5 Principles to Manufacture Your Next Legacy

The manufacturing industry is at a pivotal moment. Consumers want high-quality products delivered to them faster than ever before. At the same time, manufacturers are maximizing the efficiency of their outdated systems yet still finding it challenging to meet demands. To break this cycle and exceed consumer expectations, manufacturers must create a new legacy — one that embraces advanced technologies and builds on the strengths of traditional processes. When done right, manufacturers can anticipate market demand, streamline production and grow sustainably, but it requires a deliberate focus on these five key principles:

1. Harmonizing operations
2. Calibrating processes
3. Ensuring continuity
4. Continuously improving quality
5. Enhancing workforce experience

Principle 1: Harmony

Creating harmony within manufacturing operations involves connecting people, processes and technology through shared visibility and understanding. This integration allows for seamless communication across business and plant operations, fostering a unified approach to achieving operational goals.

For example, WWT partnered with a global pharmaceutical manufacturer to modernize its IT/OT infrastructure, reducing operational risk and enhancing visibility across enterprise, manufacturing and supply chain operations. The initiative aligned technology decisions with business needs, promoted plant data visibility for AI and analytics, and improved security, flexibility and operational resilience.

Learn how we did it: Global Pharmaceutical Company Modernizes Critical Infrastructure

By leveraging data-driven insights, manufacturers can gain a comprehensive view of their operations, enabling them to anticipate market demands and streamline production processes. This clarity not only enhances operational efficiency but also empowers the entire organization to work toward a common goal: building a sustainable and successful legacy.

Principle 2: Calibrate

Precision in manufacturing processes is crucial for driving efficiency and innovation. By strategically calibrating systems and processes, manufacturers can make transformative adjustments that enhance quality and productivity without disrupting production flow.

This is particularly important as manufacturers aim to automate processes and implement next-generation robots and robotics. Given data's critical role in calibration, ensuring seamless and secure access to and management of data is crucial.

As an example, WWT worked with a leading consumer products goods company to promote a modernized infrastructure that improved network performance, speed, security and end-user experience, all leading to a uniform calibration of production.

Read more: Amplifying a Consumer Goods Company's Global Network to Drive Continued Growth - WWT

WWT helps clients calibrate their systems and processes across technology domains, including infrastructure, applications, security and data, to improve visibility, resiliency and scale while reducing risk and unplanned downtime.

Principle 3: Continuity

In manufacturing, every second of uptime counts. Supporting continuity involves maintaining reliable and resilient processes and systems that enable seamless operations and minimize downtime. This principle is essential for sustaining production lines and consistently meeting customer expectations.

We partnered with a leading electric vehicle manufacturer to design and implement a resilient and flexible network for a new production facility. This solution included a secure and scalable network infrastructure that supported real-time data flow from the production floor to management, enhancing operational efficiency and security. The network architecture allowed for seamless integration of various systems, optimizing production yield and ensuring operational continuity.

Learn more: Electric Carmaker Taps into Real-Time Data With Resilient, Secure Industrial Network

By adopting best practices and advanced technologies, manufacturers can protect critical assets and keep their operations running smoothly, even in challenging environments. This commitment to continuity is a cornerstone of building a new legacy.

Principle 4: Quality

Upholding a commitment to quality production is vital for exceeding customer expectations. Manufacturers must embrace rigorous testing, continuous improvement and modern advancements to produce superior products.

One of our clients experienced a divestiture from a global pharmaceutical manufacturer. The spin-off process required an intense focus on maintaining quality processes, procedures and data management. WWT delivered a multi-faceted program that included advise on best practices, including roadmap creation and decision-making support; end-to-end, in-house strategy and execution planning services; hands-on engineering delivery services with a seamless transition to service operations; and expert validation of migration and technology integration prior to deployment.

Get the details: Building a Modern, Elastic IT Infrastructure From Scratch for Elanco Animal Health to Streamline and Optimize M&A - WWT

WWT helps manufacturers enhance quality by understanding their people and processes, and by implementing AI-powered decision-making, automation and predictive maintenance programs to achieve top production standards. This dedication to quality not only satisfies customer expectations but also strengthens the brand's reputation.

Principle 5: Experience

Finally, the workforce is a manufacturer's most valuable asset. By fostering an engaging, efficient and safe work environment, manufacturers can attract and retain the next generation of workers while driving innovation and enhancing productivity.

We work with clients across industries to improve their workforce experience by integrating cutting-edge technologies, providing comprehensive training programs and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. By adopting advanced digital tools and automation, manufacturers can streamline operations, improve safety and create a more engaging work environment. This approach not only empowers employees with the right tools and training but also drives innovation, productivity, growth and loyalty. 

Watch: How to Deliver Game-Changing Digital Experiences in Manufacturing

Build your next legacy

Whether you're already embracing some of these principles or need help getting started, WWT can guide you step-by-step to scale these ideas across your business, creating new possibilities for a thriving future.