To Succeed at Digital Transformation, Start with What You Have

April 25, 2023

Manufacturing companies are undergoing a digital renaissance. They’ve connected operational technology with sensors and are using a wide array of digital technologies to enable “explosive growth,” according to Prophecy Market Insights.

In a synopsis for its new research report, Transforming the Future of Manufacturing, the analyst firm says that “cloud-based digital manufacturing tools are used to connect and simplify processes across the production cycle to create digital threads that aid in the integration of manufacturing operations to improve and streamline design, servicing, production and others.”

Prophecy Market Insights predicts that the digital manufacturing market will nearly quadruple from 2022-2032, growing from $436.8B to $1.91T.

Interestingly, the report synopsis doesn’t specifically mention transformation’s most vital component – a connected workforce, which will use new tools and evolve processes. And due to the fast pace of change, employees will need to constantly skill and reskill to keep pace with new technology capabilities.

Manufacturing isn’t an industry suited for PowerPoint desk training or lunch and learns. Instead, workers need to gain hands-on experience with equipment: learning how to operate machinery, identify and address production warning signs, and maintain systems to optimize overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and uptime. They’ll also need to evolve production processes as manufacturers increasingly connect IT and operational technology, using big-data analytics to enable automation across functions, sites, and networks, a trend the analyst firm highlights.

The QAD Redzone Connected Workforce Solution is built for Industry 4.0, an era of dynamic, sweeping change. Workforces can sometimes resist change that they feel is pushed on them and doesn’t match production realities. So, QAD Redzone enlists frontline workers as drivers of change to improve productivity, reliability, and compliance processes.

With QAD Redzone, workers:

Create most of the new ideas: Employees can propose changes at any time, in daily huddles or using the solution app on their smartphones to communicate ideas to team members and supervisors.
Leverage data in new ways: Frontline teams gain access to production data that was previously only the province of supervisors or quality teams. Operators can see real-time data on production conditions on overhead TVs and tablets placed by machinery, enabling them to act quickly if a problem develops.
Blend roles: During the deployment of the QAD Redzone Reliability module, clients and QAD Redzone coaches select “doctors,” operators who will diagnose issues and extend maintenance’s reach. The “doctors” review data and equipment, provide options to troubleshoot problems, and work cooperatively with maintenance to resolve them.
Win as a team: Workers propose ideas not just to make production lines more efficient, but also to solve issues that are frustrating their teammates. Often an issue that’s identified by one shift, will have a root cause analysis done by the second, and be fixed by the third. Simple issues can obviously be solved even faster.
Get celebrated for their successes: QAD Redzone helps create a culture of celebration. Supervisors can applaud workers at any time, using the solution to offer digital high-fives and good catches that others see. In addition, leaders and supervisors can use town halls and daily huddles to acknowledge and celebrate production gains. With this approach, workers learn to enjoy initiating change and winning as a team.
Take charge of learning: With the QAD Redzone Learning module, workers own their own development. They can use digital skill matrices to progress their own development, by mastering new skills aligned to their jobs. And they can learn on the job by developing and reviewing plays, video how-to tips, and guides created by workers for each other.

You Can Transform Your Company’s OEE and Productivity in 90 Days

To succeed at digital transformation, it’s often best to start with what you have: your current equipment and your workers. By connecting devices, empowering everyone to use data and create insights, and improving processes, your company can make sizeable gains, starting today.

In our recent benchmark productivity study, manufacturers that deployed QAD Redzone improved OEE by an average of 14% and productivity by 29% in just 90 days, no matter where they started. In fact, manufacturers with broken processes, such as substandard OEE, achieve the most dramatic gains of all

Learn more about how QAD Redzone can help you win by improving productivity, reliability, compliance, and learning this year. Download the QAD Redzone 2023 Productivity Benchmark Report.