Just a few years ago, nobody had heard of the cloud, let alone the IoT. But today, everything has changed, especially in manufacturing. Manufacturers are obsessed with the opportunities that the cloud represents. And they’re doing all they can to get in early on this exciting, emerging new technology.
The problem is that most businesses don’t understand the full potential of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). According to Mint Jutras, 66 percent didn’t know the difference between typical SaaS architectures.
But, says Mint Jutras, the market for cloud software is growing by the day. At the moment, only 22 percent of manufacturers are hooked up to some sort of cloud software. But by 2026, that’s expected to rocket to over 45 percent.
The reason for this is because manufacturers are under constant market pressure to do what they do more cheaply and efficiently. The amount of time a manufacturer has between product revisions is declining all the time, and they need software that can keep up. Here’s how startups can benefit from the cloud.
Communication with vendors
Manufacturers often need bespoke products delivered from other businesses to make their products function. These products are often complex and require hundreds of pages of design. But as explained by http://www.macrofab.com/
Firms will be able to collaborate with vendors over the cloud with specialist software. They’ll be able to design things, like circuit boards, using specialist cloud software. And by doing so, they’ll be able to make more frequent and accurate revisions to their orders. In the long term, it should mean lower overheads for companies and lower prices for consumers.
Capturing business intelligence
Business intelligence is an exploding field right now according to www.forbes.com. Finally, startup manufacturers are gaining access to AI that can help manage complex relationships. Cloud-based platforms mean that all the various vendors involved with a project can communicate data to one another. And this data can then be crunched to come up with intelligent answers to difficult analytical problems.
Cloud-based marketing
Many manufacturers are struggling today to optimise their marketing strategy. Coordinating all your marketing efforts into a single hub is tough. But that’s all about to change. Cloud-based marketing apps are enabling startups to track the success of each of their campaigns.
Now startups can align all of their marketing efforts under one cloud control system. And it finally means that they’re able to deliver on the long-awaited promise of digital marketing technology.
Cloud-based HR
Traditional HR is a nightmare, especially for startups. Thus, cloud-based HR offers a potential solution. New cloud-based HR systems are able to coordinate with other manufacturers globally. Talent can be pooled and sourced by companies in real time.
Companies also benefit from cloud solutions internally. For instance, many firms use applications like Workday to help allocate workers to different projects.
Bottom line
The cloud offers startups many ways to free up time. Once the legwork is removed, they can get on with investing in new products and developing new ideas.