Productivity in Manufacturing: Digital Tools to Improve Productivity, Quality and Safety of Operations

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in changes for which most businesses were unprepared. Companies were forced to change the way they operated almost overnight, accelerating the need for digital transformation in order to cope with this new normal, where business as usual was no longer possible.

Many manufacturers in ASEAN, particularly those in advanced economies, have been looking for ways to capitalise on digital technologies. These efforts, dubbed "Industry 4.0," are gaining traction in ASEAN, and many businesses are looking to adopt digital tools and technologies like data analytics and the Industrial Internet of Things to improve their manufacturing competitiveness and prepare for the future.

In this discussion, we unpacked manufacturing productivity and looked at how manufacturers measure productivity and the factors that influence it. We also looked into the use of analytics-enabled tools for optimising product costs, as well as the adoption of Client Service Portals for increased efficiency and a better customer experience.