business and operations data
Unlocking the Power of Data: How Combining Business and Operations Data Can Revolutionize Manufacturing

In today’s manufacturing industry, the amount of data being generated is increasing at an exponential rate. With the advent of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT), there is now an unprecedented amount of data available to plant managers and business executives. This data includes both business data (sales, revenue, customer data) and operations data (production output, equipment performance, quality control data).

Traditionally, businesses analyze business and operations data separately. However, combining the two is extremely beneficial. This approach helps plant managers and business executives make better-informed decisions. In this blog, we’ll discuss its advantages.

Gain a Comprehensive View of Your Manufacturing Operations

Combining business and operations data provides a comprehensive view of manufacturing operations. It helps identify the impact of production output on revenue and profitability. Optimization opportunities can be identified to increase efficiency and reduce costs. This assists with decision-making regarding investment in new equipment or technology, resource allocation, and production schedule prioritization.

Identify Correlations and Patterns Between Business and Operations Data

Analyzing business data and operations data together can help you identify correlations and patterns that may not be apparent when analyzing each type of data separately. For example, you may notice that a certain product line has a higher profit margin when produced on a specific piece of equipment. By combining sales data with equipment performance data, you can identify these types of patterns and make more informed decisions about how to optimize your operations.

Improve Forecasting and Planning

By analyzing business data and operations data together, you can improve your forecasting and planning capabilities. You can use historical data to predict future trends in both your business and your operations, which can help you plan your production schedule, anticipate demand, and allocate resources more effectively. This can help you reduce inventory costs, improve customer satisfaction, and increase profitability.

Identify Areas for Process Improvement

Analyzing business data and operations data together can also help you identify areas for process improvement. By tracking your production output and quality control data, you can identify bottlenecks in your production process and areas where you can improve efficiency. By combining this data with sales data, you can see how these process improvements can impact your bottom line.

Make Data-Driven Decisions with Business and Operations Data

Finally, combining business data and operations data and analyzing them together can help you make more data-driven decisions. You can use data to support your decision-making process and reduce the risk of making decisions based on assumptions or intuition. This can help you make better-informed decisions that are more likely to lead to success.

Examples:  Analyzing Compressed Air and Business Data

Identify cost-saving opportunities: By combining compressed air consumption data with business data such as production output and energy costs, plant managers can identify cost-saving opportunities. For instance, they can see if there are any leaks in the compressed air system that are leading to excessive consumption and energy waste. By fixing these leaks, plant managers can reduce compressed air consumption, lower energy costs, and increase profitability.

Optimize production: Compressed air quality data can be used to optimize production and improve product quality. By combining compressed air quality data with business data such as production output and customer feedback, plant managers can identify correlations between compressed air quality and product quality. They can then optimize the compressed air system to ensure that it is providing the right quality of air for the production process, which can lead to better product quality and higher customer satisfaction.

Improve maintenance: Combining compressed air consumption and quality data with business data such as maintenance costs and downtime can help plant managers optimize maintenance schedules. By tracking compressed air consumption and quality over time, plant managers can identify when equipment is starting to degrade and may need maintenance or replacement. They can then schedule maintenance during periods of low production output to minimize downtime and reduce maintenance costs.

Overall, by combining compressed air consumption and quality data with business data, plant managers can gain a more comprehensive view of their manufacturing operations. This can help them identify cost-saving opportunities, optimize production, and improve maintenance schedules, which can lead to increased profitability and efficiency.

Plant managers and business executives in manufacturing can benefit from combining and analyzing business and operations data together. This provides a comprehensive view of operations, identifies patterns, improves forecasting, and helps make data-driven decisions for process improvements and profitability.