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The past few years have uncovered new dimensions of innovation across transportation, distribution, manufacturing, and healthcare. The impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced AI/ML has the potential to reshape how apparel, fashion, and footwear industries operate as well by introducing these technologies to the shop floor control. The question is how can IoT & AIoT add value to the apparel, fashion and footwear industries?
Although the uptake is slow, we have seen many use cases in smart wearables, shoes, and textiles offered a couple of years ago. Retailers like Adidas, Ray-Ban Stories, Amazon, Auchan, Ikea , JD.com, Nike Inc, and Rewe are excellent examples.
Technologies including AI/ML along with IoT are powerful tools that have the potential to arm fashion and apparel retailers effectively address new demands including a smart shop floor. And enabling tech-driven customer experiences start right from the shop floor automation.
By 2030, fashion companies that now embed AI into their business models could see a 118 percent cumulative increase in cash flow. (Source: McKinsey)
Challenges in adopting shop floor automation
Fashion, apparel and footwear organizations face multiple challenges when adopting shop floor automation. Here are a few:
- Reduced top floor to shop floor visibility.
- Inability to monitor real-time data.
- Delay in production process due to inefficient tracking.
- Unplanned machine downtime and maintenance costs. Let’s take a look how HauteLogic, built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 allows you to tackle these challenges with ease.
Sensor Data Intelligence
HauteLogic, built on Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management utilizes sensor data intelligence that supports a wide range of manufacturing scenarios. It helps organizations to drive optimal business processes that are based on sensor data from machines and equipment on the production floor. With its unique set of capabilities, it allows you to envision smart operations throughout your operation floor. It enables a business to configure its own options in:
Predictive maintenance & smart floor automation
Accuracy, efficiency, and transparency are vital to improving product quality and ensuring process reliability. Advanced data technologies enable end-to-end automation that provides real-time shop floor optimization, which allows fashion retailers to detect, locate, and diagnose defects, providing real-time machine performance monitoring. Additionally, leveraging AI empowers them to minimize forecasting errors by 30-50%. As a result, there are lower chances of failures, production downtimes, and labor costs. Furthermore, with predictive maintenance, shop floors can effectively schedule activities to ensure minimal disruption to production processes. It includes maintenance scheduling, expected outages, order inventory, etc. Also, machine learning allows retailers to ensure optimal equipment performance and continuous improvement in asset management.
Remote monitoring and RFID
Technology is making inventory distribution seamless. Fashion retailers are capitalizing on future-proofing inventory management tools. Analyzing leaps of big data from industrial sensors provides inventory production transparency and insights for predictive maintenance. In addition, sensors enable seamless integration across the factory floors, connecting all web-enabled equipment. As a result, it saves downtime costs while providing data integration not just limited to manufacturing units but also extends to business divisions and third-party sources. With specially designed dashboards, you can remotely monitor quality checks of machinery and equipment with precision. This allows you to streamline processes and ensure business continuity is not compromised.
RFID is one of the most crucial technologies that is being adopted by major fashion retailers. The technology enables precise inventory monitoring (item sales and availability tracking) even from a distance, unlike barcodes, while empowering retailers to combat counterfeiting. RFID empowers retailers to streamline their warehouse processes and improve order fulfillment while delivering more engaging in-store experiences.
Demand Forecasting with Azure Machine Learning
Demand forecasting is essential for apparel businesses as it allows businesses to make the right decisions in a wide range of areas including finance, inventory management, and pricing. HauteLogic leverages Azure Machine Learning to drive enhanced demand forecasting with simplified management.
Where’s the future headed?
Utilizing various data and AI technologies, HauteLogic offers you a robust AI/ML ecosystem that supports smart shop floor automation. The current data & AI/ML landscape is transforming manufacturing in a wide range of ways. Smart shop floor automation enables you to leverage connected systems that provide real-time data, demand forecasting and sensor data intelligence. It’s time to stop thinking and act faster. Get in touch with our experts today.