Date: 7. September 2021 | Pictures: Unsplash, iStock | Authors: Erick Caron & Uta Engelmann

Many Swiss industrial companies have already started to transform their business model into smart manufacturing. Involving the human factor as part of a clear digital strategy pays off on the way to becoming a profitable and sustainable factory.

Swiss Made.

Swiss Made. Anyone Swiss who hears this term is proud. Swiss Made means efficiency that saves seconds, precision down to the micrometer, innovative engineering. Swiss Made is the premium standard that industrialized countries around the world look up to. A value that must be protected. How can this be done in the age of Industry 4.0? It calls for new digital standards in industrial production, including the human factor.

The new reality of the manufacturing industry

Since the industrial revolution, the manufacturing sector has played a crucial role in the Swiss economy. However, production has changed considerably since the days of assembly lines – think globalization and automation. "Swiss Made" alone as a quality standard has long since ceased to be sufficient for a company to remain viable and profitable in global competition. Manufacturing companies are desperately looking for ways to increase productivity and reduce costs.

Digitization is the not-so-new magic word. However, perceived investment hurdles and a shortage of skilled workers are hampering the transformation to data-driven production and dividing the industry into dinosaurs and innovators.

The innovators' recipe for success

Industrial companies with a clear digital strategy are the winners. The smart factory relies on five essential components: IoT sensors, robotics, machine learning, edge computing and robust data networks for seamless collaboration between people and machines.

Connected machines and their digital twins take over quality assurance, ensure maximum output and prevent costly downtime in production, here especially through predictive maintenance. The foundation for this is reliable data connections and communication solutions from the cloud.

First-class communication networks and user-friendly management tools also enable new forms of collaboration and streamline all areas of the value chain in operations. Securely transported information ultimately leads to efficient processes in the materials warehouse and the production hall, as well as in the test laboratory, the development center or during the acceptance process with customers.

Customers and employees want more

The call for a modern communications infrastructure has been growing louder, and not just since COVID-19. Many areas of society have long been digitized. As a result, customers expect to be transparently involved in the production process, to conduct acceptance meetings remotely, or to have personalized product requirements fulfilled, keyword: batch size 1, at any time.

The way manufacturers deal with talent has also changed. Young production workers have grown up in the digital age and are used to using smartphones and tablets. Digital tools are creating a new level of efficiency in production operations, but also new challenges for collaboration.

Small steps to becoming a modern workplace

Collaboration calls for new rules of the game and a modern infrastructure. It is worthwhile to start with the first sub-projects. A few examples: Self-propelled transport robots speed up processes in goods and warehouse management and free employees from dangerous tasks. Access to the delivery status of critical components via tablet saves unnecessary trips to the back office. A smartphone in the employee’s pocket allows time-critical information to be shared more quickly in the event of an incident and improves occupational safety, because if the smartphone falls to the ground, help is quickly on the way.

Sustainable investment in increased productivity

If people and machines alike have access to important data in real time, you’re not far from becoming a smart factory. Efficiency gains are guaranteed, as is a satisfied workforce. This means that a renewed network infrastructure and cloud-based communication solutions will pay off several times over.

Sunrise is a seasonal experienced Cisco Gold partner for the factory of tomorrow in Switzerland 

The convergence of IT and operations is transforming manufacturing in ways neither could have ever imagined. Sunrise UPC service teams help you get the most out of connected solutions. We enable digital manufacturing initiatives that save money, increase profitability, enhance security and improve operational efficiency. We advise manufacturers and provide world-class technical support, so technology investments pay off over the long term.

Next Edition of this blog-series:

1. Why SD-WAN is so important in a globalized world?

2. Which role does cyber security play in smart manufacturing?

3. Why automation & data analytics should be the next investments in manufacturing?