Managed service providers deliver great benefits for every industry including manufacturing. Turning over management of your IoT devices, communications equipment and infrastructure, and security systems to a professional expert helps your business save money and keep up with important technological changes in your industry.
The manufacturing industry has become increasingly complex. Even with the supply and raw material problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, manufacturing had already been struggling to keep up. Larger industry trends such as technological innovation and greater product specialization mean that manufacturers need better and more sophisticated digital tools.
From the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and M2M communication for applications such as advanced robotics and 3-D modeling to cloud computing for Big Data, the technology needs of the manufacturing industry are undergoing a period of rapid transformation and growth.
The primary problem with implementing technology at your manufacturing business or facility is that it can be costly and inefficient. Technologies change all the time, and it is important that you are consistently taking advantage of them in order to keep ahead of the competition.
With Managed Technology-as-a-Service from MCA, you can build a solution customized and tailored to your specific needs as a manufacturing business without the costs and hassle of buying it, managing it, and supporting it.
In this article, we will discuss the 5 benefits for your business in collaborating with providers such as MCA for manufacturing managed services.
#1. Discover Predictable Expenses
Implementing a major technological change at your manufacturing facility can be difficult. It’s a matter of resource allocation and management. For example, the costs of upgrading your network equipment to automate your plant’s SCADA system can be high. Beyond the price of the equipment itself, you can run into labor availability issues, the problem of training employees on how to use the equipment, and downtime as new equipment is installed.
This is where Managed Service Providers (MSPs) such as MCA can be so helpful. MSPs help you plan for the overall cost of your physical and cybersecurity system, two-way radio communication infrastructure, and much else. When you don’t own the equipment but instead have it managed by an expert and experienced team, you can better engage in strategic decision-making about capital expenses.
If it’s too much strain on the budget to purchase the equipment necessary to collect better data from your machines to keep up with the competition, look into Managed Technology-as-a-Service (Managed TaaS).
#2. Keep Your Facility Technologically Up to Date
One of the toughest things when it comes to buying new technology for your plant is the knowledge that you’ll soon need to update your equipment and devices. The big word in manufacturing today: future-proofing. You need to future-proof your plant for the technology changes coming down the road.
But what technologies will only work for the next year, and what technologies need only minor updates to work for the next 10 years? As the owner or manager of a manufacturing facility, you can’t be expected to know everything about your technology needs. Certainly not your future technology needs!
Manufacturing support services by qualified MSPs take the guesswork out of managing and updating the potentially thousands of machines, processes, and connections that keep your factory humming.
#3. Engage in Risk Management
The easiest way for manufacturers to embrace environmentally friendly, green factories is to digitize their operations. But introducing digital technologies to your plant comes with risks. Maybe you have an internal IT team to check for cybersecurity breaches, but even so, you can take considerable pressure off of them with managed cybersecurity service support.
Keeping your digital data secure is just one way you can protect your business and its critical assets. Managed services give you the ability to secure both your digital data and your physical assets. Intrusion detection systems are an important part of the physical security infrastructure and loss maintenance tools at your manufacturing plant, as are video cameras and access control solutions.
But have you thought about how video surveillance and better employee management systems can help protect your workers? Manufacturing is the third most dangerous industry according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
You can better protect your employees and make smarter risk management decisions with managed services for manufacturing.
#4. Reduce Your Plant Downtime
Downtime is a problem for every business. When you’re not operational because you need to install a new system or process, you lose money by the minute. The real cost of downtime in manufacturing is staggering. Manufacturing businesses report that they lose 5% of their revenue each year in unplanned downtime. Some manufacturers lose as much as 20% each year in downtime!
The real question is: what could you do with 20% more in additional revenue each year? Managed manufacturing support services are designed to help you quickly and efficiently deploy, implement, install, or upgrade any system or solution with 0% downtime.
At the same time while “smart” manufacturing solutions such as IoT sensors in factory equipment that delivers reports on machine health and performance will revolutionize the manufacturing industry, not maintaining this technology will produce huge losses for your business.
Managed service providers can help you avoid costly downtime. We come up with solutions to help you troubleshoot potential problems, manage risk, and avoid costly downtime during the installation and updating of your facility’s technology.
#5. Remain in Compliance with Regulators
We understand that it is hard enough to keep up with the competition, manage an evolving workforce, and grow your business without having to worry about regulators insisting that you have X solution in place for worker safety.
Do you have a BDA-DAS system in place compliant with the most recent fire codes (NFPA 72)? Don’t worry if what we just wrote doesn’t make any sense to you—that’s why managed service providers are here.
Every year, major industry players in manufacturing lose millions of dollars caught in regulatory red tape. Never mind the small manufacturing businesses who stand to lose much more when they run afoul of industry regulators.
As your customers start to demand more products tailored to their specific needs, you want an expert to guide you through the process of delivering technology solutions to modernize your manufacturing facility.
Managed Support Services for Manufacturing
With managed services from MCA, you can reap all the benefits of our best-in-class solutions without making the commitment to buy.
But with MCA Managed Technology-as-a-Solution (Managed TaaS), you can enjoy the benefits of ALL our solutions for manufacturing with none of the responsibility for managing and servicing them. With these significant cost savings, you can reinvest your money in new inventory, new employees, or whatever else will help your business flourish.