FAQ

Are you considering digitalising your production? You're not alone. 91% of all companies in Europe have ongoing projects to increase the degree of digitalisation in their production. At the same time, the idea of digitalisation often raises a lot of questions. Here you'll find the answers to some of the most common questions we typically encounter!

1. What is digitalisation and what are the benefits?

Essentially, all equipment within a production line contains information. Most machines or robots come equipped with various built-in sensors that monitor factors like speed, accumulated torque, and energy consumption. The goal of digitalisation is to create opportunities to extract, aggregate, and refine this information into clear decision-making data for various functions within an organisation. Digitalisation makes it easy to identify areas that need optimisation and, at the same time, provides flexibility to meet rapid changes in market demands. Ultimately, this boosts profitability and competitiveness.

2. How can we digitalise our operations without significant financial investments?

There's a common misconception that full-scale digitalisation of an entire production is the only way to go, involving expensive cloud solutions and the integration of all production lines. However, this is not the case. You can initiate digitalisation without substantial upfront costs. The solution is a step-by-step implementation, starting by digitalising one machine and then another, eventually covering the entire factory. This approach requires a flexible modular digitalisation platform that allows you to start small and scale up over time.

3. What is the greatest advantage of digitalisation?

The major advantage is that it provides an overall real-time understanding of how your processes function. This, in turn, helps identify areas for improvement. Accessing and consolidating the existing machine data and combining it with past production experience provides decision-making based on real conditions. This enables more informed decisions and enhances efficiency, profitability, flexibility, and competitiveness.

4. Which types of companies are suitable for digitalisation?

Any company involved in manufacturing or with automated systems can benefit from digitalisation. The need for digitalisation exists across all industries, from food and pharmaceuticals to water treatment and real estate companies. Digitalisation is a valuable tool for companies that require effective preventive maintenance, traceability, energy efficiency, quality improvement, or, in general, streamlining of their development, production, and logistics.

5. Must a company digitalise its products?

In short, yes. Currently, 91% of all companies in Europe have ongoing projects to increase the degree of digitalisation in their production. Digitalisation is not just a future concept; it's happening here and now. To maintain competitiveness and profitability, it's crucial not to fall behind. However, you don't need to digitalise your entire facility immediately. What's essential is to start your journey, and we're happy to assist you. With our flexible modular platform, you can initiate a manageable project and scale up gradually.

6. What should I consider when embarking on digitalisation?

A good piece of advice is not to begin too broadly or on too large a scale. It's easy to think that you must digitalise your entire production facility all at once for it to be effective. However, it's both easier and more effective to start with a single machine. Identify a bottleneck in your production and digitalise it. The data you gain will help maximise potential in that area. During the process, you'll gain valuable insights into how digitalisation works best for your specific conditions. You can then move on to the next bottleneck and digitalise it. By starting small and scaling up, digitalisation becomes more straightforward, cost-effective, and robust.

Another important factor for successful digitalisation is involving your workforce. Those already working with the processes possess valuable knowledge that's instrumental in determining which data is relevant for gaining an accurate picture of production.

Ensure that you bring in external expertise and collaborate with an experienced digitalisation partner, preferably one that offers a flexible modular platform allowing you to start with a small project and scale up over time, such as Mitsubishi Electric Factory Automation!