Wondering How to Win the Title of Factory of The Future?

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How far does your company stand within digitalization and innovation in the workplace? Do you also attach importance to efficiency and well-being? And would you like to be crowned “the Factory of the Future”? How to win the title is explained in this blog post.

Factory of the Future, …what?

First, ask yourself: what does Factory of The Future mean? We see it as “The future within the manufacturing industry in Belgium”. Also known as: the annual award to the best technologically supported companies based in Belgium.

What makes a Factory of the Future so special? Factories of the future excel in their innovative use of energy and materials. They let operators work with brand new production equipment to guarantee a sustainable production process. In this way, they can respond to market demand and offer products at a higher value.

In addition, in 2020 we cannot deny that the manufacturing industry has an ever-increasing need for innovation and a human centered mentality. In Belgium, we expect top quality at an affordable price with fast production and efficient administration. In general, we also expect companies to be sustainable.

Transform your Company into a Digital Expert

Moreover, digitalization has been playing a major role within the manufacturing sector for the last few decades. It’s efficient, cost-saving, people-oriented, etc. But did you know that you can win a prize for it yourself? With Factory of the Future, you break through the manufacturing industry like never before to excel within all of Belgium.

To this end, Made different has an action plan to meet these challenges. They propose 7 key transformations to fully transform your company into a truly innovative manufacturing company.

  • Transformation 1: advanced manufacturing technologies
  • Transformation 2: integrated engineering
  • Transformation 3: digital factory
  • Transformation 4: human centered organization
  • Transformation 5: networked factory
  • Transformation 6: eco factory
  • Transformation 7: smart facturing

You can call yourself a true factory of the future if you engage in the following transformations:

  1. Advanced manufacturing technologies: This transformation is based on the use of state-of-the-art production equipment.

  2. Integrated engineering: Future-oriented manufacturing companies develop their products and services in function of the entire value chain.

  3. Digital factory: Physical objects will be wirelessly integrated into information networks. For example, operational processes will be interconnected via the Internet.

  4. Human Centered Organization: The most important element within manufacturing! Motivated employees are crucial for future development.

  5. Networked factory: We are evolving into a networked organization where we are building an ecosystem of suppliers and partners for flexible collaborations.

  6. Eco factory: Sustainable production system takes into account each stage in the life cycle of a product. In this way, you manage to drastically reduce your materials cycle and energy consumption.

  7. Smart manufacturing: You will need to respond to changing market demand. You do this by taking a strategic approach to lot size 1 production.

So you are entering into a transformation when you use advanced manufacturing technologies. This is about state-of-the art manufacturing devices to improve the process.

With integrated engineering you will design an integrated approach to processes, this goes from production to sales. Virtual models and simulations are crucial to fully implement this process.

With digital factory you will integrate all physical objects wirelessly into information networks. But we must not forget that employees within production are the most important factors. Their involvement in the production process is very important!

In networked factory you work from solo players to networked organizations where you use an ecosystem to create space for flexible collaborations of suppliers and partners.

In doing so, you use sustainable production systems so that you have insight into each stage in the life cycle of a product and you manage to close the cycle of materials and reduce their energy consumption. Of course you respond to changing market demand this is best tackled with lot size 1.

Now it is very important that you undergo as many transformations as possible because the more transformations you undergo, the greater the possibility of the title “factory of the future“. There are many benefits associated with this title. It is the extra push you need within your company to break through both nationally and internationally.

Provan: Azumuta Customer and Factory of the Future

Take an example from our customer Provan. This Belgian company specializes in production with high complexity and recurring production. They distinguish themselves through their unique CRM methodology and can thus shorten lead times within the production process. This allows Provan to create extra time and flexibility. With the aim to let their customers focus on their core business.

Every day they work on improving their processes. Which leads to great results. In both 2015 and 2018 they enjoy a well-deserved title as factory of the future. You can say that Provan is a great frontrunner within industry 4.0. On top of that, they have been nominated again this year as factory of the future.

Azumuta also contributes to Provan’s production process here. They help simplify and support the QRM process. As a result of Azumuta, Provan can digitally view their work instructions and see which operator is working on which order. They can also easily perform audits through the Azumuta platform and a host of other things.

Digitalization is All the Way In

The future of the manufacturing industry places more and more importance on quality, fast delivery and on the wellbeing of employees. When implementing these tools, you will not only be able to offer the above pluses, you will also save costs and be environmentally friendly in the long run.

So far, a handful of companies successfully went through this process, dozens more are in the process of one or more transformations. In the coming years, they want to get even more companies ready and have them take their first steps towards their ‘Factory of the Future’.

More info on Factory of The Future or curious about what Azumuta is all about? Contact us and try it out!

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