AI Data-Driven Factories Aren't Just For Big Guys: How Small to Medium-Sized Manufacturers Can Benefit Too.

In the past year, the majority of manufacturers and factory owners have been clear that Industry 4.0 is the future of their business. They might not know the specific technology used or what it looks like, but they can see that adopting new technology will provide an edge over their competitors.

Most of these factories own a diverse set of equipment that makes consistently digitising their shop floor very difficult.

They might deploy an intelligent solution on some of their machines but not all, creating an incomplete and unconnected system. Moreover, 70% of the work in a factory setting still happens outside of the machine, which includes but is not limited to Assembling, Packaging, Material management and Shipment etc.

A study conducted by Capgemini showed that among manufacturers, those who had digitised at least half of their processes were the most successful at implementing smart factories. And yet, most small and medium-sized factories can't afford to digitise enough of their machines and processes to make factory digitalisation worthwhile.

This is why we built ThingTrax.

Our end to end platform easily connects machines, processes and people, collecting data in real-time and alerting stakeholders of any anomalies.

ThingTrax platform was created from the bottom up using custom mesh wireless plug-and-play hardware that doesn't require any wifi and wired IP network and can be installed in less than an hour, reducing the time it takes for factories to adopt AI data-driven factories.

To demonstrate the challenge facing manufacturers and our solution in action, you need only look to MGS Technical Plastics - a Blackburn-based manufacturer providing plastic injection moulding and assembly.?

Over the past 20 years, they have acquired more than 20 machines, which differ in shape, size, and vendor. A few years back, MGS Technical Plastics came to ThingTrax looking for a quick install solution and would not need a massive IT infrastructure to operate. ThingTrax wireless IoT devices were installed on each machine in less than a day without any need for factory-wide wifi or wired network. We immediately showed MGS Technical's key decision-makers and stakeholders the data their machines and processes generated through our online platform.

The ThingTrax system has provided them with critical insights on unplanned downtimes and given them access to previously unseen production data they had always struggled to analyse and take action on. Our platform has provided managers with operational recommendations based on live data through its machine learning capabilities, removing the need for whole teams of data scientists or analysts.

"Having ThingTrax as our I4.0 partner has created greater performance visibility that is available for all in the factory to see. It is a widely accessible platform that enables us to make decisions with the utmost certainty, as reliable live data back us." Judson Smythe, Director MGS Technical Plastics

Sounds simple right?

Whether you're big or small, AI Data-Driven factories allow you to save money on production costs by optimising your factories. It's not expensive, hard to install or difficult to understand. The technology is ready to provide manufacturers with the tools they need to run efficiently and compete in today's world.

What is Digital Factory by Imran Shafqat