The future of manufacturing is Cognitive.
Cognitive Manufacturing is the intersection of 9 technologies that drive bottom line improvements for yield, throughput and quality of your manufacturing operations .
Over the next few weeks, I will be releasing findings from my upcoming IBM Institute for Business Value study on Cognitive Manufacturing #CogMfg — and the 9 technologies that are driving value for early adopters. This is the first of those updates.
As we face the #CogMfg era, cyber-physical systems are harnessing digitized data combined highly advanced technologies to bolster the bottom line — where a few percentage points difference translates to meaningful value.
Cognitive Manufacturing leverages the untapped value of collected manufacturing and enterprise data but it starts with collaboration, digitization, and mobilization. This lovely little trio is mission critical to success.
Collaboration is the starting point but not in the “nice to know you fashion.” Your employees already collaborate, I know, I know. However, if it’s done via phone or even video, most of that value is irretrievable to you. It sits with those very talented employees to be sure, but it is not connected and transparent. So, it’s not simply important that those people be connected, it’s actually more important that those resources are driven to be digitally connected. The concept around resolution and collaboration rooms allows significant digitized data to be created which can in fact contribute to a more permanent repository.
This digitized data can be examined, compared, contrasted and most importantly used and reused in decision processes.
Mobilization allows people to interact anywhere, largely untethered and with more information at their fingertips
You then use the digitized assets, plus lots of other data you collect or access to create a transparent, comprehensive, interactive, minable corpus of information. This makes visible new patterns in the data and allows you to continuously monitor, predict, respond and interact with humans and machines to drive optimized performance. And that’s where #CogMfg begins to deliver significant value (killer slide of project ROI in next post, I promise)
But first things first — how did we get here? Six forces set the stage for the transformation to Cognitive Manufacturing. The scale of these changes is unprecedented. It’s defined by a trillion-fold increase in computing power, zetabytes of data, billions of sensors and a brand new set of world economics.
While I reference China in the first two bullet points, they are just one albeit very sizable example. We see aging populations in Europe and across the Pacific Rim. And detailed intelligence from the Conference Board speaks to increases dramatic increases in wages in developing nations that have been our traditional production hubs.
BY MAKING things and selling them to foreigners, China has transformed itself … In 1990 it produced less than 3% of global manufacturing output by value; its share now is nearly a quarter…about 80% of the world’s air-conditioners, 70% of its mobile phones and 60% of its shoes.
— the economist
Small, incrementalized changes will not be able to deliver significant performance gains. Like the revolutions before it, Cognitive Manufacturing innovators will undertake strategically smart investments to deliver rapid, radical change to their supply chains, plant floors, operations and systems of control. In my next post, in addition to the killer ROI slide, I’ll begin to share data on
- the 9 technologies driving Cognitive Manufacturing #CogMfg
- What technologies are showing the most value (and ROI)
- Where high performing actors are placing their dollars moving forward
- specific digitization examples that prove the success point
- Meaningful regional differences
- Why low volume/high mix is attainable and desirable
- How you get started to make the most of the rapidly approaching future.
Fortune favors the bold, but first, it favors the informed.
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Your opinions and comments are welcome. This is my first Medium post and I will take your guidance.
-c- @hermione1
