Despite what you may have heard or seen about the term “cloud manufacturing”, it is not smoke and mirrors nor is it going to go get your coffee in the morning when you get to work. You already have somebody who does that for you. What cloud manufacturing really is, is the result of the movement of technology toward the point where it can give some very effective benefits to the manufacturing your business does every day. A straightforward definition of cloud manufacturing is the delivery of control capabilities to manufacturing processes over the internet. You might say “Wait a minute, that sounds like a lack of control, if it’s coming from the internet”. Well I say that it is about time that the internet delivered on some of the promises that were spouted about it when it first came to life. Everyone was told that this “cloud” called the internet would make everything easier and more productive. That is finally coming to fruition for manufacturing.
Think about the expenses and efforts that you put into your manufacturing operation that are related to automation equipment control (Provided you have already actually automated your manufacturing!). Even with the advent of manufacturing automation and its advance in capabilities, there is still a need for staff to make changes to control programs and implement and maintain those programs. With CM added to your manufacturing you can eliminate a lot of the effort, time, and cost that are associated with automation equipment control.
Such a change will possibly eliminate some of the equipment that is currently used at the production line level by offering automation control instructions from the internet directly to the automation devices in your production line. Here again is the possibility of a major reduction in expense for resources and their maintenance. It is a good idea for you to learn as much as possible Technology Industry News about this concept of cloud manufacturing and continue learning because in the near future it is going to change the automation manufacturing control that you use in your operation. There are limited resources for offering this type of service at the time this is being written. However, it is expected that this type of service availability will grow very quickly in the marketplace.
I know that you are now asking “How does all this work?” or better yet “How can I get this for my manufacturing operation?” To be able to have the capabilities of CM control, you will have to get a subscription for software-as-a-service. Saas is offered by companies that have Company Analysis large servers that are securely connected to the internet. These servers are running the software programs that can control the automation devices in your production line. Security and continuous program availability are both of the highest importance in such a scenario.
Servers will be redundant more one that once, which means there will be more than one backup server running concurrently with the server that gives your production line its control. This server mirroring keeps the instructions flowing even if one server goes down. There is no interruption of service. The instructions can flow directly to your automation device, so there will be little need for an automation controller in the production line to send instructions to this device.
Cloud manufacturing has outstanding benefits for your operation. First, you will be able to reduce capital expenses that you currently spend for automation controllers and their operation and maintenance. You will be able to spend more time and energy in your core competencies and less resources in changing and tinkering with automation programs. When there is a need for upgrade of programs that run automation, you will have the upgrade immediately, you will not need to spend time and effort making the changeover. Your operation will be able to react to the market place demands more quickly without the interference that automation programming changes require. The latest automation functionality is readily available to your operation. Smaller manufacturers can have the automation capabilities that larger competitors have without the increased capital costs that the bigger companies may have to expend to get this production ability.
CM gives the manufacturer the ability to have a closer relationship with both customers and suppliers. There is the possibility that companies will be able to share raw material needs, inventory levels, or other information with entities so that production rates can be kept at an optimum level.
There will be some challenges for your business in the implementation of CM. At this point in time this type of scenario is not delivering at its optimum. This is a newly implemented concept, just like any other process the kinks need to be eliminated to make it work at its best. It is felt that optimization of this will come in short order because there is a great need for this service and it will be very beneficial for manufacturing companies. In order to get he best from CM it is important for your company to keep up with the demands of the marketplace.
Demands and your production output must be in sync for this scenario to work at its best. There may be some resistance from IT or other legacy holders and operators to the implementation of CM. These parties must be convinced of the benefits that such an operating change will make for the overall business. Some parties will need to be convinced of the secure level of operation that CM can give the business.
It is important to realize that it only requires more bandwidth from the internet to get more capability from cloud manufacturing.
