The transition from pen and paper to the
Industry 4.0 technologies of today can
prove daunting to manufacturers. However,
digitalisation doesn’t necessarily mean
complicated, and the move to paperless can
often begin with a single process—rather
than a complete system overhaul.
Another barrier standing in the way of
digital adoption is concern that the current
workforce lacks the skills needed to adapt to
this digital transition—and the technologies
that power it. With new technologies
invariably requiring extensive training, the
worry may be that a firm’s existing workforce
is not equipped for these changes.
However, manufacturers should be aware
that the new workforce demographic is keen
to work with digital innovations. According
to research[i], 41 percent of young people
overall want the opportunity to work with
the latest innovations, including voice-
activated technologies that connect them
with resources on-demand or automate
tasks. Indeed, 33 percent of millennials
say they want to be at the cutting edge of
new developments and to interact with
new technologies in ways that boost their
productivity in the workplace.
The way we interact with machines, robots,
and the world around us continues to evolve,
speeding up every day actions and making
these easier. Switching to a paperless
environment, bolstered by software and
tools, will help deliver a more seamless user
experience for employees on the factory
floor and in other areas of a manufacturing
business.
Goodbye paper, hello technology
Staying still is not an option. Businesses that
refuse to say goodbye to paper run the risk
of being left behind in today’s increasingly
digital landscape. Even long-established
companies are overhauling their day-to-day
business operations—WD-40, a globally
renowned manufacturer of household
products, has completely automated its
order processing, shipping and invoicing. In
doing so, the firm streamlined its business
processes into one system, which has helped
free up employee time and enabled better
inter-office communications between the
company’s multiple dispersed sites.
Southco, a manufacturer of engineered
access hardware solutions that include entry
door latches and locks, began its global
digital transformation journey over 10 years
ago with the implementation of a variety of
automated processes across its factories—
integrated and managed by an effective
enterprise management solution. Moving
away from paper and connecting software
with processes enabled the firm to transform
its facilities into smart factories that have
reduced product defects, downtime and
waste.
Another firm extolling paperless
manufacturing is BV Dairy, a dairy producer
that went paperless with Epicor DocStar—
an enterprise content management (ECM)
solution. DocStar began to yield benefits
shortly after implementation, freeing up
time in the accounts department and
releasing staff to perform more complex
tasks and help fuel corporate growth. The
system also removed employees’ daily need
to manually sort through over a hundred
delivery notes, saving ten hours per week.
Under the new system, delivery notes are
now scanned in, cross-referenced, marked
as received, and stored in both DocStar and
Epicor ERP to permit cross-referencing and
searching from each. The new system has
increased the producer’s accuracy, efficiency,
traceability, and flexibility—and helped
streamline processes.
The multiple benefits of going paperless are
clear—but manufacturing firms need the
right IT infrastructure in place to ease the
path to growth. Enterprise resource planning
(ERP) solutions can help organisations
manage and simplify their business
processes by tying everything together
under a single database and interface., while
manufacturing execution software (MES)
can help eliminate inefficiencies and support
better business decisions with accurate,
easy-to-access, real-time information.
Not only are these technologies key
to supporting the move to a paperless
environment—they also provide
manufacturers with the visibility they need
to manage new industry 4.0 innovations.
www.epicor.com/en-uk
Issue 38 PECM
37