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As the lifeblood of intelligent manufacturing and smart logistics management, Big Data must be appropriately harnessed to yield the desired added value. Data analytics has become an indispensable tool for optimizing and automating manufacturing processes and logistics (supply chain management).

The new black gold: that’s the moniker ascribed to big data based on the vast potential and benefits it brings to an enterprise. And big data is also the lifeblood of intelligent manufacturing, logistics and Smart Industry. Data-driven solutions are expanding in enterprises and are crucial for digital transformation initiatives and automation using Industry 4.0 principles and technologies. However, to extract maximum value from big data, enterprises need to focus on four crucial areas.

Industry 4.0 technologies influence logistics in important ways. The digitization of the supply chain and automation of logistics processes – through technologies such as the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), smart sensors, Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI), along with other new technologies – has paved the way to innovative, interconnected and smart logistics. Logistics 4.0 encapsulates also intralogistics and manufacturing logistics processes.

As the manufacturing and logistics sectors undergo major transformation, digital twins, artificial intelligence, the industrial Internet of Things, and warehouse robotization rank among the leading Smart Industry trends for 2019 and the coming years.

The digital transformation of enterprises and digitalisation of manufacturing processes are fast becoming the norm and necessity not only for expansion purposes but also for long-term sustainability, regardless of size or nature of enterprise. The ever-changing environment of the logistics’ industry continuously throws up new demands for quality, flexibility, and types of the services provided by logistic companies. Moreover, the incessant pressures caused by enterprises’ operational costs force them to re-evaluate their business models and revise both the ongoing processes and operations to ensure the continuity and reliability of the supply chain.

You do not need massive investments to set out on a journey to a smart factory. You can do it step by step. It is important to start digitising and set basic principles, even if to a small extent. This sums up the main idea of the 6th annual international conference PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT 2016. ANASOFT was centre stage again. It engaged the senior production managers taking part at this prestigious event in a survey on digitisation of manufacturing companies.

In accordance with the principles of sustainable development, people are increasingly concerned with the elimination of paper. This way of thinking is close also to us, in ANASOFT. Through our SMART solutions we have brought the paperless reality in many sectors where we have successfully replaced standard paper processes. We have selected a few tips for paperless processes in production with our Manufacturing Execution Systems EMANS.

The issue of excess stock is not unique and many manufacturers face the problem of piling up components, raw materials or their spare parts. In some manufacturing halls, buffer storerooms and annexes take up more than a half of the entire area. As a result, manufacturing sites surrounded by palettes remind one of a battlefield rather than a pleasant and ergonomic working environment. Introducing the WMS - Warehouse Management System can be the right solution.

The automotive industry recorded growth in 2015. However, rapid growth in production may also have an undesirable effect on the business environment. Suppliers more frequently point out the growing turnover rate of employees. This situation has a significant impact on the costs of the companies, but the labor shortage also complicates the flexibility of their reaction to the increased demand of automotive factories in particular.

As the results of the PwC survey have shown, almost half of the manufacturing companies worry about the permanent pressure of automobile producers on improving productivity. The dearth of skilled labor along with turnover rates have a huge impact on company costs. Using the EMANS manufacturing information software can be the solution.

Quality is one of the fundamental requirements for manufacturing; this refers to the quality of input components, the quality of the assembly technology itself and the quality of the final product. Each defective product means additional costs for repair or for the manufacturing of a new piece. But if the defect is not identified until it reaches the customer, the negative impacts are much greater and frequently not only of a financial nature.

The topic of the fourth industrial revolution is on the agenda more and more often. It appears almost every day in the media, but industrial companies are addressing it too. Some of them already show the introduction of autonomous self-regulation of production lines, which is possible due to the fact that the individual production machines communicate with each other.