How Small Manufacturers Can Leverage Smart Manufacturing

Andrew Waycott for Industry Week: I see three ways in which smaller manufacturers can leverage Smart Manufacturing.  The first is the way applicable to all manufacturers—using today’s affordable sensors to get better data, then using that data to fine-tune the process, decrease variability and remove bottlenecks. All of these bring costs down and drive quality up.

Now let’s talk about the other two ways—ways that are specific to the smaller manufacturer.

Smaller manufacturers have the edge in building volumes of one—in other words, customized orders. For many smaller manufacturers, the look is less assembly line and more set of work stations. This means that the operator in a smaller plant typically makes more decisions. It’s a more people-oriented process.  Cont'd...

Featured Product

MRPeasy - ERP for Small Manufacturers That Delivers Results

MRPeasy - ERP for Small Manufacturers That Delivers Results

Always know what you have in stock and what you'll need to fulfill orders. Never forget to order parts on time or fail to notice a late delivery from your vendor. Easily create manufacturing orders and schedule them automatically according to resource availability or delivery deadline. Generate accurate cost and lead time estimates and provide customers with quick quotes. Receive notifications when orders are late or inventory levels reach a critical point. Ensure seamless communication between sales, production, warehousing, procurement, administration, and finance. Integrate with popular accounting, CRM, and e-commerce apps. MRPeasy is an ERP software for small manufacturers that gives you all that and more. Our users report a 54% average improvement in the overall performance of their business and a 42% increase in on-time deliveries. Try for free, no credit card needed.