The increased complexity brought on by globalization has only exacerbated the issue, resulting in increased levels of supply chain risk often left unmanaged by manufacturers struggling to allocate the time and resources to properly address compounding problems.

But successfully mitigating risk in a volatile landscape can be done — with Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing technologies, the unknown can become known through the contextualization of data, facilitating better decision making that creates the resilience companies need to face future challenges head on.

Contextualized Data Unlocks Actionable Insight That Reduces Risk 

Industry 4.0 has made possible the connectivity of machines, devices, and people across supply chain operations through the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), the conduit through which mountains of data can be collected from sensors and made available for manufacturers to make sense of.

And it’s the making sense of it that’s the key; to tap into the risk-reducing power within that raw data, intelligence must be extracted from it, it must be analyzed for insights — it must be contextualized.

End-to-end visibility and the contextualization of supply chain data provides manufacturers with realtime information that turns raw data into real business value.

Traceability software and material ledger solutions are emerging to revolutionize the process of tracking materials across the supply chain — in conjunction with Smart Manufacturing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), they can enable a material-centric view of operations, correlating data to identify cause & effect and previously unseen root issues all the way from supplier to consumer.

Errors, anomalies, contaminants, bottlenecks — any issue that raises the potential for setbacks, safety issues, recalls, and damage to the bottom line can be brought to the manufacturer’s attention via early warning alerts, allowing for speedier response times before anything escalates out of control.

 When manufacturers can unlock the intelligence within the volume of available supply chain data, they can see the big picture, make more efficient problem-solving decisions, achieve better collaboration with supply chain partners, and optimize outcomes across the entire value chain.

The supply chain risks that come with globalization aren’t going anywhere — but they can be tackled with the right manufacturing strategies to head them off at the pass.

By implementing an Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing approach, manufacturers can gain unprecedented visibility into their operations through the contextualization of their raw data — and be armed with the actionable insights required to build robust layers of defense against setbacks, and to manage risk for optimal supply chain agility and resilience.

A Proven Data Platform Transforming Raw Data Into Raw Power 

The advantages of contextualized supply chain data via Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing are substantial. And with the ideal partner, they get even more so —ThinkIQ’s Transformational Intelligence platform provides a fact-based, granular, data-centric contextualized view of material flows and related provenance attribute data that integrates into existing IoT infrastructures and crosses supply chains to manufacturing processes and beyond.

This level of visibility unlocks unprecedented traceability and insight for improved quality, safety, compliance, and brand confidence.

ThinkIQ’s customers have saved tens of millions of dollars by identifying waste and underperforming assets, reduced warranty reserves for quality and safety issues, doubled production yields, eliminated virtually all recalls, and enhanced customer engagement and loyalty. By identifying and eradicating root-level problems, manufacturers have gained the ability to dodge impending disaster by focusing on seeing what is coming, and how to maximize resilience while improving yield.

We’ve already implemented Smart Manufacturing systems at General Mills, McCain, Corning, and Mars to expose root-level problems that have transformed their lines. We’re ready to help you transform yours.

Make your data work for you — Contact a ThinkIQ expert to find out more about how contextualized data can lead to a significant reduction in risk for your manufacturing enterprise. You can also download our new eBook, “Using Computer Vision to Fill Manufacturing and Warehousing Blind Spots with Actionable Data” for more information on how to get realtime contextualized reporting on critical activities and events.