainable Innovation and Excellence: a means to improve operational performance with agile and efficient practices in order to drive their manufacturing strategy while at the same time reducing risk. It is accomplished by leveraging both the virtual and real worlds – combining the power of machines and people – to harness both big data and human know-how for optimal manufacturing outcomes.

Let’s consider a concrete example.  You are getting ready to launch a new product.  One of your key suppliers is affected by a typhoon, making the plant inoperable.  Using traditional methods, this would trigger a crisis. But if you have identified your value network and adopted the right technology, you can much more quickly and easily switch to a new location of that supplier or even a new supplier.

Or say you’re a company that releases a new version of your product on a regular schedule.  You can pull data from your business platform and virtually run ‘what if’ scenarios around operating costs and price erosion then shift your manufacturing strategy and operations to maximize your margins.

In either of these cases – and countless other situations – the results are much more likely to be positive due to a solid foundation of control and established paths for collaboration.  Managing business processes and functions through a digital platform facilitates collaborative problem solving and continuous improvements.  It also provides opportunity to become more Lean – that is, to be less wasteful through the manufacturing process.

Specifically, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers real-time integration with shop floor equipment to monitor performance and capture information, which can help identify issues through root cause analysis. In turn, this information can shape a maintenance plan. Modeling in the 3DEXPERIENCE twin makes continuous improvement and innovation possible for product design, manufacturing processes and customer satisfaction.  A key value of the 3DEXPERIENCE twin is to run tests and scenarios so that when it’s time for production in a given scenario, it can be done right the first time.

Digitalization, big data, optimization, simulation and access to real-time information across the product lifecycle are critical components of Sustainable Innovation and Excellence.   By adopting a mindset of continuous improvement and competitive agility, manufacturers can embrace technology advances (such as Digital Twin, Additive Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence and Industrial Internet of Things) to be Lean, meet market demands and deliver unique experiences for their customers.

Companies that modify how they do business will have the advantage in transforming how they manufacture, use their value network and maintain operating margins.

Thanks to digitalization advances, sustainable innovation and excellence is becoming a reality.

Coming soon: our third post in this series on Value Networks.