Digital Signposts: Digital Signage and Manufacturing
Aug 27, 2012 10:37 AM,
By Vern Freedlander, vice president, production, X2O Media
Live data has always been an important component of digital signage, but one business sector in particular can reap enormous benefits. The manufacturing sector has always been heavily data-centric. It has relied on realtime data from numerous sources to highlight productivity, inventory levels, supply-chain management, and key performance indicators. The production process requires on-going data regarding the efficiency of production lines, warehousing, status of suppliers, and a variety of other factors. Digital signage can play an important role for manufacturers as both the optimum visual presentation tool for data and as the distribution vehicle that makes this crucial data available to the right individuals at the right time.
Digital signage brings incredible value to manufacturing. By parsing and visualizing data sets in a clear, broadcast TV-like presentation and placing screens in strategic locations, organizations can quickly and accurately check targets and key indicators. In turn, managers and staff can carefully track production processes and make necessary refinements as required.
Efficiently sharing data with key teams and individuals throughout the organization is just as important as a visually pleasing and instantly comprehensible presentation. For integrators, a great approach is to think of the data sets as a collection of content that makes up a specific manufacturing channel. The channel can be reformatted and distributed to multiple screens appearing on tablets, smart phones, and desktops. Subsets of data can populate dashboards or be used as elements making up additional content channels servicing other departments such as sales, marketing, or corporate communications.
By using digital signage to monitor, share, and display data that corresponds to vital indicators such as the amount of materials used, energy consumption, and assembly line activity, companies can quickly improve efficiencies, respond to market fluctuations, and make necessary production changes. Live data is the lifeblood of manufacturing, and digital signage holds the key to making that data make immediate sense.
Vern Freedlander is vice president of production services for Montréal-based X2O Media, a full-service provider of technology, network management, and content services for professional digital signage applications. With more than 20 years of broadcast television experience as a producer, director, and executive, Freedlander oversees all of X2O Media’s content initiatives. He can be reached at [email protected].
