Using an estate of connected screens, manufacturers worldwide can now communicate important messages and production data to thousands of employees across multiple sites from one central dashboard.
Static signs, paper reports, and posters have failed to stand the test of time. Information on these traditional channels becomes outdated quickly and can be costly and time-consuming to keep updated. These drawbacks are especially prevalent in larger organisations with multiple locations that are now looking for new technologies to deliver critical information quickly, without boundaries.
What Is Digital Signage?
Digital signage used to be the art of inserting a USB stick and pressing play or hitting repeat on the same PowerPoint presentation. Now, content on the screens can differ from production lines to departments based on the specific environment requirements. Read more at https://troudigital.com/what-is-digital-signage/
Live Production Analytics And Dashboards
Knowing how the factory is performing is a critical part of meeting targets and maintaining manufacturing accountability.
Modern software can be integrated with internal data sets and displayed as live-evolving information for the workforce. Integrations with other data sources such as Microsoft Power BI are also available to create what is referred to as a live digital dashboard.
A great example of a digital dashboard in use is at an automotive production line. Live charts can be displayed on screens showcasing metrics such as target vs current production, yield percentage, manufacturing cycle time, and accidents for a given time period. Of course, there is an unlimited number of performance metrics manufacturers can track to measure their performance.
Having these metrics available on screens around a factory is a great way to keep employees engaged. If management sees their department isn’t meeting targets, it will allow them to investigate what can be changed to meet and exceed them.
Event-Triggered Messages
Ensuring the safety of employees and visitors is at the forefront of any manufacturer’s mind. For factories, there are often extremely strict safety measures in place. These measures include employees having regular training, installing industrial floors, fire exits, and sprinkler systems.
In the event of an emergency such as a fire, it is vital that all employees within the factory know exactly where to go and where the danger zones are.
Thanks to event triggers, a fire alarm going off can activate safety messages to display on the screens around the factory. It can even show where the fire warning was triggered and direct employees and visitors to the nearest fire exit.
Enhancing Internal Communications
Having an effective method of internal communication is an integral part of keeping employees engaged and working towards a common goal. Without internal communication, employees may not be aware of organisational strategies or output goals.
Therefore, providing employees with a steady stream of communication is vital. Previously, companies used posters to achieve this. However, print signage has proved to lack engagement and is costly to update over multiple sites in both time and money.
Through digital screens, manufacturers are able to display content such as factory updates, employee activities, live weather, social media, news, and RSS feeds. To increase the engagement of employees, manufacturers can also display company videos. This information can be customised to suit different departments and areas. Customisation is particularly beneficial for manufacturers with multiple sites that produce different products or work towards alternative goals.
Digital Wayfinding
In most cases, factories and manufacturing facilities are massive, with some buildings being hundreds of thousands of square feet large. The size of these buildings often means navigation is a challenge. Interactive digital kiosks from a electronic message center company provide a digitalised solution for manufacturers. Using an interactive map embedded on a screen, users can select or search where they need to go and be served a visualised route with instructions.
