Planning Analytics – How it is Driving the New Age of Manufacturing
Whether it is to improve product quality, reduce costs, or optimize supply chains, data
analytics is now an integral part of strategies in the manufacturing sector. Inextricably
linked to the “Industry 4.0” revolution, analytics has played its part in determining “why
things happen” as well as “what is likely to happen”.
For manufacturing, analytics helps find answers to questions like:
– Why is my manufacturing facility not able to meet its production capacity?
– Are my raw materials being procured on time?
– How do I scale my production to the next level?
As Arvind Shetty of IBM Analytics said, “Today, every discussion about changes in
technology and business begins with data. With increasing volume, variety, and velocity,
data has become the new natural resource.” Data has become the essential raw material
that ensures manufacturing companies can make strategic decisions that improve
operational performance.
How is the IBM Planning Analytics driving the future of global manufacturing? Let us
look deeper.
What is IBM Planning Analytics?
Built using the proprietary TM1 engine, IBM Planning Analytics is an integrated
planning solution that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to automate, plan, and drive
intelligent planning processes. Designed to be easy and flexible, IBM planning analytics
includes IBM Watson analytics and integration with MS Excel.
Internationally the solution has played a key role for a while now. For instance,
Robertson Group used IBM Planning Analytics on the IBM Cloud to integrate multiple
data sources and automate complex reporting. Next, let us look at some features and benefits in the manufacturing context.
4 Key Features of IBM Planning Analytics
Whether it is for better administration, modelling, or user experience, here are 4 key
features of the IBM planning analytics solution:
1) Data analysis capabilities
IBM planning analytics has the in-built capability to analyze data patterns and
discover new insights. Integrated with reporting tools like MS Excel and IBM
Cognos Analytics, organizations don’t need to completely depend on data
scientists to extract manufacturing insights. Additionally, they do not need to
export operational data to other tools.
2) Interface with MS Excel (PAX now PAFE)
Those who love the familiarity of using MS Excel can use IBM Cognos Analysis for
MS Excel to retain the familiarity and format of MS Excel while moving data. They
can also access advanced functionalities like multidimensional analysis and
planning.
3) Planning analytics workspace (PAW)
With its visual and interactive workspace, IBM Planning Analytics helps
companies focus on what is important to their manufacturing process. This
workspace is packed with features like creating views, Dashboards & visualizations for data
analysis and natural language search using IBM Watson Analytics at the front-
end.
4) What-if Scenario Analysis
This easy-to-use feature lets companies analyze the outcome of their decisions
before making them. Its flexible sandbox feature allows them to test as many
what-if scenarios as needed, before arriving at the right business decision.
4 Benefits of IBM Planning Analytics in Manufacturing
1) Faster implementation
Thanks to its flexibility and agility, IBM planning analytics can be leveraged for
faster implementation across all manufacturing functions including supply chain
and logistics. With increased agility, manufacturing facilities can respond to
demand changes and disruptions by adjusting their production schedule.
Further, this planning tool can identify unused or underutilized resources that
can be used in the event of any disruption.
2) Business foresight
With IBM planning analytics, manufacturing companies can get the best planning
capabilities of IBM Cognos and predictive analytics from IBM Watson Analytics
for improving business foresight and decision-making. Through predictive
modelling of structured data, manufacturers can now develop analytical
capabilities with their Big Data.
3) AI-driven Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting
The use of AI and natural language processing (or NLP) in IBM planning analytics
has made it faster and easier to plan and forecast manufacturing functions. AI
has immense potential in planning analytics for small businesses. Some of their benefits include AI-based predictive forecasting, business intelligence (BI), and budget planning.
4) Better collaboration
Among its main benefits, IBM planning analytics allows users to collaborate and
share data models with other business functions with a few clicks. In effect,
planning analytics breaks down “data silos,” unifies the data, and shows an
integrated view of your operational data across your organization.
For instance, if one group modifies their data, this change is immediately
reflected across all dashboards, reports, and calculations – thus enabling
immediate collaboration.
How IBM Planning Analytics Helps in Sales and Operational Planning
In any manufacturing facility, the sales planning process is shared across the sales,
marketing, and production function. The overall planning comprises:
– Annual budgets as an estimate of sales volumes, amounts, and prices.
– Monthly forecasts as an update of the approved budget.
With IBM Planning Analytics, sales planning benefits in the following ways:
– A minimum level of manual sales data entry.
– Process automation that avoids any human errors.
– Provides flexibility and minimizes the workload.
Similarly, operational planning includes modules like production planning, demand
estimation, and the creation of purchase orders. With IBM Planning Analytics,
operational planning is benefited in the following ways:
– Production quantities are within the production capacity of the factory.
– Just-in-Time delivery of raw materials to the plants.
– Communication of updated and real-time production data to all stakeholders.
– Early detection of any change in demand for finished products.
Conclusion
AI-driven technology solutions like IBM Planning Analytics are transforming the global
manufacturing sector through more intelligent workflows and forecasting. We have
highlighted some key features and benefits of using this planning analytics tool.
At Veracitiz, we have over 100-man years of consulting experience in different industry
domains including manufacturing. Our IBM expertise, expert approach, and experience
come together to help our customers enhance manufacturing workflows and optimally
utilize resources. Get in touch with us for the best analytics outcomes.
Interested to explore IBM Planning Analytics?
Sign up for Free 30 Days Trial. Click Here