December 2021CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM8CIO InsightsCXO InsightsIn My ViewHenkel Adhesive Technologies is globally leading in the markets for adhesives, sealants, and functional coatings. The products and solutions are an integral part of uncountable consumer and industrial goods in more than 800 industry segments and, for example, help reducing the weight of cars, improving the performance of smartphones and supporting the food safety in packaging applications. With about 140 production sites, more than 200 warehouses and around 70,000 products the Henkel business unit is dealing with a complex network in production and logistics. To optimize operations, logistics and material flows and to generate best customer value the Global Operations and Supply Chain team located in Amsterdam is increasingly using the opportunities of digitalization such as Artificial Intelligence, smart planning tools and Smart Factory concepts.Smart Factory Concept Smart Factories allow to simulate production processes, and therefore identify quality risks even before they occur. They can display the full picture, consisting of the real-time data that connected machines are sending. Algorithms are able to bundle and analyse this huge amount HDigitalization Drives Shaping the Ideal Logistics NetworkBJOERN NEAL KIRCHNER, CORPORATE VP GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN ADHESIVE TECHNOLOGIES, HENKELof data within seconds, so companies know exactly what happens at every single stage of the process. This significantly improves both, the chance to run processes more precisely in the first place, and to dynamically adapt the operations whenever necessary.Henkel Adhesive Technologies continuously upgrades systems and machines of existing sites with Industry 4.0 functionalities. Therefore, the business unit has developed a web-based platform that is currently running at 14 sites across Asia Pacific and India, Middle East and Africa region. It features a set of modules with specific digital capabilities. Site managers can select the digital solutions that best fits to their specific situation and that create most value. As the feedback is very positive, Adhesive Technologies plans to bring all major sites worldwide onto the platform by 2022.To further digitize its operations, Adhesive Technologies has integrated holistic Smart Factory concepts into the planning and construction of all new sites globally.
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