6 keys to digital agility in the manufacturing industry

6 Keys to Digital Agility in the Manufacturing industry

Digital agility brings key aspects and aiding factors to industries adopting and using it. However, the digital agility has made its way at a quick pace after the pandemic COVID-19 hit the globe.

But what is digital agility?

Agility in simple terms refers to the ease and speed of moving quickly, however, the business context describes digital agility as the asset that increases the ability of businesses and its components to change according to the market. This allows the business to respond rapidly in adopting new trends and different market measures and demands to maintain stability. Similarly, the manufacturing industry is getting digital agility as an asset to help run the business smoothly, especially during the COVID-19.

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Digital Agility in the Manufacturing Industry

What happens when manufacturers are able to adapt to rapid changes at a quick pace?

The ability to change according to market needs, demands and customer expectations makes the business flexible, intelligent, preferred, and efficient.

When the pandemic occurred across the globe the adoption of technology along with digital transformation was running at a normal pace with some still being traditional in their business operations. But, after the COVID-19 and its consequences faced by the healthcare sector, the economy of different countries, and the manufacturing industry, the adoption of digital technology and platforms happened overnight.

COVID-19 made people follow social distancing measures to be safe, and with social distancing came a few hands of labor in the industry. During the time of lockdown in different countries, it came a time when almost all the services except the essential ones were at a halt.

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With different industries facing a halt in their services the next thing they faced was business disruption and a need for changing their business plans and strategies quickly. The consumers were being picky and took only essentials irrespective of what brand they used to prefer and what price they are paying for a simple milk carton. There was a complete month or more when consumers didn’t shop for apparel, footwear, electronics, stationery, or anything that didn’t come in the category of essentials.

This made a huge change in consumer buying behavior and demanded a fast adoption of the change in the business strategies which were already facing zero cash flow.

All these issues and circumstances lead the manufacturing industry to adopt digital agility and technology that they must have kept for future adoption events.

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With technology came Digital agility

The technology adopted at a fast rate includes the applications of Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Robotics, the Internet of Things, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, and a lot more.

With technology adoption in the manufacturing industry, the next came the requirement of digital agility which came forward itself with automation, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation.

How are we achieving digital agility with these technologies includes:

The cost reduction they provide

The more time that they offer by being efficient and quick in operations

By analyzing data at a fast pace and removing errors

By alarming the manufacturers whenever something unusual or an error occurs

By improving productivity

And, lastly by increasing revenue

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All these things come as handy and all these things constitute a better and quality based manufacturer or any other industry. When technology gives you such proficient abilities, it also brings a question of when and where it can be of most importance, which is absolutely worthy in the wake of a pandemic such as COVID-19.

Digital agility allows manufacturers to quickly pivot and change as per the requirements of the market and their customers. Not just this, it even helps in balancing out the business disruption issues faced by the industry during the COVID-19 outbreak in its initial phase.

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How to achieve digital agility and where to achieve

When automation makes half the things easy, it even makes quality easy access. However, there are certain areas which can help in boosting the impact and help of digital agility when acquired in the following areas:

Tracking and Resolving an automated issue

Reviewing the quality of data

Using smart web forms

Reducing redundancy by automated checks

Organizing data for continuous improvement

Storing customer reviews and feedback

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Tracking and Resolving an automated issue

The automation tasks and processes shall be distributed and allocated to the teams or workers who are a skilled team of experts in the required niche or field. Assigning the automation tasks to different workers some time requires a tracking and checking method that conforms to the measures needed and checks that the right work is allotted to the right person.

This helps in avoiding the issue of mismanagement and also takes up less time to come up with the right solution and carries out the business operations smoothly without any delay. An automated process shall trigger, track, and manage teams to help them coordinate the work and complete the required activities and tasks. It also shall help in resolving the issues and present the problems on the table for everyone to see and provide a solution without delaying any further in getting the right solution.

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Reviewing the quality of data

The main focus of business operations lies in having error-free and clean data that can be analyzed and reviewed to procure better solutions. Having clean data is the prime requirement for improving downstream operations.

Moreover, the utilization of automation to track and check the data on a regular basis keeps the business operations smooth and in-trend along with making the workers and manufacturers proactive. This helps in acting immediately on the sought inconsistent or faulty data to gain smooth transition, efficiency, and effectiveness.

When data analysis is practiced properly the business operations can be improved and enhanced in a proactive way by using the predictive analysis and gaining information based on the upcoming risks/issues or getting information on how well the manufacturing plans and strategies are working out.

Having clean data helps in gaining a constant and unvarying path to digital agility.

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Reducing redundancy by automated checks

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An already running automated process requires tracking and a checking process to resolve issues that might have been overlooked or that can cause issues in the future. It is an essential process as the tracking system helps in finding errors, completing a redundant and tedious manual review of data during a process, that is often found with high rates of human error.

Moreso, a small error that might seem harmless in the current phase can ruin the complete process or operation in the long run. If this is avoided at an early stage then getting tangled in the web of higher risks is avoided along with a clean track and way to move the manufacturing operations ahead.

Also, utilizing the automation helps in seeking errors to enhance the data quality downstream which offers an improvement in the efficiency of the processes that later rely on that clean data.

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Organizing data for continuous improvement

Be it a manufacturing process or any business process, it simply consists of a number of different stages and phases that are tracked, sought, managed, and resolved. One mistake found in one process can lead up to a delay of work in the following phases.

When the gathering of data starts in the smart webs and are stored in the database that is accessible in nature, it makes it easy to look for trends and upcoming changes that can help in the improvement of the whole process in certain areas.

This process helps in assuring the proper carrying out of management and also looks out for the efforts that are to be or should be put in enhancing the business operations, facing the challenges, and resolving the issues.

Any business works on an ascending scale only when it widens its opportunities for growth and improvement. Technology applications and adopting digital transformation always help in making sure that the new trends are being followed asserting the growth in business and building better customer relations with each passing trend.

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Storing Customer Reviews and feedbacks Anything that always helps a business stay put in its space of being a successful brand or quality provider has everything to do with customer’s feedback and reviews.

The adoption of technology has made it easy for both, the businesses and the customers to help provide feedback on digital media or through chatbots/bots that are always available to resolve customer issues.

Businesses and especially manufacturers are adopting every such plan or strategy that helps in improving their relationship with their customers. Any kind of feedback or reviews provided by customers, clients, or vendors is crucial for businesses as they help in gaining insights into the market value of their own product/service. This definitely helps in overcoming the hole in the market and moving a step closer towards growth and success.

Storing the customer’s feedback and reviews in the database helps in making it accessible for automated and ongoing analysis. The automated workflow helps in analyzing and distributing this feedbacks in making the data useful and actionable reaching the target people at a fast pace and satisfying the customers in providing exactly what they need.

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