Creating smart factories through digital transformation — with Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft Business Applications

We tend to mark previous manufacturing transformations by the energy source that empowered them — from water and steam, then coal, and then modern electricity. This era’s ongoing transformation in manufacturing, however, is being defined by data. Manufacturers that place data at the heart of their strategies going forward will fundamentally thrive rather than just survive.

As a result, technology is becoming just as vital as production machinery in the industry. Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, AI, 5G, automation, and mixed-reality devices help to create smart factories that operate more efficiently today and are better prepared for the future. Predictive maintenance solutions can use operational data or even AI-enabled sound analysis to warn when a critical piece of production equipment is likely to fail or needs repairs to avoid a costly breakdown. Data and analytics can help to better balance product mix or production rates with market demand.

At Accenture, we’re leveraging Microsoft Business Applications and expertise from our team and Avanade to help manufacturing companies move to the forefront of the industry’s digital transformation. Our Industry X service, for Microsoft solutions, jointly delivered by Accenture and Avanade, is focused on pushing this transformation through smart connected products and computer services, as well as leading-edge capabilities such as digital twins.

Sparking excitement at Hannover Messe 2022

This year’s Hannover Messe was full of incredible technology exhibitions that are paving the way for manufacturers to thrive through disruption and implement greener solutions. And Microsoft technology stood out. From industry clouds, including the Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing and Sustainability, it’s clear that Microsoft and their partner ecosystem are empowering manufacturing clients with the best outcome-driven solutions and capabilities to accelerate value, operationalize resiliency and reduce their carbon footprint.

During Accenture’s and Cognite’s partnership demo, we shared how the Microsoft Sustainability Manager equips manufacturers with a single dashboard view that integrates emissions and reference data from several manufacturing systems to measure, understand, and track carbon emissions. As we look towards the future of manufacturing, it’s energizing to see the role technology is playing. And Hannover Messe 2022 captured this excitement and more.

Enabling more competitive and sustainable manufacturing

The manufacturing sector, as with other industries, weathered much in recent years. The global pandemic, political decisions affecting trade, and even war all have had a significant impact. Along with labour shortages and global supply chain upheaval, these challenges have made many companies rethink how they move raw materials, produce, and deliver their products. Simultaneously, investors, regulators, and even customers are making manufacturers focus on their environmental impacts and launch efforts to become more sustainable in their activities. Accenture also is moving toward sustainability and helping our clients do the same.

Such efforts, of course, start with data. IoT sensors and connected solutions are needed to monitor and track carbon emissions to establish baseline levels and subsequent progress toward becoming more carbon neutral. The Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability can help companies kick off on that journey, and Accenture can assist with that as well.

Sustainability strategies that improve operational efficiency and reduce the use of resources such as energy and water have the side benefit of often reducing manufacturing costs as well, improving a manufacturer’s competitive position. But extending digital transformation beyond sustainability also can reduce costs or logistical challenges. Deploying the right technology and advanced analytical capabilities for specific factories or manufacturing use cases can increase production flexibility and bring long-term value to an operation. This is especially true when looking at how technology can transform a factory as a whole, rather than a piecemeal, machine-specific approach.

Manufacturing companies can test how a holistic transformation and adoption of new applications will change operations and also experiment with specific adjustments to a factory operation via digital twins, which replicate a physical space or process in detail. Microsoft Azure Digital Twins already is serving this purpose for manufacturers and other companies around the globe.

Advantages of Microsoft Business Applications

Azure Digital Twins is just one of the capabilities by deploying Microsoft technology, which offers a truly open platform that enables a long list of other solutions and technologies. A core Microsoft pillar designed to deliver for manufacturers is Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations. This solution can manage production, optimize operations, track inventory, and help to perform other business-critical tasks.

Additionally, the new Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing is designed to deliver services that support the core processes and requirements of the industry. This cloud solution enables capabilities ranging from supply chain visibility to edge services for securely connecting factory devices or deploying core production. With those options, manufacturers can build more agile factories, engage customers in new ways, or create new services that were previously out of their reach.

Beyond its offerings through Azure, Dynamics 365, and the Cloud for Manufacturing, Microsoft devices are helping manufacturers extend their services to customers. For example, Accenture & Avanade are helping Accelleron (fka ABB Turbocharging) take a very innovative approach to leveraging Microsoft technologies to train its specialized engineers around the globe who provide support for its products.

Using Microsoft Dynamics 365, Remote Assist and HoloLens, Accenture and Avanade helped Accelleron provide their engineers with the ability to connect to an expert and collaborate through Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist via the headset.

Combining cloud and AI services, Microsoft HoloLens 2 enables engineers and operators to access company-specific guides that use photos, videos, holograms, and virtual connections to provide personalized and more interactive training. When additional field support is needed, an engineer can connect to an expert and collaborate through Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist via the headset.

Learn more about our manufacturing focus

With our knowledge of the wide range of innovative technology offered by Microsoft, we’re helping other companies in manufacturing find similar innovative solutions to their challenges. Learn more about how our expertise at Accenture can help you, and how you can benefit from the combination of skill sets and technology that Avanade, Accenture, and Microsoft can jointly deliver to help create factories that harness the full power of data, analytics, and digital transformation.

If this article and the industry trends I discuss resonate with you and align with some of the opportunities and challenges that your company is currently working through, then we would really like to hear from you. For more details on how we’re helping the manufacturing industry in partnership with Avanade and Microsoft, reach out to me directly on LinkedIn or visit the site for Business Applications at Accenture.