Globalization and outsourcing are proliferating within the manufacturing industry, and most successful companies are implementing demand-driven business models as they seek ways to capture, shape, and respond to the demands of the dynamic global marketplace. This is because as demand visibility improves, manufacturers are called upon to respond to that demand more quickly and with more predictable results. Thus, increasingly, organizational visibility into the capacity and performance of production assets, whether wholly owned or outsourced, is needed to support decisions about where and how to meet production demands in a profitable and predictable fashion. In sum, manufacturing operations today are characterized by a significant need for factory transformation management.
Evolution of Tiered Manufacturing Operations
A top-down approach to manufacturing coordination and visibility is clearly in order. Consequently, manufacturers are looking beyond the realm of local execution capabilities to architectures and systems that support interdependent supply networks (ISN), synchronizing the execution of compliant manufacturing and logistics processes across a dynamic supply network (see Supply Chain Management is Evolving toward Interdependent Supply Networks).
In addition, the lines between familiar production applications have blurred. Modern production execution management applications combining traditional manufacturing execution systems (MES), quality, asset, and performance management functionality are beginning to emerge. These will offer manufacturers a more cost effective and integrated approach to contemporary manufacturing challenges, while providing an integrated view of site-level performance.
ISNs require the orchestration of manufacturing operations on a global scale. Progressive enterprises view manufacturing as a strategic node in their ISNs. Brand owners are embracing the growing role of contract manufacturing and logistics to supply product in increasingly volatile supply networks. This is fueling the rapid evolution of a market for applications that provide brand owners with visibility into the performance of distributed arrays of manufacturing assets. ISN involves leveraging current investments, as well as making long overdue investments in the dynamic closed-loop scheduling of distributed assets, such as plants and distribution centers.
Local Manufacturing Operations Require Manufacturing Performance Optimization
First and foremost, production operations must focus on local execution excellence. Manufacturing capabilities vary dramatically across industries, geographies, individual manufacturing sites, and even production lines within those sites. Mergers and acquisitions have compounded the problem of highly heterogeneous plant software, instrumentation, and control landscapes, resulting in poor replication of manufacturing best practices. Moreover, for the past five to ten years, upgrading plant systems has taken a back seat to preferential investments in enterprise transactional systems, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and supplier relationship management (SRM).
Global manufacturers are now finding that in-house and contract manufacturing requires local investments in plant automation and control to ensure agile, compliant, first-time responses, as well as the associated visibility into the status and performance of all manufacturing assets. Enterprises are changing how they source, manufacture, and distribute products. They are gaining a greater appreciation for speed, timeliness, reach, execution, and integration with manufacturing operations strategies, including demand management, supplier management, product, and transportation and logistics strategies.
Evolution of Tiered Manufacturing Operations
A top-down approach to manufacturing coordination and visibility is clearly in order. Consequently, manufacturers are looking beyond the realm of local execution capabilities to architectures and systems that support interdependent supply networks (ISN), synchronizing the execution of compliant manufacturing and logistics processes across a dynamic supply network (see Supply Chain Management is Evolving toward Interdependent Supply Networks).
In addition, the lines between familiar production applications have blurred. Modern production execution management applications combining traditional manufacturing execution systems (MES), quality, asset, and performance management functionality are beginning to emerge. These will offer manufacturers a more cost effective and integrated approach to contemporary manufacturing challenges, while providing an integrated view of site-level performance.
ISNs require the orchestration of manufacturing operations on a global scale. Progressive enterprises view manufacturing as a strategic node in their ISNs. Brand owners are embracing the growing role of contract manufacturing and logistics to supply product in increasingly volatile supply networks. This is fueling the rapid evolution of a market for applications that provide brand owners with visibility into the performance of distributed arrays of manufacturing assets. ISN involves leveraging current investments, as well as making long overdue investments in the dynamic closed-loop scheduling of distributed assets, such as plants and distribution centers.
Local Manufacturing Operations Require Manufacturing Performance Optimization
First and foremost, production operations must focus on local execution excellence. Manufacturing capabilities vary dramatically across industries, geographies, individual manufacturing sites, and even production lines within those sites. Mergers and acquisitions have compounded the problem of highly heterogeneous plant software, instrumentation, and control landscapes, resulting in poor replication of manufacturing best practices. Moreover, for the past five to ten years, upgrading plant systems has taken a back seat to preferential investments in enterprise transactional systems, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and supplier relationship management (SRM).
Global manufacturers are now finding that in-house and contract manufacturing requires local investments in plant automation and control to ensure agile, compliant, first-time responses, as well as the associated visibility into the status and performance of all manufacturing assets. Enterprises are changing how they source, manufacture, and distribute products. They are gaining a greater appreciation for speed, timeliness, reach, execution, and integration with manufacturing operations strategies, including demand management, supplier management, product, and transportation and logistics strategies.
