The pandemic exposed manufacturers’ need to centralize complex operations management and to pivot and innovate quickly to adapt to change. Now, the manufacturing industry is moving toward the cloud to protect business continuity and to improve productivity, efficiency, and autonomy. Close to 70% of all organizations now host at least half their workloads in the cloud. And while “future fit” manufacturers are already using the cloud to drive innovation, others are behind the cloud adoption curve.
The reason for this lag is the same reason cloud adoption holds such potential for manufacturers. Physical plants within the same organization may be widely distributed and contain different types of hardware and software, all of which need periodic updates and replacements that are usually done manually on-site. Leveraging the cloud requires standardizing hardware across plants and pushing software updates through the cloud. It is possible to set the stage for cloud expansion, but it takes a clear understanding of how this process can help attain goals, a map for implementation or expansion, and a continuous transformation mindset.
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As Automation Alley’s Digital Content Editor, Dennis Burck manages Automation Alley's Industry 4.0 knowledge center, building relationships and collaborating with various internal and external stakeholders, including Automation Alley members and partners, to develop and curate engaging content around advanced manufacturing and digital transformation. Dennis provides in-depth coverage, data-driven reporting and on-the-ground feature stories on the Industry 4.0 transformation. Dennis worked previously as a business journalist for The Construction Association of Michigan and as a reporter for The National Endowment for the Humanities.
