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Mobility in Manufacturing. Enhancing Productivity

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Mobility in Manufacturing

Enhancing Productivity

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Mobinius’s thrust is on developing solutions and services that help companies improve their operations in today's 'e- Manufacturing' paradigm, leveraging the power of the technology to drive improved efficiencies across the value stream of the enterprise.

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THE MOTIVATORS

The last three decades have seen a tremendous increase in global digital connectivity and ubiquity. Sample this: a traditional ‘mobile terminal’ costs thousands of dollars, has proprietary (and expensive) mobile middleware, a non-existent developer eco-system and a limited partner eco-system making it difficult for IT execs to justify RoI.

Advances in enterprise –mobile solutions – such as mobile device management, enterprise mobility middleware, mobile application development tools as well as sophisticated lower cost consumer devices – have significantly reduced the entry barrier to implement enterprise mobile applications. In a survey conducted by Mobinius, business leaders see mobile platforms as important tools to engage employees, customers and partners to help shape products, improve service delivery and spur innovation.

A similar survey by Motorola on the effects of mobile tech on manufacturing productivity found that “manufacturers with mobile applications saved a daily average of 42 minutes per employee,” as reported by CIMx. Furthermore, approximately 70 percent of IT managers in manufacturing were attempting to introduce mobile and wireless applications into day-to-day operations to improve efficiency.

With such evident benefits and enthusiasm amongst businesses it is strange to note that almost 30% of enterprises are still working on a mobile strategy and only 25% have had it for a year or so.

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THE FACTORS AT PLAY

Several factors are converging to enable manufacturers to gain competitive advantage through mobility. Manufacturing companies, of all sizes, are looking to newer markets to boost future growth. Zero-defect manufacturing has become essential to be competitive and cost-effective in the current business economy. Resources are geographically getting dispersed and hence require anytime, anywhere collaborative mechanism. Employees used to the convenience of mobility in personal lives are bringing their own devices and want to use them at work. Mobile devices are fast emerging as the premiere channel for customer engagement. And, organizations are looking for virtualized operating models that enable real-time collaboration round the clock and on the move.

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MOBILITY - CONCERNS & ADVANTAGES

The mobile technology too has greatly evolved in recent times to emerge as the promising solution provider to many of the organizational concerns. Smartphones have become more powerful, Tablets with its various features are tailor-made for enterprise use and moreover, enterprise level app development is flourishing, providing a galore of choices in apps for manufacturers to pick and customize to best of their requirements.

Concerns

• Globalization of marketplace

• Optimization of resources to lower costs & be price-competitive

• Reduced new product integration cycles

• Integration of mobile apps with legacy systems • Data management cost

• Stringent regulatory/compliance

• Real-time information sharing speeds up processes, faster time to market

• Lower cycle times means better costs • Increased regulatory/industry compliance accuracy for quality reporting

• Reduced manual errors • Low data management cost • Increased employee productivity

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POSSIBILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Mobile technology has the potential to play a role in almost every step in the manufacturing cycle, right from raw material procurement to supply chain to delivery. From mobile ERP and mobile Business Intelligence to QC reports to PO/ requisition approval, we can see multiple points across processes wherein mobility can be a lean enabler. In other words, mobility doesn’t limit itself to simply shifting work from PCs to mobile but promises more through role-based applications, device integration and process synchronization.

SCOPE OF MOBILITY

• Inventory Management • Mobile ERP & Mobile BI • Forecast collaboration & approvals • Receipt Acknowledgement • Alerts • Plant operations management • Plant maintenance management • Scheduling alerts/report • Production alerts/reports • Asset tracking • QC report

Supply Chain

Operations

• Asset tracking & tracing • Warehouse automation • Fleet Management • Route Optimization

Fulfillment

• PO / requisition approval • Status tracking • Supplier profile • Shipment notifications • Supplier alerts and reports

Procurement

• Engineering change / approval status • Program status & notifications • Program project updates

Product

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OPPORTUNITY FOR MOBILITY

IN MANUFACTURING VALUE CHAIN

Research & Development Customer Interactions Materials Management Maintanence Management Quality Assurance Factory Operations Facility Management Asset Tracking Warehouse Management

Source: TCS Global Consulting Practice - Research Desk Degree of Significance Product

Development Sourcing ProductManufacturing ProductDistribution CustomerService Value Chain

Rationale

Customers feedback/data collected directly from user devices, through specialized mobile applications Smartphones with barcode reading applications to track inventory in various stages of manufacture Wireless sensors connected to machinery can send status information on to handheld systems RAD tags on inventory items can store QC state information such as expiration date

Remotely controlling multiple plant systems such as power and cooling and running operations diagnostics

Wireless surveillance systems that supply live feeds to handheld devices for security and emergency response Sensors on company assets such as trucks allow employees to carry out better fleet management

Wireless sensors update ERP with entry/exit of materials. Data accessed from stakeholder smartphones

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MOBILITY – IS IT CRUCIAL FOR

YOUR ENTERPRISE?

Not all manufacturing organizations may see the same impact of mobility on their business. The application of mobility depends on the types of interactions as well as the type of manufacturing the business is engaged in. Manufacturing organizations experience three different types of collaboration:

In these interactions, mobility can help improve customer service, manage reverse logistics, and provide a channel to engage with customers for product co-innovation, improved service delivery and demand forecasting.

In these interactions, mobility can improve employee productivity, encourage a self-service culture, improve collaboration and lead to faster execution.

Partners and suppliers can take part in the manufacturing process by mobile enabled information access thereby improving quality of decisions.

Business

to end customer

Business

to employee

Business

to Business

1

2

3

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These types of industries e.g. Consumer Durables are usually high volume

products. The main applications of mobility in the core business are in sales and marketing, shop floor and supply chain. Consumer Goods companies for example, can use mobile applications to reach out to end customers, get feedback on products and understand consumer behavior. Mobile solutions also help in accurate pick and place operations.

These industries e.g. Aerospace are low volume high value, customized

products. For these industries mobility plays a major role in installation,

configuration and field service and can help improve customer satisfaction through reduced downtimes during repair cycle. These industries also are leveraging mobility in the supply chain and shop floor area.

Make to stock

Make to order

The impact of mobility on a manufacturing organization

also depends on the industry type:

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MOBILITY BENEFITS TO ORGANIZATIONS

Source: Motorola Solutions Barometer 2011

Improve regularly and/or regulatory compliance Reduce downtime Improve product quality or consistency Lower labor costs via automated processes Increase customer / partner satisfaction Decrease production efficiency Improve on-time delivery rate Increase production efficiency Improve order fulfillment accuracy Decrease employee/manual errors Improve supply chain performance Improved business revenues/sales results Increase employee productivity/efficiency

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 19.4% 21.9% 25.6% 25.8% 28% 31.5% 32.3% 35.6% 35.8% 38.2% 40.3% 40.7% 57.3%

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A study conducted by BlackBerry to examine a company’s ROI in adapting BlackBerry solutions came out with interesting results There are several benefits associated with mobility adoption in manufacturing. Instant access to critical data on-the-go not only helps in taking quick decisions but also helps enterprises engaged in manufacturing to deftly manage their resources and prevent wastage contributing to cost-efficiency. Smooth and real-time flow of data and information improves response time to all stakeholders including suppliers, vendors and customers etc., helping organizations resolve key internal and external issues in shortest possible time thereby boosting brand image and perception. Mobility also helps eliminate redundant activities, enhance collaboration within various units thereby speeding-up processes.

Productivity

Workflow

The study revealed that, on average, employee’s productivity increased by one hour per day because of using a smartphone. In monetary terms, on an average yearly salary of $100,000, it provided yearly benefit of $12,500 per user to the company.

The workflow efficiency increased by 38% as employees were able to maintain their contribution in team workflow even when they were outside the office. Based on the average annual productivity of $88,500 determined by National Competitiveness Council, the company gained $33,630 per employee annually due to boost in workflow.

As per the study, employees on an average sent and received 24 emails/ day and approximately 9 of these emails were time-sensitive. On a conservative value of $5 each time-sensitive email/day provided an annual benefit of $4,400 per user to the company.

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CREATING A USE CASE FOR MOBILITY

IN MANUFACTURING

• Mobile solutions can offer manufacturers the means to achieve ‘6-sigma’ data-capture accuracy. This can help reduce some of the ‘7 wastes’ in manufacturing and eliminate the “hidden barriers to Lean manufacturing”.

• Even a 10 minute reduction in process – for example, by eliminating manual data entry – results in a productivity gain of 2.5%.

• Mobile solutions can make decision-ready data from SCADA/ MES systems - typically housed in a “control room” – available to key stakeholders on the factory floor. For example, an engineer calibrating a sensor or a technician adjusting the process can access real-time data on a mobile device.

• Mobile error-proofing solutions such as ‘context aware checklists’ can help reduce errors and defects.

• ‘Mobile forms’ reduce the ‘data gap’ (typically around 30% due to manual collection of data) and can significantly improve SPC/SQC results. • Mobile solutions can help create real time compliance reports – such as ISO 9000.

• Mobility solutions can also help achieve real-time end-to-end traceability for safety-critical manufacturing such as Aerospace.

• Mobile devices can ensure verification of material at the point of assembly/consumption for vendor-managed inventory to support JIT manufacturing. • Mobile labor costing and tracking applications can help accurately monitor/manage a labor pool including the ability to sign-up temp-labor on the spot. Mobility finds its application across the manufacturing value chain of plan-source-make-sell. Some of the benefits of adopting mobile manufacturing practices are:

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IMPACT ON MOBILITY

PRODUCT DESIGN

LOW IMPACT

ENGINEERING

LOW IMPACT

MANUFACTURING

MEDIUM IMPACT

SCM

SALES

HIGH IMPACT

INSTALLATION

HIGH IMPACT

MEDIUM IMPACT

SERVICE

FINANCE

MEDIUM IMPACT

HR

HIGH IMPACT

HIGH IMPACT

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

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There are nine primary areas impacted by mobility. It has a high impact on Sales & Marketing, Services, Installation and HR processes as these either have a direct impact on revenue, customer satisfaction or employee productivity. For example, in servicing, the ability to access technical data as well as collaboration (such as remote video inspection) allows field technicians to fi x field problems faster. In the highly customized segments (MTO, BTO, ETO) a field engineer can be greatly aided by these mobile enabled tools as he/she undertakes the repair process. In these cases product specific data can be available on the mobile device, the engineer can share defect photographs and specifications with an expert at another location and can resolve the issue faster without making multiple field visits. Mobile enabled HR processes can result in employee self-service scenarios that are highly cost and time efficient. Employees can plan travel, apply for leaves, fill time sheets, send updates on the move and get instant approvals.

In Supply Chain and Finance functions, mobility has a medium impact. In the area of SCM, typical impact areas are applications used to enhance visibility and aid real time decision making. Mobile applications can be ideally deployed for asset tracking and inventory management.

In Product Design, Engineering and Production, mobility still has a relatively low impact. However, Augmented Reality is a topic that is being explored to conceptualize design and monitor production.

While mobility is being used in functions like quality assurance, inventory management, stock in transit, factory applications etc. the impact is not visible to the outside world.

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SECURITY CONCERNS

Average Rating (1 - Low, 5 - high) Source : AT&T

Threats associated with network security, including data and IP security Understanding and keeping pace with network technlology changes, including the move to 4G networks Our workforce is currently not mobile Insufficient number of useful business applications Lack of executive level buy-in to deploy mobile solutions Reliability and persistence of networks, signals Production environment has unique requirements

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While there are many critical business benefits associated with mobile adoption for manufacturing companies, they however have to encounter a few hurdles in their journey. There are a few critical challenges that has to be addressed by manufacturing organizations as they embark on the path of mobility. Security of data and information is one major challenge faced by the industry in its endeavor to mobilize processes. Enterprises have to create a formal governing policy which will define how mobile devices will integrate and interact with men and machines in the ecosystem and provide a secure mechanism to monitor and prevent data theft and fraudulency. Choosing the best technological infrastructure is one major factor which organizations have to consider. Diversity in devices and platform fragmentation only adds to the challenge as decision-makers sit to lay the blueprint. Organizations also need to consider mobile bandwidth and latency issues as the world moves to 4G networks. Meeting up internal and external demands and making mobility a hassle-free and smooth experience should also be factored-in to enable comprehensive adoption and usage of mobility within the organization and to derive desired benefits out of it.

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THE MOBILITY STRATEGY

Unlike the traditional IT projects, the advent of mobile technologies has caught the IT departments in a Catch 22 situation. On one side, IT was unprepared for the extent and rapidness of impact while at the same time they were supposed to control and harness for maximum benefit to the business. This combination of factors has led to control moving from the IT department to business side of the organization. While traditional IT implementations required time to create business case and change management it was easy to implement mobility by buying a few devices and installing relevant apps. Hence, business functions have adopted various mobile apps depending on their specific needs without waiting for a go ahead from IT and aligning to the overall IT strategy. Today this situation has steamrolled in to a scenario where there is next to none standardization in organizations in terms of mobility adoption and the IT department is unable to anchor mobility centrally. Business specific mobility applications are running in silos creating challenges in maintenance, access and security. Companies are also losing out on leveraging their collective bargaining power where apps can be purchased for the entire organization instead of smaller business functions. Decentralization is also becoming a reason for slower adoption.

What we see clearly, is a lack of a top down mobility strategy leading to challenges in organization wide mobility deployment. There is a need to standardize methodologies, and mobility tools across the organization and build integrated solutions. Due to constraints of enterprise architecture mobility adoption is at best ad-hoc as of now. To reap the benefits of mobility, manufacturing organizations need a more coherent vision and centralized mobility architecture.

Companies need to make informed choices on mobile app deployment related to key dimensions of:

• Choice of middleware • Native vs. hybrid apps

• Impact on customer experience • Cost

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At present the key challenges in a centralized mobility strategy are: a lack of clarity on ROI, identification of right tools and platforms, lack of technical and governance standards, inconsistent user experience and branding, end user engagement, security and scale of implementation.

Mobility needs multiple flavors of understanding including user experience and user design to be complete and comprehensive. Instead of a narrow focus on platforms, companies must look at a holistic picture - IT, tools & platforms, process transformation, user experience. User experience is the key component that differentiates a mobile implementation from a standard IT implementation.

To start on an integrated mobility journey an organization must look to establish a mobility center of excellence (CoE). This will be the central governing body for all enterprise mobility needs. The mobility CoE will define standard architectures, processes & guidelines to be followed, and analysis & decision processes for all mobile deployments. To create this CoE, organizations must evaluate the current IT landscape – baseline current mobility initiatives, identify usage patterns, and demand sources, gaps and best practices. This needs to be followed by setting up a team with clear long term and short term goals. This team will work in close collaboration with the business to create guidelines, policies, engagement strategies and measurement frameworks.

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Global Rollout & Support

• Mobile Device Management • Support & Operations

Develop - Pilot Rollout

• Rapid Development Platform • Cloud Deployment • Limited Geo / Users Roll-out

Identify Business

Processes Needing

Enablement

Create Mobility

Blueprint

Process/Technology

Architecture

Defines Mobility Policies & Guidelines & Standardize platforms Business Core Processes

Categorization

1

2

3

5

4

Mobility is not just UI/Apps, it’s about

Business Process Transformation

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OUR RECOMMENDATIONS

• Enable mobility broadly. Mobility is the future and offers tremendous opportunities to manufacturing organizations. Explore how you can leverage mobile technology to transform your organization and bring agility and innovation to it.

• Think big. Build a mobile strategy that optimizes your organizational capacity and the mobility advantage. Think beyond simple mobile usage and plan for wide-ranging implementation of mobility.

• Manage the risks. Mobility has risks associated with it. Understand those risks and then deploy an effective security mechanism to mitigate those risks.

• Be patient. It takes time to get returns on your investments from mobility. So be ready for a long haul.

• Lay down the groundwork for next generation of mobility. Emerging technologies like NFC, RFID etc., promises more opportunities. Be ready to seize them.

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Mobinius is the premier mobile solution partner for companies and individuals creating the next generation of digital applications. Mobinius develops custom solutions for the iPhone, iPad, Android, Hybrid and Windows Mobile platforms.

www.mobinius.com | +91 80 65653393, 1-786-523-0124 | info@mobinius.com

CONTACT US

Mobility is more than mobilizing existing processes or providing mobile access for your employees to the corporate network. The application of mobility we are witnessing today in manufacturing enterprises are just the tip of the iceberg. There is much

underneath to explore and leverage. A long-term mobile strategy with sufficient ground work for future up-gradation and improvements therefore is the right way to approach.

Mobile devices and apps can be a key enabler for the industry seeking to answer many challenges like quality improvement, cost-efficiency, improved margins and to be competitive in the current business environment. Now is the time for manufacturing organizations to seriously consider mobility and make it a part of the overall business strategy. Invest in it

References

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