In many manufacturing companies, digital store floor processes are still a dream of the future. Instead of clear data flows, Excel lists, whiteboards, telephone chains, endless coordination meetings and equally long routes from “sender” to “receiver” dominate. Decisions are made on the basis of different levels of information – resulting in inefficiency, a lack of transparency and, in the worst case, a standstill.
Yet the solution has long been within reach – and is often surprisingly simple.
From paper to transparency: small steps, big impact
Anyone who still manages their production data on paper is wasting valuable time. Whether it’s shift handover, quality control or production planning – media disruptions occur everywhere, leading to errors and delays.
Digital team boards, which make daily and weekly planning visible, provide an immediate remedy. Combined with mobile devices that can be used to report faults or material bottlenecks directly, the flow of information suddenly becomes transparent. Everyone knows what is happening and where things are going wrong – in real time.
Real-time control instead of chaotic reactions
The decisive lever is transparency. With a central dashboard, key figures, priorities and problem areas can be recorded at a glance. Production, logistics and quality managers work on a shared database – regardless of whether they are on the production line, in the office or in an online meeting.
The effect: fewer coordination loops, faster decisions and, above all, a shared understanding of where the greatest levers for efficiency lie.
Standardization as a success factor – not as a limitation
The biggest hurdle rarely lies in the technology, but in the diversity of established structures. Different plants, processes and habits make standardization difficult. But this is precisely where the key lies: a standardized framework creates the basis for mapping digital processes flexibly but consistently.
Low-code platforms such as Simplifier provide the necessary architecture for this. With ready-made, reusable building blocks – buttons, logics, interfaces – apps can be developed quickly and securely. The close integration with SAP ensures that data flows remain seamless, while the specialist departments can make their own adjustments.
Acceptance comes from benefit, not obligation
In production in particular, the success of digital tools depends heavily on employee acceptance. It is crucial that new solutions are not imposed “from above”, but are tangibly useful.
The factory of the future needs real time – not visions of the future
Many companies talk about the smart factory, but only a few are implementing the basics. Transparency, data quality and process understanding are the basis of any intelligent production. Only when production processes are digitalized and networked can AI, predictive analytics and automated workflows be used effectively. Experience shows: Starting small – with clear, tangible use cases – lays the foundation for a smart factory. Even if it looks like it: Digitalization on the store floor is not always a mammoth project. It’s not about immediately creating a fully automated factory – it’s about creating real transparency step by step.
Low-code tools such as Simplifier show that standardization and flexibility are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary: they make it possible to implement digitalization where it has the greatest impact – directly at the point of action.
