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Winsoft International - Exclusive Claris Representative > Challenges in the manufacturing and industrial sectors

Challenges in the manufacturing and industrial sectors

As the landscape shifts due to rapid technological advancements, globalization, and changing consumer demands, manufacturers face increasing pressure to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and maintain competitiveness.

To address these challenges and maintain a competitive edge, organizations are turning to low-code development platforms. By empowering organizations and streamlining development processes, low-code offers a powerful solution to overcome traditional barriers, accelerate digital transformation and unlock new opportunities.

Data management and performance

Data silos are a common challenge in manufacturing and industrial sectors, hindering innovation and operational efficiency. These silos often exist across production, inventory, quality control, supply chain, and equipment maintenance systems.

Handling these large volumes of diverse data from various sources, while maintaining performance, quality, and relevance can be particularly challenging.

Key ways low-code can help:

  • Data integration
    Low-code platforms offer pre-built connectors and API integrations to connect disparate systems and data sources and formats.
    This enables organizations users to manage data in one centralized location rather than manually syncing or transferring data.
  • Data governance and security
    Low-code platforms often include built-in security and governance features, including data security, privacy, and access controls. This ensures data quality, accuracy and consistency across the organization.
  • Centralized data hub
    Low-code platforms can be used to create a central data hub to consolidate data from various sources. This will facilitate collaboration between teams and departments, improving data sharing and knowledge exchange.
  • Large data volumes
    Low-code platforms are designed to handle large volumes of data without compromising performance. With built-in features for batch processing and parallel workflows, low-code platforms can handle high data loads efficiently.
  • Data visualization and analysis
    The built-in analytics and visualization tools enable organizations to gain insights from large datasets without needing separate tools. Users can create dashboards and reports that provide real-time insights across all data sources.
Legacy systems

Many manufacturing companies still rely on outdated systems and technologies making integration with new technologies complex and time-consuming.

These obsolete systems can significantly hinder an organization’s ability to innovate and adapt to changing business needs.

Key ways low-code can help:

  • Seamless integration
    Low-code platforms simplify the integration of legacy systems by providing connectors and APIs, enabling faster data flow and improved interoperability.
    Migrations tools and/or automated workflows also facilitate the transfer of data from legacy systems to modern platforms, reducing human error associated with manual handling while ensuring data continuity.
  • Security & compliance
    Low-code platforms offer robust security features, such as authentication, authorization, and encryption, to protect sensitive data.
    By handling security centrally, they also help ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, even when using older systems that may lack robust security features.
  • Reduced technical debt
    Low-code platforms streamline development and integration, significantly reducing the time and cost associated with maintenance. This can help organizations significantly reduce the technical debt associated with legacy systems by simplifying updates and integration maintenance.
Scalability, flexibility and reliability

The manufacturing and industrial sector is constantly evolving, and it is crucial for any organizations to adapt to changing market demands, technological advancements, and unforeseen challenges and scale accordingly.

Ensuring that the system can scale without performance degradation or requiring costly overhauls can be complex, especially in real-time systems where lag could affect production.

Off-the-shelf solutions often can’t keep up the pace or require significant customization to meet evolving business needs.

Key ways low-code can help:

  • Rapid development
    Low-code platforms are designed to scale easily to keep pace with industry changes, allowing businesses to add features and functionalities as needed without major overhauls. Developers can quickly build, improve and deploy applications, reducing the time and cost associated with traditional custom software development. This significantly reduces the time-to-market without compromising on quality.
  • Flexible customization
    When manufacturing processes change—such as a new product line or production method—low-code platforms make it easy to customize workflows and update applications to reflect these changes. Developers can build highly customizable applications to meet these specific production or operational needs, without requiring full system overhauls.
  • Real-time processing
    In manufacturing, any system downtime can lead to costly production delays. Low-code platforms allow developers to create highly reliable systems that can operate continuously and respond in real-time with minimal interruptions.
Cost management

Rising input costs, supply chain disruptions, technological advancements, regulatory compliance, and economic uncertainty can significantly impact operational efficiency and profitability.

The expectation is to implement high-performing, cost-effective solutions that will significantly improve productivity and contribute to growth.

Key ways low-code can help:

  • Cybersecurity
    Security breaches can result in financial losses and operational disruptions. Low-code platforms include robust security features to proactively manage these risks and safeguard sensitive data in compliance with regulatory standards.
  • Technology investment
    By significantly reducing both initial development costs and ongoing maintenance expenses, low-code platforms offer a more cost-effective alternative to traditional development. This allows organizations to reallocate resources to strategic initiatives. The ability to rapidly prototype and demonstrate ROI further justifies the investment in low-code solutions, directly impacting cost savings and operational efficiencies.
  • Operational efficiency
    Automating routine tasks and processes and streamlining processes with low-code platforms can significantly reduce manual effort, minimize human error, and enhance operational efficiency.
    By creating data-driven applications, companies gain valuable insights to make informed decisions, optimize operation and resource use and identity opportunities.
Cultural challenges

Traditional mindsets, rigid structures, and a reluctance to embrace change can hinder efficiency, innovation and agility.

This creates a slow-to-change environment that struggles to adapt to market shifts, customer demands, and technological advancements, impacting overall competitiveness in a fast-evolving landscape.

Key ways low-code can help:

  • Reducing resistance to change & innovation
    Low-code platforms enable developers to quickly create prototypes and test new ideas, fostering a culture that values experimentation and rapid iteration.
    By lowering the barrier to development and encouraging quick wins, low-code helps organizations shift from a risk-averse culture to one that embraces innovation and continuous improvement, without fear of lengthy, high-stakes deployments.
    Low-code platforms also have user-friendly interfaces that make it easier for stakeholders to adopt new technologies.
  • Collaboration
    Low-code platforms provide a shared development environment, making it easier for teams to collaborate and share knowledge.
    The visual tools and workflows also help teams to communicate and understand each other's requirements more efficiently
  • Data-driven culture
    While industrial organizations traditionally relied on intuition and experience, low-code platforms democratize data access and analysis. They empower the teams to get valuable insights and make better-informed decisions that improve efficiency and gain a competitive edge.

To address the challenges of the manufacturing and industrial sectors and drive innovation and efficiency, developers and IT teams need to:

Embrace continuous learning
Stay updated with the latest technologies and standards to design and deploy solutions that not only perform but also align with regulatory guidelines and industry best practices.

Foster collaboration
Work closely with domain experts and other stakeholders to understand the specific needs of the industry and align the solutions with business objectives.

Prioritize security
Implement robust security measures to identify and address potential security risks and safeguard sensitive data and systems.

Adapt to agile methodologies
Adopt agile development practices to respond quickly to changing requirements and implement solutions that are more responsive and aligned with real-time needs.

Leverage Cloud technologies
Utilize cloud-based solutions to scale applications as needed and reduce infrastructure costs.

Develop strong problem-solving skills
Be able to identify and address bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement.

By streamlining processes, improving data integration, and fostering a culture of innovation,
low-code empowers manufacturers to adapt quickly to market changes, enhance operational efficiency, and ultimately drive growth.

Claris FileMaker, the leading low code platform for custom app development and workflow automation, empowers organizations to generate unprecedented efficiencies and secure a sustainable competitive edge.

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