The Role of Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing in Empowering Businesses

Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing is designed to streamline operations, optimize different processes, eliminate redundancies, reduce downtime, and boost overall productivity.

It consists of different Dynamics 365 solutions, that include Business Central, Finance, and Supply Chain Management. Such cloud-based solutions allow you to improve process quality, enhance agility, empower workforce, and reduce costs.

But why does the manufacturing business require this solution? Let’s delve into this.

The Covid-19 pandemic impacted almost every industry, and manufacturing was no exception. Due to unprecedented market and supply chain disruptions, the industry witnessed various challenges, including forecasting demand, staying resilient, supply chain management, operational visibility, employee safety, and remote work.

To counter these challenges, the industry realized the need to incorporate a digital strategy to grow a sustainable future and reap the maximum benefits from their technology investments. Post-pandemic, 62% of manufacturers invested in digitizing their factories and increasing factory & field asset safety.

Manufacturers need a unified ecosystem to digitize their factories. Here, Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing comes into the picture. It helps create a resilient supply chain by introducing innovation in manufacturing, making factories intelligent, and more. It does so by bringing data, processes, people, and technology together.

In this blog, we will delve deeper into how Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing empowers manufacturers.

Introducing Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing

As manufacturing entities are digitizing their factories, an industry-specific solution, that is intelligent, user-friendly, integrated, secure, and scalable, becomes necessary for them.

Microsoft, the second-largest provider of cloud infrastructure services, introduced Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing. It consists of multiple tools that accelerates digital transformation in manufacturing by bringing design and engineering with AI and cloud computing.

It facilitates industry-specific solutions into a single platform, Microsoft partner ecosystem, to create a resilient supply chain, intelligent factories, and seamless customer experience.

These features allow businesses to create a safe and secure environment in the factory, enabling frontline and asset worker productivity. You don’t need a different system for your operation, as Microsoft Cloud orchestrates all the complex solutions in Microsoft manufacturing software.

Additionally, Microsoft manufacturing solutions also eliminate data silos by connecting IT, OT, and ET, offering transparent and efficient data insights. With its broader range of features, businesses can begin with a particular area, where digitization is paramount.

Why is Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing Software Necessary?

Let’s understand the importance of the cloud manufacturing solution available in the Dynamics 365 suite by an example. For instance, the dashboard of these systems shows production is lower than the normal production rate.

It will show work order is going down, but unable to tell what exactly. The operator decides to increase the machine speed, resulting in quality degradation and waste being produced.

Additionally, the operator might be unaware of the possibility of a postponed delivery date, as its information resides in a separate Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP system. Due to limited visibility and data silos, manufacturers rely on a reactive approach.

To prevent these problems, every machine should be connected and provide insight to the operator in real-time, also known as digital feedback. Due to the transition to Industry 4.0, manufacturing companies also need a system that can analyze tons of data and help them with their manufacturing process.

How does this Solution Empower Businesses?

Manufacturing Cloud Software can help businesses in several ways to digitize their operation. Here is a list of changes your business is likely to experience after leveraging this suite:

Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management: Building More Intelligent Factories

The suite of tools extracts data from IT and OT and offers real-time visibility, equipment efficiency, and sustainability by using AI, cloud connectivity, data analytics, and IIoT.

This data can be useful in fostering collaboration between manufacturers, design, and engineering teams. It can improve manufacturing processes, as these insights facilitate real-world feedback, ensuring continuous improvements.

Additionally, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Azure AI Services, Azure Machine Learning, and Azure IIoT, part of the suite, automate the complex quality inspection process.

It also offers predictive maintenance solutions and tracks materials within the factory. These solutions work together to detect defects, detect root cause analysis, and ensure final products meet predefined standards.

Furthermore, manufacturers can reduce errors, improve product quality, and streamline their manufacturing process. Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing offers predictive maintenance in your factories and ensures top-notch product quality.

D365 Guides and D365 Remote Assist: Transforming Your Workforce

The scope of manufacturing under the Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite also provides communication and collaboration tools, such as Dynamics 365 Guides and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, to onboard and easily connect with frontline workers. It also helps to upskill workers faster to get the necessary knowledge and expertise.

Upskilling reduces downtime and helps workers with the right resources to get their job done. Workers can seamlessly engage in a company-inclusive culture with tools, like Microsoft Tools and Power Platform. In addition to this, it has in-built security and compliance across machines and devices, improving security.

Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management: A Resilient Supply Chain

Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing leverages D365 Supply Chain Management, formerly part of Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, to create a sustainable and resilient supply chain. It comes with in-built AI capabilities, which analyze supplier data, your organization's operation & production data, and market signals.

This provides real-time visibility and predicts supply chain disruption, allowing proactive action to avoid disruption. Additionally, tools like Microsoft Power BI and Supply Chain Management improve customer service and automate warehouses. Companies can leverage the system to track and reduce carbon emissions. In industries like Digital transformation in building materials industry, this capability ensures a resilient supply chain, helping businesses meet environmental and market demands effectively.

Dynamics 365 Sales: Modernizing Customer Experience

By leveraging tools, such as Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, and Customer Insights, Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing modernizes the customer experience. It aids your organization’s sellers, service agents, and marketers to understand customer requirements with detailed insights.

Your sales team can use a cloud-based Microsoft Dynamics CRM to get a 360-degree view of customers, attract new customers, close new deals with more speed, and qualify high-value prospects. These solutions allow you for omnichannel customer engagement, issue resolutions, product monitoring, data estate management, and remote support.

Unlock Innovation and Add New Products

Azure Industrial IoT, Azure Compute, Azure AI Services, and Azure Machine Learning are key Microsoft technologies, that unlock innovation by Digital Twins and Simulation. These tools accelerate production for new products without sacrificing the quality of products.

Additionally, you can design, simulate, and validate the processes and production of products. Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing can reduce time-to-market, optimize the development process, and improve production quality.

What are Key Benefits for Manufacturers?

Manufacturing business faces various challenges in their daily operation. So, leveraging this Microsoft suite, businesses can avail of these benefits:

Asset Productivity

Unexpected downtime can be a big challenge for manufacturing companies, leading to significant loss of revenue. Cloud-based manufacturing in Dynamics 365 helps companies secure their assets and company by enabling predictive maintenance. This improves asset productivity, resulting in enhanced production, cost reduction, and profitability enhancement.

Learning & Knowledge Management

Manufacturing companies can leverage Cloud ERP for Manufacturing to help their workforce operate at their best. These solutions allow manufacturers to seamlessly collaborate with their workforce and quickly educate. This can ensure safe and reliable production and automated manufacturing.

Global Supply Chain Visibility

Since Supply Chain is complex and interconnected; however, sudden disruption can expose your organization to vulnerabilities. Additionally, this business can also face challenges in changing its plan to fulfill customer requirements. Cloud-based manufacturing solution in Microsoft Dynamics 365 unifies real-time data and mitigates risk by offering real-time visibility.

Reliable Always-On Customer Service

Dynamics 365 Business Central and Sales helps businesses to actively serve customers. It can detect, predict, and resolve even before a problem arises.

Industry-leading Partner Integrations

Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing incorporates various Microsoft Solutions from the ecosystem, like Dynamics 365 for Finance to create a resilient supply chain and improve customer experience.

The Bottom Line!

Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing can be instrumental in digitizing to improve productivity, gain agility, sustainability, and speed time-to-market. However, Cloud for Manufacturing is a suite of Microsoft products, which help you fulfill your requirements.

Dynamics 365 implementation can be overwhelming for your business, as you need to identify your business requirements and choose the tools. That's where Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner, like Dynamics Square, helps to implement and upgrade these suites of tools.

Get in touch with us to digitize your manufacturing business. Call us at +1 281 899 0865 or write us an email at arish.siddiqui@dynamicssquare.com.