The next industrial revolution.
It’s not just that data is everywhere along the value chain. It’s that data is shared – by every partner, supplier, manufacturer, distributor, and retailer – a fully connected business ecosystem whose every component can be measured, analyzed, and optimized. Industry 4.0 presents a generational opportunity: to operate more efficiently, to manage risk more proactively, to grow more quickly, more dramatically, and more profitably.
Industry 4.0 is driven by host of technologies: the internet of things, cloud computing, additive manufacturing, automation, artificial intelligence, and more. Processes are more efficient – quicker, less expensive, using less energy, with less waste. Decisions are made faster, new products brought to market sooner. Customer insights are deeper, supply chains tighter, resources go further than ever. Companies that are making the best use of Industry 4.0 technologies compete more effectively and accelerate their growth.
No, it’s not hype. No, it’s not consulting’s latest catch-phrase. Industry 4.0 represents a quantum leap forward in operational efficiency and value creation. It is the next industrial revolution.
- Middle Market Maturity Model
- What does an Industry 4.0 company look like?
- Industry 4.0 Roadmap
- The process of getting you where you need to go
- Supply Chain Management
- Greater efficiency, lower cost structure
- Data Analytics & Automation
- Turning raw data into profitable insights
- R&D Tax Credit
- Offset the costs of many Industry 4.0 improvements
What could Industry 4.0 mean for your company?
TMO’s Maturity Model provides an overview of the operational efficiencies that Industry 4.0 makes possible. No matter where you find your company on the Industry 4.0 Maturity Model, TMO is prepared to help you get where you need to be.
Incremental. Iterative. Integrated.
For established businesses, disruption is often met with unease: Are the innovations really worth it?
TMO’s process is based on incremental advancements against a transformational vision – whether goals are to enhance the customer experience or strengthen operational results. Our approach is to design and implement changes as a series of pilots aligned to an Industry 4.0 vision, then roll them out according to a proposed implementation roadmap once proven. We’ll ask you to dream big, start small, and scale fast.
From continuous collaboration, countless efficiencies.
Today your supply chain is siloed. Tomorrow your supply chain will be integrated. Today, demand for raw materials, component parts, and finished goods are forecast based on historical data, and wide margins of error are acceptable. Tomorrow, demand will be communicated in real-time – or close to it – resulting in less overage, better use of resources, lower warehousing costs, and greater operational efficiencies and logistics. This is Supply Chain Management (SCM) for Industry 4.0. It’s a Just-In-Time supply chain, but with never-before-seen precision:
- Robust, flexible, and dynamic network optimization
- Data shared across all supply chain functions simultaneously
- Integrated planning and execution across the supply chain
- Prescriptive and integrated supply chain analytics
- Smart manufacturing and warehousing
- Real-time logistics visibility
Industry 4.0 brings numerous time-saving, cost-cutting, resource-maximizing benefits to supply chains across industries. Even incremental improvements have measurable results. Disruptive events can be modeled across a range of scenarios. So when dealing with the inevitable surprises of real-world supply chains, the response is no longer to just “wing it.” Adapting happens both more quickly and more effectively. Find out how our team of professionals can help you streamline your Supply Chain Management operations with SCM consulting services for Industry 4.0.
Turning data into insights.
At its core, Industry 4.0 is about data – generated by virtually every machine, component, vehicle, container, product, person, and robot that’s part of each process along the value chain. But amassing data is the easy part. The challenge is to make sense of all that information – normalizing, parsing, and analyzing terabytes of data to figure out what it actually means to your specific business. Our data analytics and automation advisors will work with your company to bring meaning to your business data with:
- Data accumulation, verification, cleanup, and validation
- Standardization across multiple platforms and disparate datasets
- Predictive analytics and modeling
- Process mining
- Management dash boarding and decision support
- Integrated performance management
The wide availability of artificial intelligence and machine learning has changed the game for mid-market companies, and even smaller ones. The breadth of data combined with the depth of the analysis provides decision-makers with unprecedented insight into business operations. Inefficiencies are identified, risks are uncovered, and opportunities for growth become clear. Analytics enables new projects to be assessed with much greater accuracy, minimizing the risk of both over- and under-bidding.
Funding your Industry 4.0 innovation.
In most cases R&D tax credits and incentives can be applied against Industry 4.0 investment; both process improvement and software improvement fall cleanly into the parameters. The benefits can be significant – up to 9% of qualified spending for federal taxes and up to 40% of qualified spending in some states. This makes it a great way to save money by offsetting some of the costs of moving to industry 4.0. More than 35 countries have R&D credits and incentives, often even more generous than those available in the U.S.
The term “R&D” is often misleading, as it does not apply exclusively to scientific research. No, it’s not about people in white lab coats. The R&D tax credit is available to companies in manufacturing, or any industry, that invest in new products, new processes, or new software – all of which may be part of Industry 4.0 initiatives. The requirements are so generous that even documented attempts at Industry 4.0 improvements are eligible. The R&D tax credit is designed to encourage innovation.