In a business environment of increasing competition, growing markets and rising customer expectation, it’s not going to be enough for manufacturers to simply maintain the status quo.

Industry 4.0 encompasses the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, including IoT, cloud computing, and cognitive computing.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors and resellers are developing solutions that are Industry 4.0 ready. This follows an expectation of a boom in Industry 4.0 technologies as well as an increase in manufacturing processes that embrace the principles of the fourth industrial revolution.

So what makes Industry 4.0 so crucial in relation to ERP systems? Through the digitization of products and the processes that create them, a production environment that’s far superior, far more connected, and increasingly more efficient can be developed.

What does your current ERP software architecture look like?

ERP software acts as a central management platform for those along the supply chain which is subject to continuous requirements in terms of scalability, data management, and connectivity with third-party systems.

If frequent changes are costly and burdensome for your business, then your ERP systems may not be well suited to Industry 4.0.

How do your systems currently talk to each other?

Secondly, you should consider how different departments in your business relate and communicate with one another as well as what kind of data they share. In order to see the benefits of Industry 4.0, all departments should be able to have access to the same real-time production data on an ERP system.

Are your decisions based on gut instinct alone?

The ability to make quick and accurate decisions is a key principle of most businesses in an Industry 4.0 world. The need for these decisions to be data-informed is critical. Often for many businesses, the access to detailed production data quickly and efficiently is difficult, with many business leaders resulting to make decisions based on past experience or gut instinct.

This way of decision making makes it extremely hard to measure success or track ROI. With Industry 4.0 based ERP systems, you can access the real-time data needed to make business decisions with conviction.

Are you using multiple data sources?

The integrated analytics functions of today’s ERP solutions allow for data to be stored and captured from many different business areas such as production process, customer behavior data and market developments information.

Providing this networked view of the business to all departments enables all employees, from finance to sales, to make decisions based on the same information. This can bring great benefits to the business. 

Is your ERP ready for IIOT?

As well as telling machines what to do, successful ERP solutions will also take orders from machines.

For instance, when a machine part in an IT (Industrial Internet of Things) production plant requires maintenance, it will alert the ERP system before it becomes a real problem. As well as this, it will work on different tasks ensuring that production levels are not interrupted.

With the correct technology in place, the opportunities presented by the IIOT in ERP and maintenance are endless. If you want to fuel business growth with Industry 4.0, ask yourself the above questions to ensure your ERP solution speaks fluent IIOT.