Optimise your production with data (data-driven manufacturing)

Companies are always looking for ways to improve their productivity and increase their profitability. Efficiency is the key concept here. Data-driven manufacturing is an ideal way to increase your efficiency and strengthen your competitiveness.

What is data-driven manufacturing?

Data-driven manufacturing means adapting your production to the data generated from your products or production. Data can, for instance, come from your ERP systems (through models) or directly from your machines and products (through sensors). Sensors are becoming increasingly inexpensive. At the same time, computers are becoming ever more powerful and (wireless) internet connections increasingly fast. As a result, you can gather an ever increasing number of data that can also be processed very rapidly. Using this information will enable you to detect failures earlier, align your production processes better with one another and make better use of your resources. Furthermore, you will receive useful feedback from customers using your products.

Optimise your production process with data-driven manufacturing

After having collected all these data, these must be analysed. It is important that not only the data themselves are analysed, also the context and the mutual correlation between the various data must be taken into account. In this way, you will understand your data and be able to adapt your production processes or machines in the best possible way.

A fine example of data-driven manufacturing is predictive maintenance of machine parts. By using artificial intelligence (AI) through the sensors in your machines, you can predict when a machine needs maintenance. This allows you to schedule the maintenance in off-peak hours and avoid unexpected delays in your production following a machine failure.

What are the benefits of data-driven manufacturing?

Data-driven manufacturing has many benefits. It allows you:

• To gain insight and discover trends rapidly, which will enable you to improve your production processes and increase your efficiency;
• To use data generated from the delivered end product to improve your products time and again, tailored to the customer’s specific requirements.

The combination of this with, for instance, AI and the Internet of Things (IoT) will arm your business for the future and increase your competitiveness.

Would you like to learn more about data-driven manufacturing and the impact it may have on your business? Register now for the Flanders Make Symposium: The Future of Manufacturing, where Christian Hocken (Managing Partner at the Industry 4.0 Maturity Centre in Aachen) will explain everything you need to know about the data-driven manufacturing company of the future.