Big data means big savings for manufacturers Posted on : Oct 09 - 2015

That data can transform our everyday lives is a given in our digitally driven world. It also can save businesses huge sums by highlighting new efficiencies, improved productivity and growth.

Just ask Ignacio Villalobos, director of finance for Brantford, Ont.-based Atlas Hydraulics Inc., who used data to modernize his employer’s manufacturing processes.

“Atlas had never used data in the past because it was a very small family business. When I came onboard about three and a half years ago, I noticed that we didn’t have the correct costing information,” Mr. Villalobos says.

The hydraulic parts manufacturer was managing annual growth of 10 to 15 per cent operating six facilities across Canada and the United States. But it was losing money to avoidable inefficiencies in product delivery, manufacturing and inventory control.

The solution was to begin collecting data to identify areas for improvement. The company then incorporated lean operating principles while monitoring a “scorecard” of metrics that covered areas such as product quality, material waste and the time needed to complete orders.

The result of the company’s $25,000 spent to collect, analyze and act on this business intelligence? “We’ve been able to reduce costs by 40 per cent and efficiencies have improved by about 10 per cent,” Mr. Villalobos says. “Overall profit margins have improved by around 5 per cent.”

As globalization, strides in automation and other macroeconomic factors put pressure on business, chief executive officers are searching for deeper statistical intelligence. For cash-strapped small or medium-sized businesses (SMEs), determining what those metrics might be, then collecting and analyzing them, can prove challenging. View More