IEN: How much progress do you see toward integrating the different segments of product development -- design, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain? What major hurdles remain, and how can they be addressed?
Baker: Collaboration in any endeavor relies on effective communication; and this is especially true in manufacturing, given its vast ecosystem of employees, customers, suppliers, and partners. While manufacturing companies have made great strides in integrating their business functions, much remains to be done.
For example, over the past 15 years, communications technology has evolved from a landline phone on the plant floor, to a wide variety of wireless communication devices, including cellular phones, pagers, two-way radios and PDAs -- providing greater opportunities to communicate and collaborate. But to maximize the benefits of integration, manufacturers must move away from implementing communications technologies in a piecemeal fashion and embrace wireless communications across the spectrum of functions -- product development and design, assembly and manufacturing, supply chain management, sales and delivery, and return and repair.
One of the main hurdles is education. Much of the wireless technology that is needed to facilitate communications and collaboration is available today, but manufacturers may not fully understand the impact these technologies can have on their businesses.
For example, Nextel is providing manufacturers with wireless solutions that provide real-time access to their remote assets (inventory, fleets, and materials) with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and barcode scanners integrated into wireless handsets. With these tools, manufacturers can completely automate their inventory tracking system for the entire manufacturing process --from raw material acquisition, to assembly, into the warehouse, out the door for delivery, and continuing through returns or repairs. For instance, location and delivery schedules for raw materials are tracked and updated continuously so procurement staff can maintain adequate inventory levels and floor managers can more efficiently schedule production runs. At the other end of the line, sales and customer care organizations can update customers on order status and delivery times. The development of RFID, which provides even higher accuracy levels and stores much more data than barcodes, will only improve these efficiencies.
Wireless handsets with data capabilities allow mobile workers, including those who move around the floor, to send, receive, and update work orders, order parts, download schedules, and record the time needed to complete requests. This information reduces response time and allows managers, HR, and payroll to access, manage, and act on employee performance levels and workloads.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Today, there is a wide range of wireless solutions that can improve a manufacturer''s real-time communication -- facilitating increased collaboration and functional integration, cutting costs and ultimately improving the bottom line.
IEN: What advances do you see in collaborative design? How can it be more seamlessly tied to the plant floor?
Baker: Wireless voice and data communications can provide access to the plant floor, whether it is across the street or across the country. To ensure these communications are reliable, it may be necessary to provide an in-building solution that improves cellular coverage throughout their facility. Manufacturers should look for a wireless carrier that can work with them to design, install, and manage a wireless network that provides seamless cellular coverage throughout a facility, even in elevators and stairwells. This allows those on the factory floor to communicate wirelessly to the design team wherever they may be located, on-site or off.
Even more powerful is a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) that provides broadband data access throughout a facility. With a WLAN, people and machines can communicate in real time, sending and receiving data directly from the factory floor to everyone throughout the organization -- from executives, the sales force, and design teams, to shipping and delivery. Today, implementing a WLAN can be done in conjunction with installation of an in-building cellular solution. In fact, today Nextel offers an integrated cellular/WLAN system that improves in-building coverage and capacity for wireless voice and data services and also provides a WLAN over the same infrastructure, easing installation and management of both networks.
With a WLAN, collaboration in real time is possible. Suppose a design flaw creates a production problem. At a moment''s notice, relevant real-time data can be collected and sent from the factory floor. Automated alerts can be sent to Nextel handsets and BlackBerry devices. Not only can the design team begin to work immediately to solve the problem, no matter where they are, but at the same time other functional areas can also be alerted. Sales can be notified that there is a delay, suppliers can be told to hold back inventory, shipping can reroute fleets, and executives can revise forecasts -- all in real time, and all using the same information.
IEN: How can security issues (managed firewalls, spam control, managed virus scanning, etc.) be resolved? What about communication issues (wireless and other protocols, etc.)?
Baker: Security is an obvious priority when using wireless, and it is imperative that every organization work with each of its functional areas to ensure that their networks are secure and that their specific needs are met. But there is often a perception that if something is wireless, it is less secure. This isn''t necessarily the case. In fact, wireless can play a large role in protecting data and facilities.
At a minimum, however, manufacturers need to ensure that their internal networks meet industry standards. Specific to WLANs, organizations need to look for a network that is Wi-Fi™ Certified and supports IEEE 802.11 security standards: Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), 802.1x authentication. Networks should allow for supplemental security with RADIUS and MAC authentication, Virtual Private Networks (VPN), Intruder Detection System (IDS) and other preferred Layer 3 or 4 security enhancements.
Wireless networks and devices should support secure applications and provide secure access via Triple Data Encryption Standard (DES), Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and S/MIME encryption protocols.
Additionally, wireless can be a tool to ensure facility safety and security. With wireless communications, instant alerts can be sent to security and safety teams in the event of a safety or security breach. Walkie-talkie capabilities (like Nextel''s Direct Connect™, coast-to-coast walkie-talkie feature) can provide instant and simultaneous communication capabilities with up to 25 individuals at once, both on-site and off. What''s more, unlike two-way radios, these capabilities are interoperable with individuals and organizations separate from the organization, allowing real-time collaboration with local officials and public safety teams during a crisis. Finally, networks and systems can be monitored and managed via wireless devices, providing enhanced business continuity and mitigating costs associated with an event.