Tim Wilderspin, regional manager – manufacturing, OutSystems, discusses how in the drive to revolutionise production technology, manufacturers may be seduced by the big picture and miss a trick by leaving operational IT and mobility behind.
Once again, the manufacturing sector is at the vanguard of the UK economy’s drive for growth and productivity. Industry 4.0 is becoming a reality with the deployment of state-of-the-art robotics, additive manufacturing and the limitless potential of IoT and big data analytics to power intelligent manufacturing and supply chain efficiency. It’s estimated that smart factories have the potential to add $500 billion to the global economy in the next five years and appetite for investment is strong – 81% of UK manufacturers say they are keen to invest in new digital technologies to boost productivity.
But does this enthusiasm apply to the whole manufacturing “stack” including back-end systems? In a drive to revolutionise production technology, are manufacturers being seduced by the big picture and missing a trick by leaving operational IT and mobility behind?
Smart on the surface…
Outside of the most cutting-edge manufacturing facilities, a more typical picture shows a disconnection between the smart innovation that is happening on the surface at the production line and the processes and software that underpin operations in the background. Many of these processes, developed when legacy software was installed, haven’t changed in twenty years. They rely on industry 3.0 technology such as stand-alone PCs, spreadsheets and physical paper trails.
In addition, mobility, which should be integral to today’s factory processes, has yet to penetrate the heart of many businesses. While mobiles and tablets are in use, we still see scenarios where a production manager has to physically drive to a facility, because they are the only person that is authorised to execute a certain process. This is a classic use case for a mobile app that would increase efficiency and improve time management.
The same is true of data collection. The collection, analysis, and application of data potentially offer enormous efficiency advantages, however a survey of global manufacturing companies found that 75% were still collecting data manually and 47% were still using pen and paper. This introduces significant risks of inaccuracy and human error, as well as being alien to digital native workforce entrants, who are unlikely to relish having to return to pen and paper for something they know is achievable via an app.
Nevertheless, it’s easy to understand how and why back-end systems have remained static in the manufacturing sector. There is very little direct consumer pressure to make back-end systems smarter and more efficient and, as long as they continue to get the job done, an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy holds sway. At the same time, the small IT teams typical of most manufacturing organisations don’t have the bandwidth – and in some cases the technical skills – to take on major efficiency upgrade application development projects, especially when faced with the challenge of integrating with legacy systems that have often been highly customised.
The combination of these factors has resulted in a brake on back-end digital transformation that is having a negative effect on productivity. As the demand for smarter, mobile data-driven processes increases, manufacturers are under pressure to find a solution that can join up operational IT with production line ambitions and ensure that productivity-boosting digital transformation is not just happening on the surface but extends all the way down the technology stack.
Rising to the app development challenge
Recognising the need to ramp up digital transformation efforts is one thing, but that doesn’t make more resources available for software development – cost and time are big issues for manufacturing IT teams and can make it difficult for developers to push app development up the stack, especially if the strategic focus on production-line technology.
Among manufacturers that are attempting to drive digital projects forward 64% say they have application development backlogs and more than a quarter (27%) said their backlog consisted of more than 10 apps. The causes of these delays are familiar: lack of clarity over requirements; difficulties integrating with legacy systems and a lack of APIs and a lack of technical skills in the workforce.
At OutSystems we frequently see all the aforementioned challenges among manufacturing clients as their ambitions are frustrated by hard-to-change legacy systems that make digital innovation difficult. They are looking for speed, but not at the expense of functionality and good software governance, and they need to use the developers they already have. Low-code application development is a game-changer here, as it allows developers to deliver apps up to six times faster than traditional coding methods and incorporates DevOps capabilities to minimise the long-term maintenance burden. Low-code also overcomes the challenges of integrating with legacy software with pre-built open source connectors, so manufacturers can continue to use their customised heritage systems but are no longer restricted by them.
A manufacturer that has really embraced low-code application development to become a more responsive, data-driven business is cargo strap manufacturer Cordstrap. They used OutSystems low-code development platform to create a cloud-based app for production planning that integrates with their ERP system and provides a graphic visualisation of the production schedule and delivery dates for products. The team can access vital, accurate information from any location, and it has made the back-end management of production process less dependent on people.
It gives Cordstrap a good understanding of all the processes, all the way from headquarters, making it possible for the company to act earlier when needed, improving efficiency. This is a great example of a mobile app boosting operational IT capabilities and it was built in just six months by two developers from OutSystems certified partner, Phact.
There’s no reason operational IT should be second best to production technology if developers can be empowered to deliver software faster and more cost-effectively with low-code. As the drive for productivity accelerates, mobile apps have a vital role to play in streamlining processes, improving data collection and accessibility and facilitating the rollout of Industry 4.0 throughout the manufacturing sector.
