By Mark Wells, Sales Director, AVATA

• 99% of manufacturers agree that the 4th industrial revolution will be about getting actionable insights from data
• 96% of manufacturers agree that the 4th industrial revolution will be about connectivity and communication
• 75% of companies say the 4th industrial revolution will fundamentally change customers’ expectations
• 87% of manufacturers say they will have to invest in new technology to meet customer expectations
• 80% of manufacturers say it will be a business reality by 2025

These results are from a recent study, THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A PRIMER FOR MANUFACTURERS, published by Oracle Corporation and EEF.

While the survey responses are from UK manufacturers, the implications hold for US and other manufacturers as well.  As Industry 4.0 (aka the 4th industrial revolution or 4IR) accelerates across the globe, the implications loom enormous and immediate in terms of the rate of change and scope of business impact, particularly for the information systems you will need.

The first industrial revolution was driven by the invention of steam power.  The impact of the second was much larger and facilitated by harnessing electricity.  The third exploded past the second by orders of magnitude leveraging the “miracle” of electronics and information technology.  This consequences of this new, fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, promise to be even more transformational across almost every industry. 

The digital and physical worlds are converging, spawning innovation like never before, allowing and causing the speed of change to accelerate in both consumer requirements and in the creation of new markets, demanding new manufacturing capabilities.

To quote Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, “There has never been a time of greater promise, or one of greater potential peril.”  

So, what will your business need to do to ride this wave instead of being washed away by it?

One of the most important pillars of success will be digital manufacturing.  What does that mean?  Consider the following points:

1. As consumers and markets morph in unexpected ways with unprecedented speed, you will need the ability to support new manufacturing and distribution processes that take you ever closer to a lot size of one with elastic capacity.
2. The functionality of manufacturing systems will need to be infused with real-time business intelligence (BI).  After all, actual business intelligence is neither a department nor a software application.  It must be indistinguishable from business planning and execution.
3. It is no longer enough to know what is happening and why.  You will need to capitalize on artificial intelligence (AI) to recommend the best course of action in the moment and even automate decisions that don’t merit managerial engagement, leveraging robotic process automation.
4. Connections between every process, machine, organization and person, including those in manufacturing, are now ubiquitous so BI and AI need to span the Internet of Everything.

The speed of the digital economy mandates a digital response with equal velocity.  Oracle Manufacturing and Oracle Internet of Things Apps will not only get you started, they will keep you on the crest of the wave through the rapid and continuous release of enhancements that you can seamlessly uptake without a traditional upgrade.

Almost 70% of manufacturers are already investing or considering investment in cloud technology to help power their profitable participation in Industry 4.0 (see Oracle/EFF study cited above). 

As an Oracle Partner, AVATA makes certain that an investment in Oracle Cloud delivers the right solution for businesses.

What are you waiting for?

https://cloud.oracle.com/en_US/scm-cloud