The Dilemma of a Typical Mid-sized manufacturer

23 May Written by - Priya Ranjan Mohanty Tagged as - Blog

The industrial revolution which started in the 1820s gave birth to an industry called Manufacturing. Since then it has come a long way and what we witness today is so full of possibilities. Trends like Automation, Smart Machinery, IoT are transforming the industry like never before. In short, you can say the fourth industrial revolution is here.

However, this also poses a dilemma for the manufacturing companies which are not financially equipped to embrace the changes so soon. Typically, it is the mid-sized firms which are constantly struggling to stay profitable in a time when the raw-material cost and labor cost are at the peak of all times. The dilemma here is to invest or not invest in the digital transformation of the manufacturing setup.

The Answer is Yes!

There is no excuse to resist transformation. Those who will not change shall perish. There is absolutely no other way. There are open source technologies that can be implemented at a minimal cost. Although the initial investment may look big, the future outcomes will definitely compensate for it.

Chinese manufacturing companies have already started using latest technologies like advanced robotics. The shocking fact is that even the smallest of the manufacturers in China are also getting access to the same technology that is used at the biggest of the companies. Indian mid-sized manufacturers have failed to learn that and adapt.

It is time to think and decide on which are the technologies your plant needs to streamline the processes and bring in operational efficiencies. The CTOs and CIOs are responsible to bring this change to this change in their organizations. When we say change, we mean both the change in mindset and change in processes.

Which technologies to focus on

Let’s say you are convinced that your company needs digital transformation. The what next? Which are the activities you will be focussing on in the initial phase? What is the timeline? How to show the ROI to the management?

First of all, transformation is not a one-time activity. It has to be a continued effort. Transformation must never stop. It is a journey that never ends. We just have to get on the bus and keep going. However, we can prioritize on a few of the activities that need immediate attention. For any manufacturer, the first priority should be to connect the siloed units to work in unison. This process will include integrating the whole network into a single ERP system which should act as the central information unit. Sometimes also called IoT (Internet of Things), this technology comes with the approach of connecting each and every machine installed in the manufacturing premises to give it a feel of one single giant machine. IoT is implemented with the help of Sensors, Counters, Cameras and many more input devices to capture the parameters for optimal performance.

The next priority should be to create a Management Dashboard (Also called MIS system) which gives the clear picture on all the parameters that are crucial to a manufacturing setup’s operation and profitability. Again, the MIS should not be a one time process, it must be improvised continuously and modified to the changing needs of the industry.

The third or the last priority of Phase One can be Automation. The objective here is to reduce and finally eliminate human intervention in any of the processes involved. Human intervention is a waste of resources which adds up to the labor cost and simultaneously gives room for human error as well. Automation has huge impacts on operating cost and profitability and should be pursued with utmost priority by the CTOs and CIOs.

Although it looks like it costs a fortune to implement such huge technological changes, it is not. The only thing that is required here is a change in mindset and the willingness to embrace the trends. Of course, there will be investment involved, but the returns are overwhelming.

Sygina does it like no one!

Sygina takes pride in its years of experience in creating and implementing automation solutions at huge manufacturing corporations. Sygina provides affordable solutions for mid-sized manufacturers who cannot think of hiring an IT firm to implement new technologies. The portfolio of services include a few major items like Internet-of-Things, Cloud, Big Data Analytics, Open Source Platforms and PaaS. Discuss with us about the challenges of your organization and we will show endless possibilities.




Sygina is passionate about making cloud driven applications accessible to everyone. It's platform is leveraged by more than 1200 small & large corporations to provide seamless services to their customers.

Our solutions are used by industry leaders in Media & Healthcare. We are focused towards making Cloud- computing affordable to companies of any size.



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