With the rise of digital transformation and, consequently, data-driven manufacturing, data visualization, ownership, and transparency are needed at all levels of the organization. Often, what exactly happens on the shop floors is unknown to the senior management, creating an information “black hole” that prevents them from making informed decisions based on manufacturing analytics. While there have been efforts to increase transparency and turn it into value for decades, it’s now becoming a necessity to compete in the market and increase profitability.

In this blog post, we explore the importance of data transparency in data-driven manufacturing and its impact on operational performance.

Why transparency in data-driven manufacturing matters and how it impacts operational performance

One of the major challenges to information transparency in a manufacturing organization has historically been a lack of integration. While data was being collected manually or through software in different areas of the company, there was no place to see a holistic overview and support data-driven manufacturing.

The ability to integrate real-time data into business decisions is now becoming increasingly accessible for all manufacturing firms as Industry 4.0 technologies such as IoT become more economical. Metrics from various sources can be combined into actionable dashboards. When it comes to trying these emerging technologies, however, what made some companies hesitant was the capital investment required for digital transformations. While complete digitization for a company might be expensive, many companies already have many processes digitized and would prefer not to shift to completely new systems just for integrating data sources.

But the good news is that a new tech stack isn’t required to bring data transparency into your manufacturing organization. Several modern Industry 4.0 solutions, including EviView’s e-ConnX, can integrate into your existing tech stack and leverage data-driven manufacturing.

Data transparency can now provide visible results by improving operational performance. Getting information from the factory floor, including the quality of production batches and downtime data, is especially valuable for process manufacturers, who also have to prioritize multiple regulatory compliances and optimize performance. Information transparency in data-driven manufacturing will also enable your organization to become more agile by being proactive rather than reactively managing operations. You can evaluate costs, analyze process productivity, and identify areas of opportunity specific to the plant. Along with this, manufacturing analytics will enable you to monitor any changes in real time, anticipate their effects, and allocate resources accordingly to minimize negative impacts.

How manufacturers can achieve transparency in data-driven manufacturing

1. Identify information gaps and align data collection with your KPIs

Digital transformation strategies to add data transparency to data-driven manufacturing should align with your overall business strategy. With data transparency, you can expect to see aggregate metrics from various sources and contextualize them with your KPIs (key performance indicators). The selection of the KPIs should include all relevant stakeholders, especially the front-line employees and their managers, as their involvement is needed for any successful transformation.

2. Pick your data collection and analytics solutions

The next step after figuring out which metrics you want to track is choosing the right industrial IoT solutions to help you measure and analyze them. It may be hard to find a custom solution to do it all that is not cost-prohibitive. This is where tools that integrate within your existing tech stack and connect with other standard industry applications come in. Check whether you can automate data collection from machines and processes to the degree that your KPIs require. You should then be able to view all the metrics across the organization, from different business areas and plant sites, within a dashboard. 

3. Leverage analytics to create value 

Having all the data in one place should now enable you to make data-driven manufacturing decisions that improve production efficiency. Process improvement will be possible as results can be objectively measured and the effectiveness of new innovations tested. Cause and effect will be easier to evaluate, so you can better allocate your resources, optimize maintenance, and improve production quality. You can expect to see your organization’s performance improve over time as you continue to fine-tune your operations based on data.

Stay ahead of the game with transparency in manufacturing analytics data

Data transparency empowers your organization to understand operational performance better and discover opportunities for continuous improvement. Partnering with the right providers that share your vision for growth can help you accelerate your growth. EviView’s digital transformation solutions have been built with the aim of shifting knowledge upwards. Our e-ConnX app can give you greater visibility into process performance to track the production process from start to finish. Purpose-built for the bio, pharma, and chemical industries, our manufacturing analytics data solutions have the expertise of decades of R&D behind them.

Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help you achieve the benefits of data transparency in data-driven manufacturing.