We recall some of the main findings of the Industry 4.0 & MES Survey 2022/2023 to answer the three challenges that most concern manufacturers in the manufacturing industry.
The first edition of the Mapex Industry 4.0 & MES Survey helped us to draw very interesting conclusions about the main challenges and objectives of the Spanish manufacturing sector. Thanks to this survey, we were able to see what industrial manufacturers are most concerned about and how they plan to use technology to address these challenges.
Most companies highlighted the negative impact of external factors, such as rising raw material and energy prices, on the productivity of their factories, but also internal factors, such as time spent on non-value-added tasks or communication problems between departments.
In this article, we explain how an MES solution can become the best ally of these organizations when it comes to being much more efficient and productive.
Mapex solution to the 3 factors that have the most negative impact on factory productivity
Challenge 1: Time and effort spent on non-value-added activities
Non-value-added tasks are activities that add no value to the product or service from the customer’s perspective. In the Lean world, they are also known as waste or muda, and can be classified into seven categories: overproduction, waiting, transportation, inventory, movement, overprocessing and defects.
These types of tasks should be minimized or eliminated, as they increase operational costs, reduce efficiency, and negatively impact customer satisfaction.
In this sense, an MES solution such as Mapex is a very useful tool to eliminate waste. Here are two examples:
- MES allows the digitization of quality controls and self-checks so that the detection and analysis of defects can be performed much earlier, significantly reducing scrap, rework and complaints.
- MES also plays an important role in procurement management, minimizing long waits caused by inaccurate material supply to the factory and improving communication between the warehouse and the production floor. For more information, read this article.
Challenge 2: Poor communication between departments
Real-time communication is vital for an industrial company to solve problems efficiently and quickly, and to be more productive and competitive. That is why one of the most valued functionalities of an MES system is the ability to connect systems and, above all, people and departments.
As a practical example, the Mapex MES platform favors communication between Production and Maintenance, two departments that work independently, but whose collaboration is essential in the day-to-day running of any factory.
Companies with MapexPM and MapexMM modules can take advantage of the benefits of both solutions being connected in real time:
- On the one hand, production operators can launch maintenance requests without having to resort to phone calls or printed notes.
- On the other hand, all this information is recorded in the system, facilitating the subsequent monitoring of KPIs such as response time by the helpdesk.
Challenge 3: High production costs
Finally, high production costs is another factor that stands out in this question from Mapex’s Industry 4.0 & MES Survey.
In this article we already gave some clues, because it is clear that an MES system plays a very important role in terms of economic savings and, if used properly, it is a very profitable investment in the short term.
A solution like Mapex not only makes it possible for companies to reduce defects, non-conformities and rework, but it is also a very powerful tool for optimizing energy consumption, labor costs, inventory management, etc.
If you would like more information on how we can help you overcome these and other challenges, please do not hesitate to contact us through this form.
