We are on the threshold of realizing a big dream for IT in manufacturing: systems that can reflect and support our best-practice activities as they change. This is coming not a moment too soon. The post-recession “new normal” of constant change and volatility, plus an array of business pressures, will require such capability.
Many companies are using systems that were built on the concept of business process reengineering, and they’ve created IT support processes that are not easy to change. In many cases, these systems cannot accommodate data flows between applications that don’t share a core database. Today, manufacturers need process innovation to enable new business models — and information technology to support those changing processes.
You need the ability to configure, connect, and reconfigure data flows to match the business process exactly. Services-oriented architecture (SOA) is a foundation for this. And you need to ensure a timely, reliable information exchange between the systems and the people involved. Business process management (BPM) does this. At the same time, you need to know immediately when a process diverges from its “happy path” and to take action either automatically or with human intervention. This alerting is the domain of business activity monitoring (BAM).
Several approaches can help you achieve this level of agility, and they are not mutually exclusive. Some manufacturers are seeing benefits from IT and application platforms and composite applications or mash-ups — alone or in combination.
IT platforms: The major IT players, such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Progress, and Software AG, offer products that help to implement aspects of the agile, process-based IT infrastructure. So do some smaller players, such as EI Dynamics, iWay Software, Lombardi, and Pegasystems. An IT department can adopt any of these directly or invest in solutions from the software partners of these companies. The most complete solution we have seen is from Cordys, which includes BPM and BAM on an SOA- and cloud-enabled single platform.
Application vendor platforms: Nearly all of the ERP players have SOA capabilities. Major vendors SAP and Oracle have both platform and application businesses. One key question about existing applications is: Can I use only the functions I need for a process? When the system comprises smaller components, tailoring is easier. IFS and Plex are examples of fine-grained business software.
Composite applications and mash-ups: SAP and its partners, such as Applied Materials, B2D Solutions, iBASEt, and TAKE Supply Chain, have created xApps for the SAP platform. Invensys took that further to enable process plants to understand their processing costs in real time. Apptricity focuses on developing composite application add-ons to core applications. These enable specific supply chain, workforce, and financial applications to be tailored to fit each company’s business process.
To succeed in the new normal, manufacturers must change and react to new conditions continually. These new IT capabilities are part of that landscape. So, though businesspeople may not discuss the details of SOA, BPM, and BAM, they must embrace the vision these technologies enable: IT that can keep up with the business.
Julie Fraser is president of Cambashi Inc., the U.S. arm of the industrial-focused analyst/consulting/market research firm based in the United Kingdom.