Manufacturers Digitized the Factory. Now They Need to Fix the Data Coming In.

Manufacturers have spent decades digitizing what happens inside the four walls of the enterprise. Manufacturing execution systems track production; sensors monitor equipment; warehouse management systems know where inventory sits, and enterprise resource planning ERP systems connect purchasing, production, inventory and fulfillment. Automation has transformed the factory floor, and visibility inside manufacturing operations has never been better.

But there’s a disconnect. Much of the information that determines what those systems need to do originates from outside the organization — from suppliers, distributors, logistics providers and customers. Purchase orders, shipping notices, forecasts and invoices, quality certificates, product specs, and shipment updates continuously cross boundaries, and that data doesn't arrive neat and clean.

One supplier sends an EDI, another replies on spreadsheets; a customer sends a PDF purchase order; the logistics provider uses an application programming interface. Another partner uses a proprietary file format configured years ago that has barely changed. The result is an increasingly complex, yet sophisticated operation being fed by a fragmented data supply chain.

It might be one of the most overlooked constraints on manufacturing today: The factory can only move as fast as the data coming into it.

This story was originally published by SupplyChainBrain. Read the full story at SupplyChainBrain →