Embracing the possibilities of Industry 4.0 in the COVID-19 era

Around the world, the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak has exposed the limited resilience of many manufacturers – in particular, their fragile supply chains, overdependence on human assets, and often insufficient agility. Indeed, with a global recession looming, further volatility expected, and investors growing more cautious, the need for manufacturing industries to step up performance – for them and for society – has never been greater.

This study of the Industry 4.0 capabilities in Consumer Packaged Goods industry, conducted by SmarterChains and sponsored by EY, shows that only 10% of manufacturing plants are, after many years of investments, leveraging the benefits of Factory of the Future. The majority of plants remain in technology pilot phases and pursue investments that cannot be scaled or leveraged successfully.

Clearly, the time to move, to get ahead of the curve, is now by preparing and defining your future capabilities for what is next and beyond. At SmarterChains, our four-stage approach – Educate, Prepare, Define, Execute – helps manufacturers embrace the possibilities of Industry 4.0.

What to do now?

• Benchmark your current Factory of the Future capabilities by performing remote diagnostics across your plants with our Assessment.

What to do next?

• Create an enterprise-wide strategy and roadmap of technologies that fit the realities of your operations
• Promote a culture of continuous learning and problem-solving, with experimentation integrated and rewarded in the work plans across the enterprise.
• Accelerate operational excellence to standardize processes and operating procedures, and to increase problem-solving capabilities on the shop floor.
• Drive enterprise-wide learnings by democratizing knowledge and monitoring progress on the 10 Factory of the Future dimensions across the entire estate.
• Implement and track the journey toward value creation.
• Operate a new normal in a different business environment and futureproof for the next disruptive event.

What to do beyond?

• Optimize infrastructure and organization, including sourcing strategy, product complexity and manufacturing and distribution footprint.
• Transform the supply chain operating model to an agile, networked ecosystem in which all parties work collectively.
• Create end-to-end supply chain visibility through the development of digital twins to help react at pace to disruption.

But above all, to gain an advantage over competitors, it is imperative to start the journey right now…

Download our benchmarking study here