How are data and Big Data today transforming the manufacturing industry? As probably many of you agree, I think that investments form the foundation for growth of every company. To this I would add that today data and Big Data must surely be an important aspect in any development plan.
In mechanics the so-called “efficiency” is the effectiveness with which mechanical components slide/roll against each other without losing energy. It is a rule that is also applicable in business: the more efficient a company is, the less energy it will dissipate (with energy meaning resources, time and costs).
That said, it goes without saying that good collection and analysis of data is essential to identify, analyze and therefore reduce the inefficiencies that sooner or later occur in the everyday life of any company, thus allowing us to achieve savings in economic terms, improvements in quality and safety, increased working efficiency and enhanced flows of information within and outside a company. If we as entrepreneurs fail to understand that all the wasted energy can and must be transformed into higher profits or lower costs, it is our customers that will make us aware with the risk of exclusion from the market.
And that’s not all.
Today the collection of data is essential to understand the market with all its demands and to confirm whether or not our business model is continuing to be profitable.
More generally, data is the starting point for the famous “constantly questioning everything” that I talked about some time ago.
The fact that Big Data is radically transforming current business models is well known. What however is striking and which should be reflected on is the huge amount of business that this market is generating. In its Worldwide Semiannual Big Data and Analytics Spending Guide published last year, the research and market analysis company IDC estimated that gains from the sale of Big Data will reach 187 billion dollars by 2019 (in 2015 it was 122 billion) and one of the greatest beneficiaries is in fact the manufacturing industry where it is estimated that in 2019 revenues could reach 39 billion.
The collection and processing of data has always been performed since time immemorial; also in the sixties, to give just one example, machine route cards were also being produced. The basic principle is that the more information available, the more detailed their analysis and processing will be with the consequent advantages and vice versa. How is this data collected today? If specific software is used, the data will have a very high positive impact.
But if instead there is still a largely manual component in this process, the results will be much lower. It is not difficult to imagine, in fact, that incomplete or partial data will inevitably result in the implementation of erroneous strategies.
According to the Big Data Analytics & Business Intelligence Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic School of Management 39% of Italian Chief Innovation Officers consider Big Data an investment priority for 2017.
What’s your opinion?
