Cloud Computing – A Game Changer For The Manufacturing Industry
Cloud computing – the provision of infinitely scalable computing resources as a service over the Internet – is in the process of transforming virtually every facet of modern manufacturing.
Whether it’s how manufacturing enterprises operate, how they integrate into supply chains, or how products are designed, fabricated, and used by customers, cloud computing is helping manufacturers innovate, reduce costs, and increase their competitiveness.
However, not all firms have been quick to adopt new technologies. Manufacturing firms have the scale and longevity needed to comfortably wait out the emergence of new technologies in order to see what’s actually worth the investment, and what’s just a fad.
Well, if you’re still waiting on the cloud, you should know that you’ve fallen behind. After all, the cloud is more than a decade old. If it was going to fail, it would have by now.
If you haven’t yet harnessed the power of the cloud, your competitors in the manufacturing world are leaving you behind.
Do you know what you’re missing out on?
Your Cloud Primer: What Is It & What Does It Do?
By definition, the cloud is a network of technologies that allows access to computing resources, such as storage, processing power, and more. In layman’s terms, the cloud allows you to access IT resources that wouldn’t be available otherwise – or, at least, not without a much higher expense.
Advantages include:
Easily Budgeted Expenses
The cloud services subscription model offers the strategic advantage of low-cost, low-risk opt-in combined with a simple, predictable monthly fee.
IT Resources
The cloud has the ability to activate tens of thousands of CPUs. This unparalleled power can quickly perform deep analytics of your data, and process nearly any ad-hoc queries that you require.
Connecting Team Members
With cloud technology, your staff doesn’t have to wait for each other to be done with their part of the document or project in order to tackle their own aspect. They can all work on the same project at the same time to maximize productivity.
Simple Scalability
Cloud services have the unique strategic characteristic of being able to stretch or shrink to suit your current level of demand. This is especially useful for businesses of any scale that will change in size over time.
But that’s not all – the cloud even offers specific advantages to firms like yours.
The Benefits Of Cloud Computing In The Manufacturing Industry
Change is a constant, and all companies, including manufacturing companies, must be able to adapt to change. Static, on-premise IT solutions and infrastructures can hold you back. The cloud supports flexibility in a number of ways.
It’s Scalable
The cloud makes it easy to scale up or down if you have slow or busy seasons, and most manufacturers do. You can scale cloud services up if you take on a new customer. This is especially useful for manufacturers that operate on a seasonal cycle.
It’s Agile
Working in the cloud provides agility for your staff. They can easily adjust to new conditions. With traditional on-premise IT solutions, this process is slower and more complex. The cloud allows for faster application deployments, data backups, and computing power.
It’s Mobile
Before the cloud, if you wanted to get work done, you had to go to your office and use your desktop computer. This made it impossible to retrieve your digital files if you were stuck at home or traveling. Today, if you need to view a file or work on a project, you simply go online using the device of your choice and work in the cloud.
It Lowers Your Overall Costs
With the cloud, you can reduce costs and get the most value from your IT assets. When you outsource the management of your IT infrastructure to an IT service provider via the cloud, your operational, maintenance and administration costs are reduced.
The need for you to employ staff to maintain, administer and update hardware and software is eliminated. Plus, you’ll be free from the worry of IT headaches. And, with cloud services, you can save on investments in software, hardware, and IT infrastructure solutions. All of this can be “rented” via the cloud.
You’ll reduce your capital outlay and free up cash for other initiatives. Plus, when you use cloud services, you can benefit from user-based billing where you only pay for what you need and nothing more.
Improve Collaboration, Efficiency & Productivity
- Collaboration: Leading manufacturers use cloud technologies to enable easy collaboration that keeps everyone informed and working. Your teams can work on the same project from different locations. Documents and files are updated in real-time.
- Efficiency: With the cloud, your company will benefit from a shorter time-to-market because your people and processes are simply more efficient. You’ll save time and money.You will eliminate duplication of efforts to increase overall efficiency. Changes to documents can be made in real-time, so your employees won’t need to upload, download or email versions to one another. It’s a great way to avoid having different people do the same job over and over.
- Productivity: Enterprise Resource Planning in the cloud makes a lot of sense. With cloud-based ERP systems and other applications, your staff will experience higher rates of productivity. They can optimize their time when accessing, retrieving and processing information to carry out operations more efficiently. Productive, happy employees just make for a better workplace.You can manage all projects from one dashboard. Working in the cloud lets you assign and monitor tasks, get metrics from your applications, and manage your configurations from single, easy-to-understand screens.
It Eliminates Downtime
Your managed IT provider can manage, monitor and maintain a cloud-based infrastructure much easier. They will often see an issue and resolve it before it causes any trouble. This means fewer interruptions to your business operations and less downtime. With uninterrupted continuity of your manufacturing operations, you’ll add to your long-term profits.
The Manufacturing World Is Moving To The Cloud – Are You?
The cloud is becoming a fundamental part of the modern business world. The manufacturing industry is no exception.
If you’re not already using the cloud for file sharing and storage, you’re way behind the times. But if you’re also failing to take advantage of the industry-specific features the cloud can deliver, then you’re missing out.
Call (613) 634-8125 or CLICK HERE to contact OnServe’s team of experts today to start your cloud migration.
