According to research conducted by Forbes, “manufacturers are only achieving about 40% of their production capacity” if they are only focusing on manual data entry.
If you are a manufacturer with a D2C Brand under your name, you must be well aware of how difficult the climb can get with each one trying to be at the top. To be at par with your competitors, you need to adopt modern technologies, such as Automation and Real-Time Data software, that’ll help speed up your online businesses and make them more efficient.
Are you feeling overwhelmed already? Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. In this article, you’ll get to know all the titbits about Real-Time Data and how you can use D2C technology to its full potential for a successful online business.
Data-Driven Manufacturing
First things first. Before diving into the deeper matters, let’s begin first from the surface. What does this big word, “Data-Driven Manufacturing”, even mean?
Well, you should know that manufacturing nowadays depends largely on quantitative data and facts. This is accelerated largely by the emerging technology that helps collect and process the numbers and facts that are needed for better manufacturing results.
Therefore, manufacturers need to incorporate data into their daily decision-making activities to get better results.
The Three Stages of Data-Driven Manufacturing Optimization
Capturing & Monitoring Data - In the first step, you will need to collect data in real-time, which will provide the basis for putting your data to work.
Categorizing & Visualizing Data - Next, the collected data must be processed and analyzed to receive insights from them.
Business Intelligence & Action - Finally, reports and workflows need to be provided to ease the decision-making and strategy creation. Once machine data has been collected and analyzed, it becomes possible to develop actionable strategies to optimize production efficiency and implement them.
How does the Real-Time Data strategy improve manufacturing?
By providing valuable insights, there are many ways Real-Time data makes your business effective and efficient.
1. Increase Transparency
Real-time monitoring keeps you updated at all stages of manufacturing. It delivers information about production processes, work centers, supply chains, and other important manufacturing functions. Its trackability feature displays product status right from stock availability to reaching the end consumers.
2. Inventory Management
Real-time Data gives inventory information about products that are either over or understocked. This feature provides speedy delivery services as customers do not want to wait if the product is unavailable. Inventory management is a tedious process, and with manual help, it takes a much longer time and is also prone to human-made errors.
3. Quality Product
With real-time analysis, you can immediately check customers’ preferences and shopping history, thus providing them with a more customized shopping experience. It also helps determine when a machine will need repair or maintenance, ensuring healthy machinery and higher quality products. After all, good quality products = happy customers!
4. Identifying Changes in Customer Demands
Quickly identifying changes in customer demands and adapting to them accordingly will make your e-commerce business a big hit. And real-time data helps you in achieving exactly that.
5. Increased Productivity with Timely Results
When you combine real-time data with predictive analysis, your productivity increases and becomes more efficient, it helps in better and quick business decisions. It reduces communication failure and combines all information from multiple sources into one source. It keeps track of all workflows and makes information access easier for all team members, thus giving results on time.
How to increase Production through efficient tracking using Automation Tools?
Now here comes another big & technical word. "Automation". Sheesh!
Let us first understand what it is in simple words.
'Automation' refers to using tools and machinery to perform production processes, reducing human or manual work. Automation is increasing in the manufacturing industry as it provides efficient results by increasing production capacity and reducing costs.
The manufacturing process and Automation go hand in hand for D2C manufacturers. Automation's benefits to Manufacturing, particularly in the D2C industry, are multifaceted.
Reduction in Labour Costs
Increases in Labour Efficiency
Enhance and simplify the supply chain, accounting, and other areas of management
An improvement in product quality
A reduction or elimination of human-made errors as in documentation
Provide predictable maintenance
Visibility in your manufacturing processes is essential for streamlining production, improving profitability, and reducing waste.
Automated Tracking Technologies provides real-time, accurate data to help you improve your workflows and save time spent carrying out manual recording and stock checks.
Automated Tracking in Production can help in the following ways -
1. Greater visibility and increased productivity
Visual systems allow you to track progress on the production line. It gives a picture of how long products remain at each stage of the manufacturing process. Such information is vital in setting production goals to know if products are stacking up at a particular point in the process and quickly identify the root cause of any problem.
2. Tighter inventory control
Automated trackability enables you to track the quantity and location of your products. This helps identify potential shortages before they occur, prevent excess stock from piling up, and track product expiration dates to ensure that nothing goes to waste. This feature is most useful in the case of perishable goods. Ensuring that the oldest perishable products are sent out first significantly reduces the risk that products will go out of date before you’ve had a chance to ship them, protecting against waste.
3. Efficient Delivery
Tracking data can help you ensure more efficient shipping and delivery. Shipping errors are costly and time-consuming for businesses to correct. Greater visibility throughout the assembly and shipping can ensure that it passes the test, thus providing ultimate customer satisfaction.
4. Quality Control
Using automatic tracking data for your quality-assurance process helps ensure compliance and improve efficiency.
The Final Word
If you’ve reached the final part of this article, you surely must have understood how important Real-Time Data is for your D2C brand. You will be one step behind your competition if you’re running your e-commerce brand without accurate and up-to-date data. Using real-time data for continually tracking, controlling, and fine-tuning your manufacturing processes will leave you with much happier customers and a successful business!