Perhaps the main reason so few manufacturers have transformed themselves into e-manufacturers is the complexity of adapting their existing manufacturing infrastructures. The plant floor has focused more on manufacturing quality, optimizing production processes and productivity, and less on customer demand. Sophisticated controllers, other intelligent devices, LANs and MESes all collect data that could be used for marketing or customer service, but those data rarely cross the plant floor to an ERP, which may or may not be capable of processing that data. Crater said manufacturers need to see this transformation as inevitable or they risk going out of business. E-business customers are demanding more customized products, faster delivery schedules and instant access to order status.
Manufacturers stand to benefit too.
Things like that actually lend themselves to e-business effects. It may be possible to cut costs by as much as 8 percent to 10 percent, he said. In fact, Lightwave Microsystems has accelerated its plans to connect its manufacturing processes to the Internet because customers such as Lucent are requiring it, said Doug Barnes, Lightwave's manager of IT development. Lightwave is furthering the trend by requiring its suppliers to become e-manufacturers, he said. The better you can plan your supply chain, the more competitive you're going to be.