Transforming Manufacturing Efficiency with Microsoft Fabric

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Client name:

A Mid-Sized Precision Parts Manufacturer in the USA.

Category:

Manufacturing

Objective: Streamline data management, enhance real-time decision-making, and leverage predictive analytics to improve operational efficiency.

The Challenge

The client faced significant challenges in managing their data across fragmented systems:

1. Siloed Data Sources:

Data from ERP (SAP S/4HANA), MES (Rockwell FactoryTalk), IoT sensors, and CRM (Salesforce) were stored separately, making it difficult to get a unified view.

2. Delayed Insights:

Static Power BI dashboards were unable to provide real-time visibility into production line performance and supply chain disruptions.

3. Reactive Maintenance:

Lack of predictive maintenance capabilities led to frequent unplanned equipment failures, increasing downtime and operational costs.

4. Inefficient Decision-Making:

Leadership struggled to make data-driven decisions due to inconsistent reporting and delayed access to actionable insights.

Our Solution

Migration to Microsoft fabric with Xylity

Xylity implemented Microsoft Fabric as a unified data platform to address these challenges and optimize the client’s operations:

1. Data Consolidation and Integration

Integrated SAP S/4HANA, Rockwell FactoryTalk, and Salesforce into Fabric’s centralized lakehouse using its Data Engineering capabilities.
Connected IoT data streams from PTC ThingWorx to Fabric for real-time monitoring.
Standardized and cleaned data using Fabric’s Data Factory, ensuring consistency across systems.

2. Real-Time Analytics

Set up Fabric’s Real-Time Analytics to ingest streaming data from IoT sensors, enabling live monitoring of production metrics such as machine uptime and throughput.
Created real-time Power BI dashboards that displayed production bottlenecks and supply chain delays.

3. Predictive Maintenance

Leveraged Fabric’s Data Science tools to develop predictive models using historical equipment data and IoT sensor readings.
Deployed predictive maintenance alerts via Microsoft Teams, notifying operators of potential failures before they occurred.

4. Advanced Reporting and Decision Support

Migrated existing Power BI dashboards to Fabric, enhancing them with Fabric’s Copilot for Power BI for natural language querying.
Built customized dashboards for leadership, operations, and maintenance teams to provide actionable insights tailored to their needs.

Results

After the migration to Microsoft Fabric, the client achieved the following outcomes:

Unified Data Ecosystem

Consolidated data from ERP, MES, and IoT systems into a single source of truth, reducing reporting errors by 40%.

Real-Time Insights

Real-time production monitoring reduced response time to bottlenecks by 30%, significantly improving efficiency.

Reduced Downtime

Predictive maintenance cut unplanned equipment failures by 18%, saving approximately $250,000 annually in downtime costs.

Faster Decision-Making

Natural language querying with Copilot for Power BI allowed managers to generate insights 50% faster, leading to quicker operational adjustments.

Scalable Platform

The Microsoft Fabric platform provided a scalable foundation for future analytics needs, enabling the client to add new data sources seamlessly.

METRIC	BEFORE	AFTER MICROSOFT FABRIC
Data Integration Across Systems	Fragmented	Unified
Reporting Errors	High (40% inaccuracy)	Reduced by 40%
Downtime from Equipment Failures	Frequent	Reduced by 18%
Decision-Making Speed	Slow	50% Faster
Annual Cost Savings	N/A	$250,000

Microsoft Fabric transformed the client’s operations by unifying their data, enabling real-time insights, and leveraging AI-driven predictive analytics. The migration, led by Xylity, not only addressed existing inefficiencies but also positioned the client for long-term scalability and innovation in their manufacturing processes.

Ready to transform your manufacturing operations with Microsoft Fabric? Let’s discuss how Xylity can help. Contact us today!