Modern manufacturers aren’t simply makers of things, they are now the thread that connects the entire lifecycle of a product, through to end customer interactions. To thrive in this modern environment, they must increasingly rely upon technology to power breakthrough innovations and drive more efficient operations for engaged employees and improved customer experiences. A new generation of sophisticated intelligent technologies is transforming manufacturing into a highly connected and, productive industry.

The manufacturers of consumer goods need to get their products to market faster and more cost effectively than ever before. Complicating that mission is increasing competition, evolving business models that threaten industry disruption, and a growing gap in employee skills.
See more on future ready consumer goods manufactures here.

Avanade advocates that to accelerate business results, for today’s modern manufacturers, organisations should adopt a model that recommends a shift in focus to three key dimensions, all infused with intelligence, namely efficiencies, experiences and innovation…a future-ready model.

The path to becoming future-ready is different for every organization. Chances are, you’re already investing in technology and processes to drive your business forward. But digitized ≠ digital, and as a result, many organizations are suffering from digital transformation fatigue (over 43% according to Avanade research ¹ ). Are your investments paying off fast enough? How much are your current ways of doing business costing you? It’s more fundamental than your cost of business, it’s how much your traditional operations cost you beyond what they should, and beyond what your competitors spend. What is the opportunity cost of losing customers, of not maximizing the value for existing customers, and limiting your ability to maximize product quality and margins?

Oil and Gas companies, from upstream developers to downstream refiners and sellers, are accelerating their efforts at digital transformation. They’re seeking to thrive despite increasing waves of global regulation, environmental concerns, new economics and alternative energy sources.

97% of Upstream & 91% of Downstream executives report that the pace of innovation in their organizations has accelerated over the past three years due to emerging technologies…Accenture Tech Vision 2019: Accenture/Microsoft Upstream Digital Survey.
See more on future ready oil and gas companies here.

Companies are finding that digital transformation or enabling future-ready businesses can turn their business challenges into opportunities. The difference can be profound; the margin of a transformed future-ready company is 16 percentage points higher than its industry’s average, according to an MIT Center for Information Systems Research¹ briefing document. This is a big factor in investment decisions and IDC predicts that in 2022, digital transformation spending will reach $1.7 trillion worldwide.²

The benefits of a future-ready manufacturer can include:

• Increased process efficiency and output through data-insight-driven process optimization and visibility
• Reduced downtime and increased asset utilization through real-time monitoring of assets and predictive maintenance analytics
• Increased agility of supply-chain planning through production processes via real-Time visibility and process controls including equipment status and disruptive event
• Improved worker safety and injury prevention by detecting and responding to changes in field conditions and worker vital signals
  
  

Industrial equipment manufacturers face increasing competition, rising customer demands for customization, evolving business models that threaten industry disruption, and a growing gap in employee skills e.g. 94% of industrial equipment business leaders believe insight into the customer and employee experience is now of equal priority and 87% need to gain better insights from their data and analytics to improve their business processes and results.
See more on future ready industrial equipment manufacturers here.

To deliver that end-to-end support, we believe that the Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite breaks down the barriers between traditional business applications (including CRM and ERP, EAM, PLM and others). It integrates with the entire Microsoft ecosystem, including Cortana Intelligence Suite, Power BI (both part of Azure AI), Office 365 and Azure IoT. Manufacturers gain a single platform for every process from prospect to payment, including operations, manufacturing, sales and marketing, field service, customer service, finance, human resources and more. Microsoft calls this ecosystem the intelligent business cloud and Avanade is an essential partner in a manufacturer’s adoption of Microsoft Technology e.g. Forrester Research has recognized Avanade as a leader in providing Microsoft and Dynamics 365 solutions.

Avanade has brought into reality MIT’s Future Ready concept of using technology to improve a company’s agility and ability to adapt – improving customer experiences while simultaneously improving cost efficiency and employee experiences. Our joint ownership by Accenture and Microsoft also lets us bring any new elements of Microsoft or industry unique solutions to our clients ahead of the market.

Avanade also brings together the right mix of strategy, industry experts, experience design, advanced technology and a proven approach to help you create a synergistic ecosystem that delivers value greater than the sum of its parts. We welcome the opportunity to help you develop a future-ready solution to achieve your manufacturing business objectives and unashamedly we are extremely proud to have been recognised as the 2019 Microsoft Digital Transformation Partner of the Year.