In the past few years, businesses around the world have seen a drastic disruption in their operations. As a result, companies have embraced digital technologies to deal with these developments and ensure better agility and resilience in their operations.
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Efforts to digitally transform at scale haven’t been this immense or forceful ever before! In response, Microsoft accelerated its own efforts to co-innovate and facilitate their partners and customers both at present and in the long term with industry-focused cloud offerings to empower further innovations. The result of this is illustrated by three cloud-enabled and industry-specific offerings: Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing, Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, and Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services.
Designed with business challenges and blockades in mind, these cloud-based solutions by Microsoft allow companies to jump ahead and provide value and helps with the digital transformation journey. For IT and managed service providers (MSPs), the Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing holds key benefits for businesses that in turn represent opportunities for resellers.
What is the Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing?
The manufacturing industry has experienced worldwide disruptions to supply chains over the past year. Operational visibility, business continuity, employee safety, remote work, etc. have all been impacted. Manufacturers are therefore continually adapting and responding to a recovery journey on multiple fronts.
For a sustainable future, manufacturers needed a reliable and robust solution to help manage their operations from production to delivery. The Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing was built exclusively to offer capabilities that facilitate the industry requirements and core processes. This cloud-enabled, end-to-end manufacturing solution seamlessly connects workflows, people, business processes and assets, empowering companies to be more resilient.
Microsoft aligns cloud services to your industry-specific requirements; it gives you a starting point that easily integrates into your existing operations. Some of the benefits of the Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing include:
- Operate agile and safe factories
- Empower your workforce digitally
- Build more resilient and robust supply chains
- Unlock new services and innovation
How automation, IoT, machine learning and AI are driving tech in the manufacturing industry
Manufacturers have been taking advantage of data-driven automation, machine learning, AI and IoT techniques for years. However, when factories grind to a halt, even the most sophisticated supply chains are adversely impacted.
IoT edge devices and edge computing are transforming the manufacturing sector by driving better productivity and efficiency and facilitating companies to cut costs. For instance, 3M improved manufacturing efficiency at one of their plants by leveraging Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing. By applying machine learning and analytics to their manufacturing data with the Microsoft Azure Edge database engine, 3M found an effective way to maximize efficiency, streamline processes and reduce costs. Digital transformation enabled manufacturers to create value-added, innovative business models that keep them ahead of the competition.
Likewise, Tetra Pak, a food packaging and processing solution provider, is a frontrunner in connected customer solutions and delivering pre-determined sustainability commitments. Azure IoT Edge devices have brought cutting-edge operational efficiency to customer facilities of Tetra Pak around the world.
How the Microsoft Cloud For Manufacturing helps businesses
Digital transformation underpins the resilience of the manufacturing industry amidst unprecedented disruptions to operations, markets and supply chains. Microsoft empowers allows manufacturers to be more innovative and agile. Furthermore, its advanced technology enables businesses to control and monitor processes and operations in real-time with machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. This, in turn, helps improve designs and systems significantly over time. Additional business benefits of the Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing include:
- Agile factories: The pandemic compelled many unprepared manufacturers to operate remotely. You can build a smart and productive factory of the future with cloud AI, industrial IoT and mixed reality. As a result, automation and simulations have become vital for businesses accelerating their smart factory investments through remote working. Microsoft helps connect multiple assets, deploy artificial intelligence at the edge, and process significant amounts of data in real-time.
- Transformed teams: Manufacturers are adopting and leveraging technologies to attract, recruit and retain the next generation of the workforce. Many businesses are using Microsoft Power Platform to enable staff to return to the workplace (or transition to new styles of work) and helps them ensure that the next generation acquires all the skills necessary for the digital age.
- Engage customers in new ways: Today manufacturers need connected systems, providing them with a unified view of their devices and customers.
- Create more resilient supply chains: Evolution requires quick transition, implementing the entire value chain and making connections with customers and suppliers. Consequently, manufacturers are looking for ways to leverage cloud-based systems to build more resilience in their supply chains operations. As a result, improve your end-to-end supply chain agility, profitability and visibility through intelligent planning and implementation, traceability and demand sensing.
- Unlock innovation and deliver new services: Microsoft enables businesses to speed up innovation and empowers manufacturers to simulate, design and authenticate sustainable processes and products using digital twins and the scalable, affordable power of the cloud.
Learn more about the Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing
The manufacturing industry is known for its early implementation of cutting-edge technology. However, each organization’s transformation journey is distinctive. The Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing enables companies to scale out intended capabilities during uncertain times and ensure business continuity. In addition, it radically changes the approach of creating new products or how people work to serve emerging consumer segments.
Want to learn more about the Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing or how Microsoft products and solutions can support your business or cloud practice? Reach out to us anytime.
