Processing, February 2018

FEBRUARY 2018 www processingmagazine com 37 enormous shifts will take place 10 or 20 years down the road As manufacturers look toward the future they must address the nature of these factories Within the factories manufacturers face the burden of ensuring individual technologies are upto date and used effectively Transformative technologies can pave the way for new methods of increasing profitability nontraditional operational models and new business offerings including performance as aservice sales With 32 percent of study respondents identifying operational efficiency as their biggest driver toward M40 effective use of new technologies is paramount Naturally with the power of technology comes the threat of cyberattacks Customers agree the increase in connected devices presents a greater risk of information exposure and therefore investments in cybersecurity measures are absolutely necessary Manufacturing companies looking to protect their information face threats from attackers who understand how to remain invisible Breaches may go unnoticed for days weeks or even months at a time If an organization wants to avoid being the next victim of a breach it must take cybersecurity seriously Critical issue Operations Organizationally manufacturers cannot expect new technology to have no effect on their daily operations As processes become more automated the door opens for human workers to take on more fulfilling positions that require more creativity and ingenuity As a result organizations on the road to achieving M40 are finding their employees are showing more innovation and creative inclination than ever Now manufacturers must manage internal processes that are rapid continuous collaborative and oftentimes disruptive in order to drive growth new products and services operational efficiencies and competition Gone is the expectation of simple sitefunctional operational excellence instead we see enterprise scale excellence achieved through new best practices With this shift comes a different breed of employees those who strive to be just as collaborative innovative and disruptive as the technology they work with As young new professionals enter the workforce manufacturers must be prepared to work with this new breed to achieve M40 Perhaps most importantly an organization cannot survive much less thrive if the leadership does not or cannot handle transformative technology and innovative employees Modern leaders in the manufacturing industry must understand the new collaborative nature of the M40 trend By embracing progress toward M40 they can transform the culture of their organization Investing in transformation To truly transform leadership must first understand the best practices for achieving M40 Each practice stems from a separate concern be it technology operational or cultural so companies should understand how each solution integrates with others From there executives can determine how to tackle the challenges facing their organization Some practices respond to the critical issues pertaining to technology Perhaps an organization has a high risk of cyberattacks because its IT investments have become points of vulnerability Or there might be a need for technology updates because the company is using long outdated systems It may even be necessary to face the challenge of perceiving IT as a cost center Best practices in cases of technology often revolve around using IT as it is meant to be used in todays fastpaced workforce The organization struggling with technology evolution might need to streamline its point solutions into one value chain which drives enterprise wide modernization initiatives The company with cost concerns however should shift its viewpoint to understand IT as a digital fabric with the power to streamline operational and system processes which can cut long term costs Finally by using modernized IT infrastructures the organization can ensure it is more strongly protected from cyber threats On the opposite end then are the challenges related to internal operations Some companies are challenged by lack of support from executives while others struggle with too much focus on site functional excellence or successes only in one location over enterprise functional excellence successes across the entire organization Best practices recommend ALL TIGERFLEX AND KURI TEC FOOD GRADE HOSES ARE NOW PHTHALATE FREE All Tigerflex and Kuri Tec food grade hoses are now manufactured from all phthalate free materials We have responded to the food processing and pharmaceutical industries to use products that do not contain phthalates Our food grade hoses have always met various FDA NSF USDA and 3A standards but with the added benefit of now being phthalate free www kuriyama com Gone is the expectation of simple site functional operational excellence instead we see enterprise scale excellence achieved through new best practices chombosan iStock