Although older machines and processes may “get the job done”, it is often at the cost of efficiency. In fact, much of the equipment in factories runs at 30% capacity or less. Read on to find out how you can optimize your manufacturing footprint—by replacing aging equipment and processes with fewer but more advanced machines, revised processes and digitalized flows—to unlock total process improvements, and greater labor and cost savings.
Industry
Furniture
Date
Helpful hints
6 ways to optimize your manufacturing footprint with digitalization
Can your existing production equipment and processes meet your current and future production needs?
Why is industry 4.0 is proving to be a major opportunity for furniture manufactures?
How can you optimize your manufacturing footprint?
Make accurate cost-saving decisions
Invest in virtual prototyping software to protect margins and verify that products remain on-cost. Virtual prototypes enable manufacturers to understand the impact of material choices and dimensions by visualizing, comparing and sharing the most cost-effective design options.
50% OF LARGE INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES WILL USE VIRTUAL PROTOTYPES BY 2021, with a predicted 10% improvement in effectiveness
Eliminate error-prone production processes
Accelerate production and reduce labor dependency with integrated product development, pattern and marker making software
30% REDUCTION IN INDUSTRIALIZATION TIME when using automated pattern making software
“With a digital process, we combine product engineering and design phases, followed by evaluation and confirmation. This method has enhanced our development capacity.”
Tu Jiahui, Director of Product Development, Kuka
Ensure optimal machine availability
Gain information about equipment status by adopting connected cutting room technology to minimize long-term maintenance costs and maximize machine uptime with predictive and preventive maintenance services.
40% OF MANUFACTURERS HAVE NO REAL-TIME VISIBILITY into the state of their manufacturing operations
Increase production throughput
Connect and exchange operational data between the people, processes and technologies driving cutting preparation and execution via a cloud-based digital cutting platform to ensure that design modifications made upstream transfer directly to the cutting line.
“With the selection of the Furniture on Demand, we have been able to improve efficiency, save more material as well as better address and be more accurate with our small repeat pattern matching. This has resulted in providing our customer with a better quality product while more effectively managing our costs”
Jeff Eckert, Sr VP of Manufacturing, OFS Brands
Commit to continuous improvement
Identify areas of improvement and improve collaboration by connecting the production line to a performance dashboard to collect, track and analyze production data and KPIs.
SHIFT TO USING ADVANCED ANALYTICS CAN RESULT IN 25% PRODUCTIVITY INCREASE AND 45% REDUCTION IN DOWNTIME
Overcome complexity
Take advantage of cloud-enabled non-linear production processes to handle demand fluctuations and last minute changes with increased agility, speed, and cost effectiveness.
70% OF MANUFACTURERS USING CLOUD-BASED PRODUCTIVITY APPLICATIONS REPORT IT HAS HELPED THEM RESPOND TO CUSTOMER NEEDS and 45% say the cloud is an important contributor to new product introductions
Industry 4.0 is proving to be a major opportunity for furniture manufactures. Forward thinking companies are gaining greater control of their cutting and preparation process by embracing digitalization and its accompanying business intelligence technologies—data, analytics and visibility—to optimize their manufacturing footprint and achieve significant improvements in cutting efficiency, quality standards and delivery times.
Download our e-guide, Leather Furniture Manufacturing: Unleash productivity and profitability with digital expertise