Digital Business, as Gartner defines it, is the blurring of the digital and physical worlds that is rapidly surrounding us. It’s framed on an Internet of Things that are connected, visible, communicative, and manageable.
From a Supply Chain perspective, this shift will provide both opportunities and challenges on two fronts — because for Supply Chain, “things” are not only 1) the materials and finished product that flow through our processes, but they are also 2) the myriad of assets that we use throughout those processes, particularly on the “Make” and “Deliver” fronts.
Nowhere is this shift being seen more right now, than in Manufacturing Operations. On top of the pressures of ensuring a product’s quality, reliability, safetyClass X capacitors are used in “across-the-line” applications where their failure would not lead to electric shock. Class X safety caps are used between the “live” wires carrying the incoming AC current. In this position, a capacitor failure should not cause any electrical shock hazards, rather, a capacitor failure “between-the-lines” would usually cause a fuse or circuit breaker to open., innovation and durability — there is now the added urgency of exploiting the opportunities that Digital Business can provide. This has ramifications for manufacturing that stretch from the individual machine to the global network. And it demands a focus on not only process and technology, but on people as well.
Our Gartner Supply Chain Newsletter recently featured some of our best thinking in the Manufacturing Operations area, to demonstrate how we help our clients navigate these choppy waters.
For those of you not able to access our Newsletter and our content, my colleague Simon Jacobson will be hosting a webinar on the topic on August 26. The webinar is of course open to clients as well.
