Big data plays a crucial role in ushering trade industries to a more high-tech sphere.
Big data’s role is especially prominent in trade industries, where big data can improve the manufacturing process, make custom product design more efficient, offer greater quality assurance and effectively manage supply chain risk.
Big data enables a firmer, more thorough look at what’s working and what isn’t in all these aspects, leading to business that operates smoothly.
Investments in big data by companies continue to grow. As of 2015, over 75 percent of companies have already invested in big data, compared to only 58% in 2012. The increasing reliance on big data is a good thing for efficiency. Increased analytics, in addition to seamless access and integration involving that data, results in improved communication on all sides of the supply chain.
Improved Manufacturing Process
In the creation of a product, one of the most important aspects is consistency. If 100 customers order a product and half of them receive a defective version, the negative PR impact would be extraordinary. Even a smaller portion in the range of 10% can be cause for serious alarm and monetary loss.
Big data enables trade industries to hone in on the defected products, helping identify parameters that had an impact on the defect.
Comprehensively analysing defective products via big data has worked well for several industries, including pharmaceutical manufacturing. McKinsey and Company were able to save between $5 and $10 million by identifying parameters culled from big data that impacted vaccine yield after production of two batches produced high yield variation.
An improved manufacturing process is made possible by big data and its role in identifying and helping to remedy defects. This type of high-tech monitoring helps keep pace with the competition.
Efficient Custom Product Design
How your company’s product stands out from its competition is a big factor in its success, and custom product design is integral. Trade industries can monitor customer behavior on their websites using big data. This behavior can combine with additional data, like location and gender, to help deliver customized product offers.
Trade industries can gain an understanding of which products are viable and which ones are expendable when using both website analytics and big data regarding inventory performance.
Beyond that, integrating products with big data can help provide information on product habits. For example, modern air compressor systems often come with software that allows real-time data tracking. The tracking and monitoring help customers operate their products at optimal efficiency, providing a positive impression.
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Quality Assurance Made Better
Quality assurance can be a very time-consuming and costly endeavor, especially for businesses that test every single product.
For example, Intel originally had to run thousands of tests per individual chip they produced. They decided to incorporate big data to help define predictive analytics, decreasing the number of tests required for the chip to be cleared. They ended up saving $3 billion in manufacturing cost for one line of Intel Core processors, showing the mighty powers of efficiency and cost-savings that big data can bring to trade industries.
Effective Management of Supply Chain Risk
Accidents happen. It’s especially the case when raw materials get delivered. Bad weather, mishandling and common mix-ups can contribute to supply chain mishaps. If there are one thing businesses of all types can commiserate about, it’s the often uncertainty of the supply chain.
Fortunately, businesses that have embraced the high-tech aspect of big data are monitoring weather and traffic data to determine delivery times, as well as gauging whether to hold off on a shipment.
Additionally, the big data can weigh which suppliers are meeting their deadlines, comparative to supply competitors. This aids in developing contingency plans to make sure a natural disaster doesn’t impact production.
As businesses continue to make strides incorporating big data and consequently become more embracing of high-tech, they will notice fewer hiccups in the supply chain, in addition to quality assurance with greater foresight and an improved manufacturing process.
Kayla Matthews writes about manufacturing, engineering and technology.Keep up with her latest interests by subscribing to her blog, Productivity Bytes.