Manufacturing expanding vertical for visuals
IDC industry insights report reveals visualisation technology importance
The report suggests that globalised manufacturing workforces may benefit from increased use of audiovisual IT
A recent IDC study has pointed to the increasing importance of audiovisual technology in improving decision-making in factories.
According to the market-watcher, visual information can help manufacturers explain complex products to their staff, especially when comparing disparate types of information to globally dispersed workforces.
Joe Barkai, practice director of the product lifecycle strategies service at IDC Manufacturing Insights, said: “Visualisation is an effective method for synthesising different data sources and making them accessible to broader communities of decision makers for cross-disciplinary decisions.”
That was even more true when experience, skills, culture, or language differences might play a crucial role or hinder communications, he said.
“Product-related information, presented in a rich visual context and shared across widely accessible and easily usable collaborative interfaces, can contribute to making more effective product-related decisions that can positively impact the complete product life-cycle, from concept to decommission,” said Barkai.
The report, Methods and Practices: Visual Information for Effective Collaboration in Product Life-Cycle Management, suggests organisations can improve and extend their decision-making abilities by presenting product-related information visually.
IDC said the study revealed that designers and manufacturers of complex products are finding it increasingly challenging to make effective product-related decisions, for a number of reasons.
“Expanded technical complexities across engineering disciplines, elongated and dynamic supply chains, a growing shortage of experienced workers, relentless schedules, and budgetary pressures have contributed,” the market-watcher said in a statement.
“Visual information adds significant value by connecting knowledge workers and corporate disciplines that once lacked a common platform for interaction.”
The report suggests that technology providers could benefit from targeting manufacturer-type customers accordingly.