January 28, 2022 By: Sunil Kumar
Manufacturers are increasingly adopting AI and ML to forecast equipment failure and maintenance requirements and deploying IoT to connect machines and improve visibility. Manufacturers are looking at achieving a high level of automation in improving material handling, data accuracy and addressing the lack of connectedness in processes. Smart manufacturing has become a requirement for strategic initiatives to reduce waste and guarantee efficiency.
Gartner forecasts that 30% of product-centric enterprises such as manufacturing companies will have a platform approach with cloud-based ERP capabilities by 2025.
How Digital Transformation Enables the ‘Smart Factory’ in Manufacturing?
IncreRPing competition, disrupted supply chains, changing expectations with digital-savvy customers, and the demand for agility to market are only some of the factors that necessitate a complete realignment of business models and new value propositions. The adoption of new-age technologies to enable digital transformation is a given for any industry today. Manufacturing organizations are fast integrating digital technologies into their processes and products to enhance efficiencies and reduce costs. A study by Forrester has indicated that 90% of manufacturing companies believe that digital transformation is critical to their success.
Gartner defines the smart factory as a “concept used to describe the application of different combinations of modern technologies to create a hyperflexible, self-adapting manufacturing capability. Smart factories are an opportunity to create new forms of efficiency and flexibility by connecting different processes, information streams and stakeholders (frontline workers, planners, etc.) in a streamlined fashion”. Viewed as a part of Industry 4.0, smart factories essentially combine physical production processes and operations with the new age technology, cloud computing and big data. With this new ‘revolution’, the manufacturing sector needs to realign its strategies in terms of automation, cloud, and digital, while focusing on people, processes and technologies at the front and center. Modernizing the factories, incorporating cloud-based ERP systems, and automating processes will ensure faster time to market and improved customer satisfaction.
Why Cloud-based ERP Is the Way Forward?
The business environment is changing swiftly, and the ensuing disruptions require manufacturers to be flexible and ready to adapt. Cloud-based ERP solutions digitally transform the business by enhancing productivity and reducing costs. Advanced cloud-based ERP applications leverage AI, ML, augmented reality, blockchain, IoT, digital twin and advanced analytics to drive sustainability and adapt to dynamic technology changes.
Adapting to cloud-based ERP solutions is not without its challenges. The transition from on-premises to cloud-based ERP can be a difficult path for businesses, with a sense of loss of control during the transition. In addition, data security and increasing regulatory compliance are real concerns for manufacturers.
Cloud-based ERP systems have become popular in the manufacturing industry as the solutions are easy to manage and provide real-time access to inventory data with fewer hardware complexities. Here are a few key benefits that the manufacturing sector can expect:
- Minimize Upfront Costs: Cloud-based ERP systems do not require purchasing and maintaining the servers or configuring and maintaining the ERP software. The responsibility of implementing, maintaining, and updating the solution lies with the solution provider.
- Streamline Manufacturing Processes: Cloud-based ERP solutions integrate every aspect of the manufacturing process by locating data centrally in one place. Complete integration of data provides an accurate overview of all the areas of business.
- Speed Up Processes: Cloud ERPs enable the staff to access data from any location and at any time, thus reducing the disruption to business processes.
- Data Protection: Cloud ERPs provide data security with premium protection levels and ensure that data is accessible only to authorized users through authentication mechanisms.
- Improve Supply Chain: Adopting cloud ERP enables centralized control over different supply chain activities, thus bridging the gap between warehouse and production units.
- Faster ROI: QAD Cloud makes it easier to deploy QAD Adaptive ERP and other systems, allowing manufacturers to quickly integrate acquisitions and onboard new manufacturing facilities.
- Lower Risk: The QAD Cloud Service Delivery team proactively maintains key-related certifications, such as ISO 27001, AICPA SOC, and others.
- Dependable, Available and Secure: QAD Cloud is known for dependability and availability, along with enterprise-class security and disaster recovery built-in.
- Best Practices: QAD Cloud data centers are located around the world and are serviced by a dedicated team using ITIL-based best practices.
Why QAD Cloud Solutions for Manufacturing Make Sense?
A cloud-based ERP simplifies enterprise resource planning for users who can access the solution from any internet-connected device from anywhere. By implementing cloud-based ERP software, such as QAD Adaptive ERP, manufacturers can add new users and sites more easily.
QAD Adaptive ERP also enables manufacturers to create new applications and extensions using low-code/no-code environments. QAD Cloud offers a single point of contact and control for implementation, migration, and maintenance services. It includes global support around-the-clock and complete management of applications, platforms, and infrastructure. Expect scalable and flexible configurations to support expansion and peaks. Administrative training is easy to learn and use. The result is a dependable, secure, compliant cloud solution for ERP, supply chain and related solutions. QAD Cloud includes enterprise-class SLAs with full customer visibility. The key capabilities and services of QAD Cloud include*:
- Certifications: ISO 27001, ISO/ IEC 20000-1, ISO 9001, SSAE18, CSA Star Level 2 and Privacy Shield security, and several more.
- Security: Encryption in motion, encryption at rest, 24x7x365 incident response, GDPR, vulnerability scanning, third-party penetration testing, and governance, risk, and compliance.
- Support: 24x7x365, multi-language, follow the sun.
- Business Continuity: QAD Cloud configures and tests a fully replicated disaster recovery environment minimizing the risk of business disruption due to system outage.
- Systems Management: Includes proactive performance optimization, change management for upgrades and patches, ongoing monitoring and tuning and other database administration tasks, SDLC, data retention/destruction, logging, analysis, real-time alerts, event correlation and root cause analysis.
- Engagement Management: The QAD Cloud service delivery team includes a dedicated engagement manager for each customer to ensure adherence to SLAs and processes, address customer concerns, facilitate communications and resolutions. Engagement managers also work with customers on future plans and overall cloud strategy.
- Network Management: Monitoring of network components. Network design is matched to customer-specific requirements.
- Optional Services: QAD Extended Support Services, managed network services, QAD Cloud EDI and third-party application cloud infrastructure services.
To discover how JK Tech can help you with QAD ERP implementation on Cloud, consulting, support and managed services, improve operational efficiency and user experience with QAD ERP-specific enablers, Contact us.
Annexure
*https://www.qad.com/data-sheets/qad-cloud
