Feature Although the complexity and volume of information offered by Industry 4.0 may seem overwhelming at first blush, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, one of the most important benefits it offers is far greater visibil- ity across a company’s supply chain that can help break down data si- los and promote more synchronized planning throughout all aspects of an organization, says Andy Hancock, global vice-president, Center of Excellence for SAP’s digital supply chain and the com- pany’s market lead for Industry 4.0. “Rather than the warehouse guy, the manufacturing guy, the design guy and the logistics guy all sitting in their si- los understanding just the business in their silo, this is bringing all of that to- gether from a planning perspective. So you can then leverage the technologies of those IoTs and digital twins and then synchronize that information into un- derstanding the actual supply chain,” Hancock explains. Lashbrook points out that it’s impor- tant for companies to use the digital tools that are available to them as part of this latest industrial revolution in or- der to remain competitive and plan for the future. Recent disruptions in Canada’s supply chain are proof this process needs to be accelerated rather than deferred, he says. “Companies will have a problem that’s hitting the supply chain and causing a disruption and they’ll try to resolve it on a stopgap basis or using the same tools or methods they have in the past,” he says. “My opinion is the really innova- tive companies that want to remain on the forefront and solve problems per- manently – and I don’t think these are short-term problems – are accelerating these initiatives.” Hancock concurs. In fact, he says one of the silver linings to the storm cloud that is the pandemic is that it’s creat- ed an opportunity for companies to use different processes because of all the challenges and changes prompted by COVID-19 and public health restrictions. “We used to see organizations that are part of the supply chain say, ‘let’s drive down the cost and that provides growth.’ But that isn’t the way to do sup- ply chains at the moment,” he says. “If you don’t make changes to the way you do things now, you’re missing an opportunity because everyone is in flux, everyone is struggling. The people who have embraced the technology and embraced changing their business pro- cedures have leaped forward and taken market share and are becoming more profitable in the process.” While embracing this technology and the data it has to offer is important, Hancock stresses that it is equally im- portant for companies to first determine what they hope to achieve with it. “Sticking an IoT sensor on a prod- uct or piece of equipment doesn’t really do anything. All you’re doing is collect- ing data,” he says. “The important thing to understand is what you want to do with that information and how it will impact your business. Have a particu- lar milestone you want to get to. Don’t use technology just for the sake of tech- nology because it’s not going to help. You have to associate technology with a business process in order to get those efficiencies.” Lashbrook’s advice on how business- es can transition from Industry 3.0 to 4.0 is to have a plan in place on how to achieve it, but don’t be afraid to take some risks along the way. “One of the traps that you can fall into with this is to overanalyze and overplan and overthink it. Have a plan on where you want to go, but be brave and exe- cute it, which is often an Achilles’ heel for a lot of folks,” he adds. While robots and machines are essen- tial components of Industry 4.0, human beings will continue to play an integral role in the success of companies both large and small, according to those help- ing drive this digital transformation. “Human beings will play the same role they always have. They’re going to be the ultimate decision-makers in terms of how to predict and react,” says David Fowler, senior marketing direc- tor, digital supply chain for SAP North America. “To me, Industry 4.0 is not a ‘Hey, we’ve arrived at Industry 4.0’ kind of thing. It’s a means to optimize how you’re doing business by implementing tools to help people make better deci- sions faster.” Hancock agrees, adding that as man- aging supply chains continues to become more complicated everyone involved in them needs better tools to perform the tasks they are assigned. “With that complication comes more complicated decisions,” he says. “What Industry 4.0 does is it takes away some of those repetitive tasks and provides the information in a way that it can be consumed by an individual. A human being will still make those decisions; they’ll just have more complicated deci- sion-making to do.” SUPPLY CHAIN CANADA • ISSUE 2 2022 • 17 © kung tom / shutterstock.com
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