Survey | How is the Digital Disruption Going in Manufacturing?

A recent report released this summer from Siemens and Longitude Research reveals a unique analysis of companies interested in moving forward with digital investment in the plant and enterprise. The report,”The Race to the Digital Future,” divides manufacturers into two groups called “Revenue Re-Inventors and “Efficiency Experts.” Most of the readers of Efficient Plant, no surprise, fall into the latter category that sees the potential of better uptime with pro-active maintenance approaches.

For predictive analytics, the report shows that the “Revenue Re-Inventors” actually outscore the efficiency contingent 69% to 44%, with the “use of predictive analytics to forecast performance of production equipment or processes in most or all parts of the organization.”

On behalf of Siemens, Longitude Research surveyed 209 senior executives (report here) and directors of large US manufacturing organizations to understand the progress of digitalization among discrete and process manufacturers. Besides predictive maintenance issues, the report includes examples of successful adaptation and suggestions to overcome barriers to moving forward in the digital age.

As the survey shows, “Less than a fifth (18%) of companies in our survey analyze more than 60% of production data they collect, and this figure is similarly low among the leader group.”

My columns and contributions to Efficient Plant’s IIoT section often cite the need to attack a small, pain point on the plant floor for your first project. My upcoming October column discusses how Teel Plastics, an extruder based in Wisconsin, used the OPC UA industrial networking standard to connect multiple devices from different vendors to create better real-time analytics for ten production lines.

Here’s a snippet from my upcoming October column:

The server solution receives data from disparate plant devices and leverages OPC UA technology protocol — an industrial networking standard — to produce a single-source for industrial data. Besides operational efficiencies, Teel Plastics is now able to access more machine run data and analyze mobile web-based devices, including parameters such as motor load, speed and process temperature, from mobile devices.

“The in-depth plant floor data enables engineers to test different variables, which has led to decreased downtime,” Gwynne noted. “The setup now provides us the ability for our extruders to contact operators via email based on run-time for preventive maintenance.”

>> Click here to read the Report