Smart manufacturing’s technology landscape is made up of the Industrial Internet of Things , artificial intelligence , digital twins, digital threads, manufacturing execution systems , augmented reality , virtual reality , additive manufacturing, cobots, cloud computing, edge computing and more. While these technologies are important, what manufacturing companies do with them is more important.
To fully understand corporate social responsibility, companies must look beyond the legal requirements and mandatory governmental regulations. Corporate social responsibility must be ingrained into the company’s culture and reflect a genuine desire to have a positive impact on the community. Corporate social responsibility may take the form of volunteer projects, charity work, environmental initiatives, inner-city work and more.
But the business case for smart manufacturing driving sustainability and creating sustainable manufacturing processes is much greater than that. By creating sustainable business processes, manufacturing companies are increasing their overall operational efficiency across the board. Operational excellence is improved. Manufacturing costs go down. Labor costs go down. Every aspect of manufacturing operations is impacted for the good due to improved productivity, quality and labor efficiency.
These sustainable manufacturing processes significantly help to build a company’s brand equity and their reputation. With a commitment to sustainability, companies gain a greater level of respect and trust from the public—their customers and their consumers—who see their commitment to sustainability and can better understand them as a company, which in turn helps support a better relationship.