Pillar Description: Industry 4.0 is a strategy to use decentralized information to manage operations proactively across an enterprise and value chain. The objective is to optimize resources, processes and outcomes for profitable, quick response. We use this term to cover a range of visions such as Smart Manufacturing, Digital Transformation, and others. Industry 4.0 creates the "Smart Connected Factory" with supporting technologies such as automation, IoT, cloud computing, and MES.

Question: Which of the following best describes your status in the Industry 4.0 journey?

Your answer: Getting started with several projects 1. Great news that you are working on several fronts. Given your need to adapt to change, and speed cycle time and challenges with keeping pace with change, focus on projects to deliver to those priorities.

Question: Which of the following best describes how complete your data integration is from equipment, plant, and enterprise systems?

Your answer: Mostly complete 2. Examine whether data disconnects are preventing your ability to adapt to change, and speed cycle time. If there are many, consider projects that might improve more than one integration deficit.

Best Practices: Leaders have been investing in Industry 4.0 and digitalizing their operations for some time. As a result, they are more likely to have many relevant projects already delivering benefits and streamlining manufacturing. These efforts have helped support continuous improvement efforts and make the company more agile to manufacture effectively and efficiently in today’s ever-changing environment.

Pillar Description: Data management and governance are the foundation of manufacturing Operations Digital as well as analytics and AI. Smooth flowing, clean and reliable data is crucial for a complete understanding of an operation. Industrial dataOps is complex, however, with the variety of real-time and time-series data from equipment, automation, unstructured data from cameras and sensors, in-plant software, as well as transactional and event-based data.

Question: Consistent management of all plant data

Your answer: Fair 1. How can you manage your data more consistently? Start where it might impact your performance and help you to adapt to change, and speed cycle time. Don't expect perfection, but improvement.

Question: Agree on a single source of truth

Your answer: Good 2. Good news that your personnel can generally agree on a single source of truth! To improve even further, we recommend you pinpoint what is preventing that and set up a program to ensure everyone feels they can reliable get trusted information.

Question: Put IT and OT data into a common context for analysis

Your answer: Poor 3. Bring your IT and OT teams together to start a small project to help alleviate keeping pace with change. Take your first steps to understand the different mindsets, data speeds and formats, and missions and begin to find common ground.

Question: Where are the gaps in your data flow that typically need manual effort, handoffs, or intervention?

Your answer: Enriching or putting data in context, Making decisions4. Good work! You've been eliminating manual handoffs and have only a few left. Identify which handoff steps or workflows to fully automate for the best impact on keeping pace with change, or to adapt to change, and speed cycle time.

Best Practices: Investing in technology to ensure data flows seamlessly delivers value to improve and accelerate processes. Smooth and automated data flows across equipment, automation, MES, and enterprise systems bolsters a company's agility. Top Performers have better processes and capabilities across a wide array of data management and governance within the manufacturing operation and beyond. Top Performers are about three times as likely to have excellent data capabilities as others.

Pillar Description: Making decisions is at the heart of every operation. Since manufacturing operations move and change rapidly, making decisions quickly using all of the appropriate data is crucial to success, but not easy. Companies must use their data management capabilities to convert data into information and insights to drive decisions and action. With the workforce skills shortage, experienced people cannot be the primary resource for sound best-practice decisions.

Question: How well does your company do at transforming data to information to insight to decision to action?

Your answer: Good 1. Great that you have been working to close the loop from data to action; this puts you in a strong position. Build on those successes to identify where you can duplicate them or what remains for you to improve this further. You will see the impact in ability to adapt to change, and speed cycle time and reduce keeping pace with change.

Question: Does your company use a digital twin of the plant to support and accelerate decision-making?

Your answer: No 2. While a factory digital twin may sound daunting, there are more paths to get to this today than you might know. Start to explore what your MES and other operations software providers have available, and start reading up on the benefits of having a system where the virtual and actual manufacturing operation can reinforce your improvement efforts.

Best Practices: Leaders are focusing on ensuring that they can quickly collect data, enrich it with context, and turn it into information. With information in hand, people and systems can analyze for insights and make confident decisions. Ideally, this information is available in a visual digital twin of the facility to show where issues are at any given moment. Top Performers are more likely than Others to use a digital twin of the plant

Pillar Description: Manufacturing Execution System (MES) deliver information to optimize production activities from order launch to finished goods. MES guides, initiates, responds to, and reports on plant activities as they occur. To do so, MES puts into context a wide array of current and accurate data from both operations technology (OT) and information technology (IT). MES can deliver mission-critical information about production activities across the product lifecycle, enterprise, and supply chain via bi-directional communications.

Question: Which of the following statements do you agree with for your company's current MES or Manufacturing Operations Digital System?

1. Streamlines work for frontline workers:
Your answer: False
Seek a new MES that will streamline work for your frontline worker. Until that is implemented, you may struggle to adapt to change, and speed cycle time. Seek out an MES that your operators, technicians, and supervisors love because it makes their jobs easier.

Keeps up with changes in products, processes, and materials:
Your answer: True
It's great that your MES approach can keep up with the pace of change in your business and facilities! As unpredictable as your environment can be, this is a crucial capability for managing manufacturing operations and to adapt to change, and speed cycle time.

Provides data fast enough to impact performance:
Your answer: True
Excellent news that your MES provides data fast enough to impact performance. You are in the minority there, and it will help you to adapt to change, and speed cycle time.

Creates high value for resources expended:
Your answer: False
It seems your MES is not delivering giving you the return you could get. We recommend you seek out a new MES that meets your needs with less effort and input.

Best Practices: At the center of Industry 4.0 and Manufacturing Operations Digital is MES. Every company has a system to manage manufacturing execution. Some are modern and sophisticated, others have been in place for a decade or more. Not every company has executive support or has invested the resources such a system needs to thrive and deliver full benefits over the long term. Top Performers are more likely to have made that commitment in both human and financial resources.

Pillar Description: Manufacturers are faced with a skills shortage, so it’s imperative that the workforce is empowered with the tools and information they need to do their jobs efficiently and effectively. This applies to the operators, technicians, and supervisors working in the facility. Digital empowerment can also support operations support personnel doing scheduling, maintenance, and continuous improvement as well as others in the offices in supply chain, engineering, development, sales, marketing, and finance.

Question: How well does your company perform at sharing best practices?

Your answer: Good 1. Good news that you have some capability to share best practices. Keep improving your processes and systems to encourage excellent best practice sharing. Making it more standard, systematic, or easy to access might be good starting points.

Question: How well does your company perform at collaborating among teams?

Your answer: 2. We recommend you ask a few questions: What is keeping you from being in the top tiers for collaboration? Are there issues with mindsets, incentives, processes, or software that prevent world-class collaboration? Identify and resource a project that would help you address one or more of those issues.

Question: Which of the following groups typically have easy access to the plant data they need to do their jobs?

3. Plant Personnel (i.e., operators, technicians, supervisors):
Your answer: False
We recommend you create a project to empower your frontline operations workers with the data they need. Start by identifying one process or data set that might help you alleviate the challenge(s) of keeping pace with change.

Operations Support personnel (i.e., schedulers, maintenance leads, manufacturing engineers, quality, continuous improvement):
Your answer: True
It's outstanding that your quality, maintenance, scneduling, and related staff have the information they need accessible. This can help you to adapt to change, and speed cycle time, and improve overall outcomes.

Office Personnel (i.e., procurement, planning, finance, product engineering, sales, marketing):
Your answer: True
It's fantastic that your office staff have the information they need accessible from the operation. This can help you to adapt to change, and speed cycle time, and improve overall outcomes.

Best Practices: No matter how sophisticated or automated a manufacturer becomes, the employees are crucial to success with manufacturing operations. Employees from the shop floor to the top floor should be empowered to do what is best for the company at any time. Top Performers are over three times as likely to be excellent at sharing best practices and collaborating easily across disciplines or teams.