What is Digitization in Manufacturing and Why is It Important?
The manufacturing industry is growing fast, and they are quickly shifting towards new technologies to improve each aspect of production processes. This includes data analytics, factory automation, and everything else. It has now become essential for organizations to switch to paperless manufacturing as it helps with monitoring and tracking of shop floor operations with ease.
This is where digitization comes in. Digitization in production and manufacturing is the process of transforming paper-based systems into digital systems using smart tools and technologies. The technologies can be as simple as your daily smartphones or AR incorporated RealWear and other devices. When applied accurately, digitization can improve the product efficiency, worker productivity, and complete accuracy of the assembly line and production.
Continue reading to find out more about digitization and how to use it into your organization’s daily tasks:
Why is Digitization Important in Manufacturing?
Digital manufacturing processes make it possible for organizations to increase their output quality, reduce repairs or modifications for their goods being produced, and increase overall profitability of the organization. If reporting is done manually through paper, then there can be human errors, especially if production processes are never updated on time and their files are left on the manager’s table.
Production line processes are always shifting, there are changes in parts, products, and more. Therefore, your documentation should always be up to date so you can avoid bottlenecks and other disruptions on your assembly line. Procedures printed on paper cannot be updated in real-time and might not display the changes being made which can create problems. Digitizing your data for the tasks and processes can help your business to avoid mistakes that can be costly. While making sure that all the workers are performing their tasks accurately and on time the first time around.
Moreover, digitization is also beneficial in manufacturing as it:
- Provides access to real-time, transparent operational data and analytics
- Simplifies tracking and monitoring of each task
- Makes processes reliable
- Increases the output as the human-machine interaction speeds up the production
- Reduces errors on the shop floor
- Minimized product wastage
- Improves the worker safety and decreases workplace injuries and accidents
- Optimizes planning so overproduction of goods can be avoided
- Minimizes the chance of product returns, machine idle times, and more
How Do You Digitize Manufacturing Processes?
The main goals of digitization are to enhance the operational real-time visibility and help the workers to perform their tasks accurately and efficiently. You must digitize your production tasks if you want to achieve all these goals.
To identify areas that can be automated and simplified, you first need to look at your current paper-based reporting procedures. If you have paper-based data entries and tasks then they can create an opportunity for product flaws, problems with legal compliance and mistakes in the production line.
Therefore, think of digitizing your everyday tasks like standard operating procedures (SOPs), work instructions, and other traditional documentations. This can easily be done by using software such as Dropslab Sense to digitize your tasks in the production process.
Digitization and digitalization both works simultaneously and is simply a strategy to use technology to automate tasks and transform paper-based processes into digital processes. There are few smart devices like IoT sensors which give enhanced data that helps with management when the data is being recorded in real-time through digitized procedures.
A few of these technologies can include applying:
- Industrial Internet of things sensors to assess and keep an eye on production processes
- Sensors for machine health monitoring to evaluate machine performance
- Using artificial intelligence and machine learning to increase worker productivity
We suggest setting up a centralized cloud-based platform for all your devices and building dashboards tailored to your organization’s objectives. If you apply such an integrated solution, then it can provide higher worker and tools visibility.
Finally, if you want to have long-term profit through digitizing then you can do that by involving your managers and leadership at an early stage when implementing this system. Digitization allows every individual of the organization to be on board with the current situation of the production line. All the heads of the company, the shop floor workers, and other staff can get real-time information about the product being produced and the production line. All workers and staff members must agree on what must be digitized and the most effective way to achieve it.
How Dropslab Can Help Optimize Your Digital Procedures
Day by day organizations are becoming digitized and connected and are achieving good outcomes. It is no surprise that organizations are shifting to digital solutions to help their workers to complete tasks with higher levels of safety, productivity, and quality.
That is where Dropslab Technologies can help you. We offer our own Dropslab Sense software which helps your organization to optimize and digitize your tasks for better management and efficiency.
Our cloud-based software can help you with:
- Shifting from paper-based to digital work instructions
- Scheduling, assigning, and monitoring your projects
- Simplifying complicated tasks
- Automating task management and training for workers
- Enabling worker cooperation and information exchange
- Getting up-to-date information on worker performance
Learn more about how Dropslab Sense can help with digitizing your workflow. Book a demo with us and digitize your organization today!
