Top 10 Pain Points Indicating Why You May Need Digitization

Bluestreak Reading Time: 5 minutes

The future landscape of digitization for job shops and manufacturers is poised to bring significant advancements and benefits due to the rapid pace of technological advancements, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics, which continue to transform the manufacturing industry. Manufacturers who become early adopters of digitization are bound to reap greater benefits due to its compounding impact. Those who implement digital systems later might find themselves behind the curb.

If you can relate to any of these top 10 pain points it may signify it's time to upgrade your processes to digitization.

1. Overwhelming Paperwork: If your job shop is drowning in paperwork and struggling to manage and organize important documents, it's a clear sign that digital solutions are needed.

2. Inefficient Communication: When communication gaps and delays become common, causing errors, misunderstandings, and delays in job completion, it's time to streamline communication through digital channels.

3. Manual Data Entry: If your employees spend excessive time manually entering data into spreadsheets or systems, it's an indication that automation and digital integration can significantly improve efficiency.

4. Lack of Real-Time Visibility: When you struggle to track and monitor job progress, machine utilization, or inventory levels in real-time, implementing digital solutions can provide the transparency and visibility you need.

5. Inconsistent Scheduling: If you face challenges in managing and adjusting production schedules due to manual processes or lack of visibility, digitizing scheduling and planning can enhance efficiency and agility.

6. Difficulty in Meeting Customer Expectations: If your job shop struggles to meet customer demands for faster turnaround times, accurate order tracking, or customized products, digital tools can help you meet and exceed expectations.

7. Inaccurate Inventory Management: If you often face stockouts, inventory discrepancies, or difficulties in tracking materials, implementing digital inventory management systems can improve accuracy and optimize stock levels.

8. Limited Data Analysis: If you lack the ability to analyze production data, identify bottlenecks, measure performance metrics, or make data-driven decisions, digitizing your operations will enable you to harness valuable insights.

9. Quality Control Challenges: When maintaining consistent product quality becomes a challenge due to manual quality control processes, implementing digital solutions can enhance accuracy, traceability, and quality assurance.

10. High Error Rates and Rework: If your job shop experiences frequent errors, rework, or customer complaints due to manual processes, digitization can reduce errors, increase precision, and improve overall quality.

Digitizing shop operations requires careful planning, implementation, and ongoing employee training to ensure a successful transition and long-term success. Although there are initial investments in digitization, the long-term cost savings can be substantial. Reductions in labor costs, inventory carrying costs, rework expenses, and improved resource utilization contribute to overall cost savings.

If you’re ready to leave manual, time-consuming tasks in the past, drastically reduce your scrap and rework percentage, gain visibility of your production floor processes, and build better relationships with your customers, contact us for a free consultation today! About Bluestreak™

Bluestreak™ is a fully integrated Quality Management System (QMS) and powerful Manufacturing Execution System (MES), designed for the manufacturing environment and service-based manufacturing companies ( metal-treating/powder-coating, plating, heat-treating, forging, and metal-finishing), businesses that receive customers’ parts, perform a process (service) on them, and send those parts back to the customer). Companies need MES software tailored to specific functionality and workflow needs such as industry-specific specifications management, intuitive scheduling control for both staff and machinery maintenance, and the ability to manage work orders and track real-time data. If different work centers on the production floor aren’t “speaking” to each other via the MES, the data loses value and becomes disjointed or lost in disparate silos.

Bluestreak | Bright AM™ is a QMS + MES software solution specifically designed to manage and optimize the unique requirements of Additive Manufacturing’s production of parts and powder inventory usage.