Operational performance solutions: Driving connectivity between the plant and the enterprise
Improving plant floor efficiencies is critical for today's consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers. Challenges such as finite shelf space, competition from retail brands, and closely monitored product turnover are driving a new level of competition in the industry. Even the smallest operational inefficiencies can translate into significant losses.
Microsoft and its partners are responding to these challenges by helping manufacturers improve operational performance. Innovative technology solutions are promoting connectivity across the plant floor environment and transforming raw data into actionable intelligence, helping CPG manufacturers gain greater visibility into operations and business processes.
Limited visibility and data-sharing
Plant operations drive revenues and costs for the CPG industry. Unfortunately, for many companies, limited visibility at the plant level leads to a communication breakdown between the plant and the enterprise. This breakdown not only disrupts process efficiencies but also has a significant financial impact across the enterprise.
With a network of disparate technology systems that cannot share data effectively, data output is often useless or, at best, difficult to use. Individuals without direct access to plant floor data must navigate millions of data points to find what they need. Trying to isolate specific data within a multitude of complex data points presents a considerable challenge.
"Having quick access to role-based information becomes critical," explains Chris Colyer, global industry manager for process manufacturing at Microsoft. "Individuals within the organization need access to specific information relating to their job function."
Limited visibility at the plant level can affect business decision-making throughout the entire supply chain—from plant managers and department heads to corporate executives and partners.
Gaining insight into operational performance
To overcome these challenges, CPG manufacturers need to gain greater insight into plant floor operations.
Plant floor visibility solutions based on Microsoft products and technologies can integrate real-time operational data with other enterprise information—seamlessly and intuitively—and transform it into actionable data. This connectivity enables manufacturers to improve production cycle times and output, monitor product quality and maintenance, and ultimately bring products to market faster.
Greater visibility also contributes to better decision-making. In June 2004, Greg Gorbach and Craig Resnick of ARC Advisory Group spoke of the importance of using manufacturing systems software for data analysis: "Fact-based analysis drives consensus and improvement, which is impossible without the real-time connection of both enterprise systems and the plant floor."
With solutions based on Microsoft SQL Server 2005, operational data is gathered and aggregated from a variety of enterprise systems with ease. Built-in reporting, analysis, and data mining present the information in easy-to-read dashboards and key performance indicators (KPIs), which provide historical and real-time data. While the KPIs offer insight into streamlining plant efficiencies, the data store provides a secure, effective way for manufacturers to retain critical intellectual capital.
Enterprise Manufacturing Visibility Initiative
The Microsoft Peak Performance Initiative is helping global manufacturers improve performance, drive innovation, and gain greater insight into plant floor operations—all by leveraging existing technologies. As part of Peak Performance, the Microsoft Enterprise Manufacturing Visibility Initiative focuses on achieving greater plant floor visibility and intelligence—within the plant, to the enterprise, and enterprise-wide.
The Enterprise Manufacturing Visibility Initiative includes the following three pillars:
| • | Integration: Consolidates data from disparate groups and supports open standards such as ISA-95 and Oagis. Technologies that drive plant-wide systems integration include Microsoft BizTalk Server, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, and Microsoft Message Queuing. |
| • | Analytics: Enable manufacturers to see the impact of historical, current, and future data. Historical data provides insight into past performance; current data offers information about customer demands, scheduling, and batch yields; and future data forecasting assists with operational planning. Technologies that support powerful analytics include Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and the Microsoft Office system. |
| • | Collaboration: Facilitates global consistency, innovation, and a rapid response to customer shifts. It guarantees that the right information is shared with the right people at the right time. Technologies that facilitate an integrated, real-time collaboration platform include Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server, Microsoft Live Communication Server, and Microsoft BizTalk Server. |
This initiative continues to drive Microsoft's approach to improving operational performance in the manufacturing industry.
Find a Microsoft partner that's right for you
Microsoft and its industry partners offer strategic solutions that drive plant efficiencies and speed product cycle times through better connectivity and collaboration.
