The future of productivity gain is Industry 4.NOW

An Industry 4.0 (or as SAP refers to it, Industry 4.NOW) strategy goes beyond the plant floor to connect production with end-to-end process execution across the supply chain. The priorities involved include a focus on customers, reinvented production and company-wide connectivity.  Here is an opportunity to learn how production priorities and customizations can be supported by intelligent assets and processes. With sales, service and logistics synchronized with production, the company acts as a single team. Join Mike Lackey, Global Vice President of Solution Management, Digital Manufacturing at SAP will discuss Industry 4.Now and the future of productivity through leveraging Industry 4.0 digital innovation. Mike will discuss how today’s manufacturing environment is quickly changing.  The focus is no longer on capacity, but on the ability to respond quickly to customer needs and market changes while still controlling costs and   quality.  Until recently, supply chains were mainly measured by efficiency metrics. Today, new trends are emerging that present complex challenges and put supply chain and manufacturing at the center not only of business success but also of a company’s differentiation strategy. Companies in manufacturing industries face numerous challenges. They need to produce smarter quantities while maintaining high quality in volatile markets. Customers demand individualized products down to lot size 1. Lifecycles of products get shorter and shorter. Faster time to market is key for staying competitive. Business models change from selling products to delivering solutions. At the same time, there is intense price and margin pressure, to become more efficient and drive productivity gains while increasing resource utilization.  Beyond labor productivity and asset-efficiency, the next performance leap in factories will be through end-to-end effectiveness of production systems.  Mixed-mode manufacturing is becoming the new norm where you must support both process and discrete manufacturing.  Your production processes must evolve to support the future demand and customer requirements. Finally, Mike will explore the need to optimize manufacturing processes to minimize negative environmental impacts while conserving energy and natural resources and establishing safe working conditions has become a key objective of most companies.

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