Manufacturers globally have faced serious challenges in recent years. Technology skills gaps, supply chain disruption and the increasing need for automation, along with the secure networks required to support manufacturing advancement, have manufacturers turning to technology; and to external expert partners, to meet enterprise goals. Technology advancements support 5 key areas of manufacturing. Leveraging managed services providers to support and secure the network infrastructure that enables these advancements helps achieve these positive business outcomes.

1. Increased production flexibility
   Digital technology and cloud-based applications allow manufacturers to change or improve designs in a more agile way while controlling cost to the production process.

2. Labor efficiency
   The evolution of robotics, autonomous assembly lines and component management are becoming mainstream. As the shop floor grows more sophisticated, manufacturers are coming to rely on expert network and security partners to plan and deploy the supporting infrastructure needed by these evolving tools, leaving them to think more creatively about staff levels, process improvements and working hours.

3. Improved profitability
   As machine learning and predictive maintenance grow across the industry, margins can be continuously maximized, and downtime kept to a bare minimum.

4. Better use of resources
   Getting products to market in a more efficient way is made easier with digital resources that optimize processes. The result is reduced wastage and streamlined time management.

5. Improved quality
   Gaining a competitive advantage is a constant need for manufacturing operations. Digital tools such as big data analytics create insights that help businesses stay ahead.

In a recent poll*, 73% of respondents said that without investing in digital technologies they would fall behind their competitors and nearly 80% were planning to increase investment in the next 2 years. Given the volatile economic climate, these figures show how important technology is to building resilient, successful operations.

* Source: Make UK/Infor, Digital Adoption Survey (2022)