Mobile apps have transformed our lives as well as changed the way businesses used to operate. The manufacturing industry has long been blamed for poor technology adoption and this trend also continues when it comes to mobile apps. According to a survey, only 20.7% of manufacturing companies consider themselves “highly prepared” to deal with emerging business challenges that the fourth industrial revolution presents.
In fact, most of them are still stuck with legacy systems. Due to this, they also have to face maintenance, security and compatibility and interoperability issues. Thankfully, things are changing and most manufacturers have realized that the future is in mobile apps.
How Manufacturers Are Using Mobile Apps
Here is a quick rundown about how manufacturing companies are using mobile apps:
- 48% use it for inspection
- 36% use it for creating and viewing orders
- 23% are using it to conduct surveys
- 18% are using it for managing inventory
In this article, you will learn about ways in which mobile app development is transforming the manufacturing industry.
1. Inventory Management Made Easy
Inventory management and order fulfillment are two key areas of the manufacturing process. Manufacturing apps make inventory management a breeze, alerting you whenever your inventory falls below a certain threshold so you can immediately place an order to prevent any delays. Similarly, you can also streamline your order fulfillment process by using a mobile app as it automatically updates your database when the order has been fulfilled.
With access to real-time data, you can make the right decision at the right time, which would help your business grow.
2. Supply Chain Management
With a mobile connected to all your databases, it can ensure transparency and visibility for all the stakeholders. Let’s say there is an issue with your product, you can immediately report it to maintenance so they can act quickly and fix the issue. This cross-departmental collaboration can increase the efficiency of your business.
On the flip side, buyers can also track their shipment and get an idea about how much time would their shipment take to reach their desired address. This will automate and streamline the whole supply chain and make it more efficient and productive.
3. Production Monitoring
With more and more manufacturing companies leveraging IoT devices, it is a great opportunity for IOS & android app development or developers to create apps for IoT devices. What these apps do is that it help you in monitoring the production process as well as give access to valuable data collected by sensors. This goes a long way in reducing the time required to manufacture a product and help you bring the product faster to market.
Since timing plays an important role, you can gain a competitive advantage over your competitors by launching products early. This allows you to satisfy more customers in the process.
4. Employee Tracking
With GPS and location-based services, you can easily track the exact location of your teams. If they are not where you want them to be, you can ask them to change their location. What this means that you will never lose sight of your employees. Moreover, you can also check which of your employees is doing what at a given time. This way, you can minimize the risk of issues that occur due to employee mistakes.
Even if the error occurs, you can act quickly and fix the problem before it turns into something dangerous for your business. You don’t want a minor issue into becoming something that can threaten your business continuity.
5. Higher Efficiency
One of the biggest advantages of using mobile apps from professional mobile app development company Toronto in manufacturing is that it will help you minimize errors. This will reduce the production of faulty products.
As a result, you will your business efficiency go up. With fewer defective products, you can drastically reduce the cost of production and minimize wastage. This goes a long way in bringing your operation costs down. You will notice a huge difference in your business productivity and efficiency when you use a mobile app in manufacturing.
6. Transforming Customer Relationship Management
Before the advent of mobile applications in the manufacturing sector, companies tend to interact with their customers manually. With mobile apps fully integrated into the manufacturing process, customer relationship management has turned over a new leaf. Instead of manufacturers physically reaching out to customers, now they can interact with them with few taps.
They can collect their feedback and make decisions based on real-time data. With CRM systems in place, manufacturers can respond to customer requests faster. Customers don’t have to wait for weeks to get a response to their queries as these systems to speed up the process of response delivery.
Another advantage is fast processing that not only accelerates the production but also the delivery process. This improves the customer satisfaction level of customers.
7. Raw Materials and Finished Goods
One of the biggest challenges for manufacturing companies is usually tracking how much raw materials they have and how much they have used to create finished goods? A mobile app can save you from the hassle of hiring people who will manage and tell you about when to order raw material or how much-finished goods you have actually produced.
You will never run out of raw materials again as you will be notified when the raw materials are running love so you can place the order immediately.
Conclusion
Digital transformation in general and mobile apps, in particular, can have numerous positive effects on the manufacturing industry. From minimizing wastage to reducing defective items, making inventory management a breeze to removing the hurdles in supply chain management, it can automate and streamline your workflow and help your manufacturing business in increasing its productivity and efficiency.
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What impact does app development have on the manufacturing industry in your opinion? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
Interesting related article: “What is an Application (APP)?“