It is reported that technology will endow enterprises with innovation, and the main trends that companies need to master if they want to succeed in the coming year are:
Four major trends in the manufacturing industry in 2018
1. Flexibility
The key factor for the growth of manufacturing industry in 2018 and beyond is whether the enterprise is flexible enough to handle a large number of predictable and unpredictable changes. A flexible enterprise will be able to get rid of potential problems that may lead to such political or legislative changes, such as the need to adjust internal processes or to hire people with different professional fields.
The bigger challenge comes from unpredictable changes at any time. Manufacturers who are prepared for the change will be able to seize opportunities, mitigate threats, and control significant changes such as the Global Data ProtecTIon RegulaTIons (GDPR) regulations.
For many manufacturers, the main obstacle to flexibility is having to rely on the outdated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Highly integrated ERP systems enable manufacturers to respond quickly to the last minute order changes and improve resource management to control spending and reduce waste. And having a flexible IT solution will become the engine of forward-looking enterprise growth.
Two, industry 4 is more mature
The development of industrial 4 in 2017 has been a widely discussed topic. Industry 4 combines artificial intelligence (AI) and data science to realize the potential of IoT. But only a large amount of data is not enough. Manufacturers need to use these data in the coming year to get insights that can assist decision-making and promote better business results.
As more and more smart devices are integrated into enterprises in 2018, industry 4 will continue to dominate the manufacturing industry, providing valuable benefits, including mechanical predictive maintenance and increased automation, to assist manufacturers in optimizing operations. Sensors are being used to identify inventory levels and automatically replenish them based on historical records. This innovation reduces production downtime and ensures optimized delivery schedule.
Three. The customer experience is the king’s way
With the increasing amount of data created, the opportunity to enhance customer experience has been greatly improved. Because of the increasingly fierce competition in the business environment, this field is more important than ever. The success of enterprises in 2018 will be summed up as how to stand out among many companies and focus on customer experience will be the key. This means that B2B business practices need to start to be more like B2C companies and more customer experience.
For manufacturers dealing with complex supply chains, a powerful and modern ERP system is now widely regarded as a key role in improving customer experience. The IDC report of the research and Development Institute pointed out that 85% manufacturers with more than 5000 employees regarded ERP as an important platform for providing positive customer experience.
Four, AI driven services
It is the role of AI to improve the customer experience. AI will have a profound impact on the ERP system in many ways in 2018. For example, the AI driven ERP is being used to create a dynamic workflow to understand the interaction between the enterprise and its employees and the software, and then propose different optimizations for individual users.
AI allows businesses to provide permanent online customer service without time zone or holiday restrictions, and can expand rapidly and achieve unparalleled personalization throughout the journey of the customer. In addition, the predictive analytical AI can be used to produce more insight into the large amount of data collected by specific business outcomes and manufacturers.
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