By Neels van der Walt, Head of Department Sales and Business Development at Iritron
Maintaining and growing the South African manufacturing sector involves navigating significant risks. Digital transformation is reshaping the sector, enhancing efficiency, reducing costs and improving product quality, but what are the consequences of not keeping up with digitalisation and digital integration in your manufacturing operation?
According to PwC’s South African Manufacturing Analysis 2024, released in October, the South African manufacturing sector is facing increasing pressure to change and adapt, particularly with regards to decarbonisation and the design of circular-economy and sustainable products.
Since the onset of the industrial revolution, basic manufacturing interaction has been human-driven, often marred by error resulting in significant implications, such as downtime, cost overruns, wastage and energy-loss.
With global competition forcing companies to find ways to optimise production operations through the reduction of non-value-added activities; adopting Industry 4.0 tools and smart factory technologies is driving significant improvement in manufacturing efficiency and sustainability.
By implementing Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) systems, for example, organisations can facilitate both medium-term production planning and detailed scheduling, optimising production schedules and balancing supply and demand. With the integration of advanced algorithms that analyses and calculates achievable production schedules, organisations can meet dynamic market demands.
Many South African companies are now shifting from traditional, tedious and time-consuming manufacturing practices to more agile, data-driven approaches that leverage real-time information and advanced analytics, enhancing responsiveness to customer demands by enabling quick adjustments to production schedules.
As a result of experience gained in supporting multiple clients in diverse industries in South Africa with APS solutions, we have found that these systems are pivotal in assisting manufacturers navigate risks and challenges by driving digital transformation efforts. With an integrated approach to production planning and execution, the flexibility these solutions offer allows clients to meet last-minute requests without compromising overall planning control, further maintaining competitiveness. What if analysis is easy to perform to quickly see the impact of changes on the overall schedule, before the schedule is made available to the production plant.
The advanced forecasting capabilities of APS allows bottlenecks to be detected and managed, maintaining lower stock levels while ensuring adequate material availability, and at the same time improve overall plant throughput. This reduction in inventory decreases holding costs and waste, that in turn reduces costs and improves productivity – key factors for sustaining profitability amid economic pressure.
However, with new technology comes new challenges. Therefore, the importance of upskilling workers in these technologies and the creation of a digitally-enable and connected workforce cannot be underestimated. Many companies still use excel, and the planning process requires a skilled planner that understands the factory processes and operational business environment. The challenge with this approach is that the company is fully reliant on the planner and his knowledge, and if he / she is not at work, the planning activity comes to a halt.
It is important to support clients by digitizing and modelling business rules and the ‘know how’ of skilled planners into an APS solution. This not only enhances operational efficiency but also addresses the skills gap by automating tedious and time consuming routine tasks, allowing less skilled planners to be able to produce the production schedule with the aid of technology.
An additional benefit of an APS system is that the production schedule can be shared electronically with a wide audience within the organisation, allowing the sales department to view the schedule enabling them to provide accurate updates on delivery dates to clients. APS systems offer numerous tangible benefits across various industries, particularly in manufacturing, food and beverage and FMCG sectors.
As CEOs confront the complexities of maintaining a competitive edge in the manufacturing sector, leveraging technologies like APS becomes essential. These technologies are fast, smart, scalable and flexible.
With the manufacturing sector continuing to play a significant role in the local economy, local companies cannot risk to slow down, lose confidence in their strategies or be unable to adapt to change quickly. The insights gained from real-time data analytics not only mitigates these risks but positions companies for sustainable growth. A commitment to integrating advanced solutions ensures that clients can navigate the evolving landscape effectively, ultimately driving success in an evolving, complex and challenging environment.
