What is the manufacturing (r)evolution?
OnWindows Issues 6: Spring 2016
This year’s Hannover Messe event will see companies from around the world demonstrate how the manufacturing industry is adapting to the demands of customers. We take a look at the areas in which Microsoft’s business solution portfolio is making a critical difference
Hannover Messe has long been an eagerly anticipated annual occurrence on the global manufacturing calendar, and the 2016 event is no exception.
Attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, Hannover Messe features dedicated areas focusing on research and development, industrial automation, IT, industrial supply, production technologies and services to energy and mobility technologies.
2016’s event seems to have a certain star quality to it. US President Barack Obama will speak at the opening ceremony on 24 April, and is set to tour the fair with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 25 April. Microsoft’s technology and manufacturing stars will also be there, showcasing the customers and partners that are leading the digital transformation of manufacturing.
Hannover Messe is about evolution, and the occasional revolution – it is after all the showcase event for Industry 4.0, or the 4th Industrial Revolution. There will no doubt be smarter robots, and further evolution of industrial automation at Hannover Messe 2016.
The real revolution on show in 2016 will be around customer-obsessed manufacturers who are connecting the dots between well-informed and fickle digital consumers, and digital design and manufacturing capabilities. Today’s manufacturers are taking an ‘outside-in’ approach to digital business and using new systems of intelligence – powered by the internet of things (IoT), advanced analytics and the cloud – to connect marketing, sales, and service operations, with intelligent manufacturing and supply chain operations.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, described a new era of systems of intelligence and the digital transformation of manufacturing at Microsoft’s business solutions conference just over a year ago. Since then, a growing number of companies in the manufacturing industry have been reimagining their businesses, using data from the products they have made and shipped to their customers. Combined with customer relationship management (CRM) data such as customer complaints, new feature requests, service calls, and sentiments expressed by employees, partners and customers, these manufacturers are getting real insights into product usage and customer opinion. Not only does this provide a holistic view of the customer experience, but also enables manufacturers to innovate with new products and services that their customers will value.
Remote monitoring of smart products is enabling new business opportunities in the context of predictive maintenance and proactive field service. IoT is also a path to connected product innovation – not just by connecting devices, but connecting research and development, engineering, manufacturing and supply chain operations with marketing, sales and service. Hannover Messe 2016 provides an opportunity to discuss manufacturing challenges and their corresponding solutions with Microsoft leaders, and its customers and partners. It offers the opportunity to dig deep into IoT and
machine learning technologies with Azure IoT Suite and Cortana Analytics Suite, or see the potential of augmented reality with Microsoft HoloLens. It’s also an opportunity to see end-to-end business solutions bringing these technologies together in a new generation of systems of intelligence, by Dynamics AX and CRM, and by Microsoft partners.
Unlocking the efficiencies of better-connected field agents
With the need to differentiate the customer experience, manufacturers are increasingly focusing on field service as a competitive weapon, and as their path to higher margins. Field Service Management (FSM) solutions are now vital to the success of any field service operation due to increased product configuration and service complexity, and the need to balance service levels with the cost to serve different customers and channels.
Intelligently routing field service agents that are already out in the field – making sure they have the right skills, parts and tools to do the job – can be the difference between field service being a cost center or a profit center.
Organizations considering their field service management requirements have three possible options. They could simply maintain the status quo, but risk missing opportunities. A custom solution is another possibility, and for very large enterprises, this might be viable. The effort will however be time-consuming and expensive, regardless of outcome. A third option – and one an increasing number of companies are choosing – is a cloud solution such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s Field Service, which offers support for a wide range of mobile devices. This solution offers connectivity to the new smart products that manufacturers are deploying with their customers, while real-time analytics helps anticipate failures, and end-to-end integration connects marketing, sales and service with integrated business intelligence and workflow.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM can leverage Azure IoT Suite for remote monitoring and predictive maintenance to proactively generate service tickets. Dynamics CRM field service solution can cut costs while boosting productivity and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, as a cloud solution, Dynamics CRM can also be rapidly provisioned and configured to impact multiple areas of operations.
Microsoft Dynamics AX
The latest version of Microsoft Dynamics AX is available in 137 markets and 40 languages across the globe. The company’s next-generation cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is designed to bring the power, speed and intelligence of cloud computing to people and organizations, enabling them to achieve more. “Customers from around the world are using the cloud in incredible ways to accelerate and transform their business,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise. “Today’s release is an exciting milestone extending Microsoft’s business cloud offerings. It’s now possible for organizations to run their entire business in the cloud with Microsoft – from productivity with Office 365, to business analytics with Power BI and Cortana Analytics Suite, customer engagement with Dynamics CRM and business operations with Dynamics AX.” The new release brings ERP, business intelligence, infrastructure and database services to customers in a single offering. The latest version also offers enhanced Lifecycle Services, which helps businesses combine the best practices of their mission-critical apps with the flexibility and simplicity of upgrade via the cloud.
What experts are saying
Lifecycle Services represent a shift in how companies manage the life cycle of an ERP system in a way that’s never really been done before. The ability to test in the cloud and use the cloud’s natural elasticity and functionality to take the test, flip a switch and make it the actual production environment, that truly is magic. – Josh Greenbaum, principal analyst, Enterprise Application Consulting
What customers are saying
A number of customers globally are already using Dynamics AX to run business processes in the cloud, including Hagler Systems, Haldex, Icon, Renault Sport Formula One Team, Priva, Smiles, Travel Alberta and Umbra Group.
We do everything through Dynamics AX now; we manage virtually all of our operations. Having what I need to run my business available anywhere in the world is invaluable. – Thomas Mayer, chief operating officer, Renault Sport Formula One Team
We are bringing massive amounts of data into our business to help control building climates and horticulture environments. That is a huge business transformation, and the cloud was the only way forward for us to make that real. To manage our company with 10 offices around the world, we need systems that are fast. That is what Dynamics AX in the cloud is giving us, and we couldn’t be more excited to be one of the first customers on board to take advantage of this new solution. – Paul Ossewold, vice president, Digital Operations, Priva
ERP is core to our business operations and critical to building and delivering products to our customers. We chose Dynamics AX because of its robustness. The UI is amazing and available anywhere. It makes us device-independent. We can get work done everywhere with increased speed. – Ben Hagler, co-founder, Hagler Systems
This release is further proof that Microsoft is leading the charge with innovations not just in ERP but in the cloud. Dynamics AX will be a game changer for enterprise customers. – Peter ter Maaten, CEO, HSO
