Connectivity:: 연결성
When dealing with “smart” anything, it’s all about connectivity: you can’t use it if you can’t connect it (or connect to it). The first step is making sure you have the digital capability needed to support a smart factory. Connectivity may be king when it comes to smart factories, but all those elements need to work together. Even within the same plant there are disparate layouts, equipment, and products that must all be coordinated.
Ultimately, connectivity produces the data, which can bring about opportunities, some of which may have always been there and only become clear with digitization.
Scalability:: 확장성
To get the most value from a smart factory transformation, a solution needs to be scalable across locations. This not only increases efficiencies, it also means manufacturers can adjust production and product mixes to respond to volatile market demands. With a smart factory network, a manufacturer has the ability to alter production based on the different demands in different geographies—like those seen in the pandemic when recovery was uneven across the globe.
The challenge is to develop a solution that can actually be scaled. While starting small may seem like the best path when it comes to implementing a smart factory solution, that could eventually limit and even undercut its value. Start too small or too specialized and the effort shifts from the smart factory initiative itself to retrofitting the solution to other facilities. You can then end up with digital “pockets” that never deliver on a smart factory’s larger potential and impact.
Flexibility and resilience:: 유연성 및 탄력성
With markets experiencing unbelievable economic stress, agile supply chains and efficient manufacturing operations are more important than ever. Ongoing disruptions and volatile demand across the world will continue to drive that need for flexibility and resilience for the foreseeable future. The question right now, then, isn’t can you take on a smart factory transformation