Digital Transformation: A Digital Manufacturing Data Record

The manufacturing industry must transform digitally, but not all companies are on board. Smart factories have reduced costs and improved products with quality control software. However, 40 percent of manufacturers have not launched a digital technology pilot, according to a McKinsey survey. And many that are already onboard may not fully realize how central mobile manufacturing apps are to Industry 4.0.

Are you a manufacturer not yet sure of how vital mobile is to digital manufacturing? An article in Machine Design, “How Mobile Devices Help Manufacturers Get Ahead in the Digital Age,” details three ways mobile technology help.

3 Ways Mobile Devices Are Keeping Manufacturers Competitive 

1. The first way, the article notes, is using mobile devices to improve quality control (QC) and inventory management. Manufacturers traditionally manually do quality management on products coming off the production line and record the information on clipboards.
   The author notes, “Mobile devices with cameras for thermal imaging or dimensioning can be used by QC to record this data faster, from anywhere in the production process and shared with the entire organization in real-time. If a worker uses a clipboard to record data, those top-level decisions happen much slower, and more faulty items are produced as a result.”
   Mobile apps and devices can use tools such as barcode scanners to speed inventory management. Apps can also be used for additive manufacturing quality checks and throughout the product life cycle.
2. Mobile can also be helpful with predictive maintenance, the article notes. Using a mobile device, workers can run diagnostics directly on equipment and then capture and share the data.
   The article says that in doing this, “Workers can capture, share, and respond to maintenance data in a way that can dramatically impact the quality of the end product and the overall productivity of the organization. In addition, this information can then be fed into analytics databases to be utilized for predicting future maintenance at the optimal time.”
3. Finally, mobile technology can improve operations, the article says. Workers and managers can “access critical information wherever they are in the plant, which is essential to real-time data sharing and fast decision making.”

The Best Digital Tool for Manufacturers

To build mobile apps that enable digital manufacturing and  Industry 4.0, manufacturers need to choose the right software. Your employees need a solution that lets them digitize manufacturing processes quickly and easily. Alpha TransForm is an ideal choice.

The Alpha TransForm no-code app builder free trial allows users to create a custom manufacturing app. Users can build a safety inspection app, a Gemba walk app, a 5S Audit app, or an equipment inspection app. Or users can choose to turn any paper form into a mobile app in minutes.

All TransForm apps are optimized for one-handed data entry on the shop floor. These apps utilize the latest mobile features (camera, GPS, etc.) for fast, accurate data capture. The best part - Alpha TransForm eliminates back-end data entry because apps can tie into your computer systems and workflows. Alpha TransForm also offers an advanced cloud computing solution for deploying apps and scaling with ease.

Try the Alpha TransForm Manufacturing Quality Management Solution. You can build your own app or give one of our manufacturing apps a try:

• Gemba Walk App template
• 5S Audit App template
• Safety Inspection App template 
• Equipment Inspection App template
• Non-Conformance Report Template.

Alpha Software has extensive experience working with manufacturing data for companies like Boeing, Honda, Igloo, and others. Our experts can help you turn paper forms into mobile apps that collect better manufacturing data. We can help you build custom data analytics reports. And we can help you tie any data you collect into any database or export the data to Excel.

Once you go paperless, you'll not only save money on paper printing costs. You'll save overhead on office space and file cabinet storage, You'll also see work hours decrease because employees will spend less time recording data or re-keying it into company systems. You will spend less on printers, toners, and repairs. And your team won't spend time looking for information or searching for lost forms.

Digitize Manufacturing Technology Data Collection Apps and Data Analytics for Inspectors, Engineers, Assemblers and Production Teams Create digital threads for: Gemba Walks  •  Workplace Audits  •  Non-Conformance Reports  • Yellow Sheets  • Temporary Deviation Authorizations  •  Shortage Sheets •  Supplier Defects Per Unit Reporting  •  ISO Certifications  •  Work in Progress Tracking  •  Inventory Tracking  •  Supply Chain Tracking •  Workplace Wellness  •  and more,,,