When it comes to manufacturing, South Africa has a vast range of sectors and businesses working within the manufacturing industry. South Africa’s manufacturing sector, contributing approximately 13% to GDP and employing over 1,6 million people, has shown mild recovery with a 0,3% year-on-year production increase in September 2025, driven by food, beverages, and motor vehicles. However, the sector faces challenges, with the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dropping to 42,0 in November 2025, signalling contraction.
Much like many other industries, manufacturing has not been immune to the growth of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. The growth of these technologies in the manufacturing sector has brought about connected manufacturing.
What is Connected Manufacturing?
Connected manufacturing is an Industry 4.0 strategy that integrates digital technology, Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics to link machines, systems, and personnel in real time. It creates a cohesive, visible, and automated ecosystem that optimises production, reduces costs, and improves efficiency from the shop floor to the supply chain.
Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the manufacturing sector need to have knowledge about how new technologies can benefit their business and possibly begin the journey to connected manufacturing.
In this article, we look at the characteristics that define connected manufacturing, its benefits and how SMEs can begin leveraging technology to ensure they keep in touch with the digital world.
Key Components of Connected Manufacturing
There are several key components that define connected manufacturing. These components work together to create a more integrated and data-driven production environment.
1. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
- Sensors and devices: Collect real-time data from machines, equipment, and products.
- Connectivity: Enables devices to communicate through networks (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, 5G).
- Applications: Used for condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, and asset tracking.
2. Cloud Computing
- Centralised Data Storage: Stores large volumes of manufacturing data for easy access and analysis.
- Scalability: Supports growing data needs without investing in additional hardware.
- Remote Access: Allows stakeholders to access information from anywhere, enabling remote monitoring.
3. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
- Predictive Analysis: Forecasts equipment failures, demand patterns, and quality issues.
- Process Optimisation: Analyses data to identify inefficiencies and improve workflows.
- Personalised Insights: Provides real-time recommendations to workers based on data trends.
4. Digital Twin Technology
- Virtual Models: Digital representations of physical processes, machines, or products.
- Simulation: Allows manufacturers to test scenarios and optimise performance before implementing changes in the real world.
- Monitoring: Enables real-time tracking and diagnostics of physical assets.
5. Connected Worker Solutions
- Mobile Devices and Wearables: Enable workers to access real-time information, instructions, and support.
- Augmented Reality (AR): Provides enhanced training, troubleshooting, and task guidance.
- Collaboration Tools: Facilitate communication between teams and experts, improving efficiency.
- Connected Frontline Operations: Connected frontline operations help future-proof manufacturing operations.
6. Data Analytics and Visualisation Tools
- Dashboards and Reports: Visualise key metrics, trends, and insights to support decision-making.
- Real-Time Analysis: Provides immediate feedback on operations to identify issues and opportunities.
- Performance Monitoring: Tracks KPIs like OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and production yield.
7. Automation and Robotics
- Smart Machinery: Automated equipment that performs repetitive tasks with high precision.
- Collaborative Robots (Cobots): Work alongside humans to increase productivity.
- Process Automation: Streamlines operations, reduces errors, and increases efficiency.
8. Edge Computing
- Local Processing: Processes data closer to the source (e.g. on the factory floor) to reduce latency.
- Faster Insights: Enables immediate feedback and decision-making without relying on cloud processing alone.
Once integrated, these key components of connected manufacturing enhance efficiency, flexibility and responsiveness in production.
Benefits of Digital Connectivity in the Supply Chain
Connected manufacturing leverages digital interlinking to connect all tiers of suppliers, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), and manufacturers, resulting in real-time insights into inventory levels, production workflows, and possible interruptions.
Some of the benefits of connected manufacturing are:
Improved Supply Chain Visibility
Digital interconnection across all stages of the supply chain provides manufacturers with uninterrupted access to real-time data concerning inventory levels, production advancement and transportation status. This elevated transparency enables manufacturers to make informed choices and swiftly adapt to dynamic shifts or unexpected interruptions.
Proactive Planning
The connected manufacturing method enables businesses to forecast and effectively strategise for potential shortages or disruptions. With an all-encompassing view of inventory levels and production schedules, companies gain the capacity to fine-tune their manufacturing processes proactively, thus reducing downtime and preventing line stoppages.
Enhanced Inventory Management
The real-time data and analytics offered by connected manufacturing significantly improve inventory management. This enables businesses to adequately adjust their inventory levels, effectively mitigating surplus stock while ensuring a sufficient supply of components is readily available to fulfil production requirements.
Business Rule Automation
Manufacturers can automate specific operations, such as reordering parts once inventory levels reach a predetermined threshold. This automation not only fosters operational efficiency but also serves as a safeguard against potential human errors.
Supply Chain Optimisation
By leveraging the connected manufacturing concept, businesses can create heightened integration and seamlessness within their supply chain. It enables them to pinpoint bottlenecks, rectify inefficiencies and capitalise on opportunities for refinement, resulting in finely tuned processes and notable cost reductions.
Collaboration and Data Sharing
Integrating all stakeholders through digital connectivity enhances collaboration and efficiency. The exchange of data among OEMs and suppliers creates a synchronised and flexible ecosystem within the supply chain.
How to Digitise the Supply Chain
Digitising your supply chain involves implementing technology to add efficiency, visibility, and responsiveness throughout the entire process. Here are some ways in which businesses can make their supply chain more digitally inclined and connected.
1. Assess Current Processes
Whether your business is operating a traditional supply chain or is in the beginning stages of digitisation, there will be areas to prioritise. Before starting, identify existing inefficiencies and areas that can beimproved such as logistics, wastage or inventory management.
2. Define Goals and Strategy
Once you outline what needs to change, implement a way to measure improvements. Consider which key performance indicators (KPIs) align with your digitisation strategy so that the goals of the digital transformation plan are clear and provable with data.
3. Adopt Cloud-Based Solutions
Digital technologies based in the cloud allow businesses to reduce initial capital outlays in favour of a subscription-based model. Once implemented these systems enable real-time visibility to data, remote access, and straightforward collaboration with suppliers, partners, and customers.
4. Implement IoT and Automation
As well as reducing the possibility of human error, automating the supply chain improves efficiency and tracking. IoT technology allows businesses to better manage warehouses through radio frequency identification (RFID) and robotics, track the performance and condition of their fleet and drivers, and extract the data gathered by the network to further improve business processes.
5. Integrating AI and Analytics
While an IoT network can gather a wealth of data, AI is important for optimising how it is used. In real-time, it can predict future trends to decrease the impact of fluctuations and disruptions, plan for more efficient logistics strategies, manage inventories and automate procurement based on the data. And it can help supply chain managers make better-informed, fact-based decisions.
6. Enhance Cybersecurity
Cyber threats are only going to grow as more sensitive data is stored online, so keeping systems secure is important to avoiding costly disruptions, loss of capital and possible reputational damage. Keeping on top of security updates should be at the top of the to-do list for all companies.
7. Ensure Supplier and Partner Alignment
The more businesses that are open to digitising their supply chains, the greater the collective benefit. While the advantages are clear for individual companies, these benefits are amplified as adoption increases. Improved data quality leads to more accurate analytics, greater agility across organisations, enhanced scalability when required, and efficiencies that are realised throughout the entire supply chain.
8. Train and Upskill the Workforce
Digitisation of your supply chain will only work if there are people who know how to operate alongside the technology. You need to ensure that existing staff are brought up to speed with the digital processes, new hires come with those skills, and training is continuous to reiterate best practices and update employees as the technology evolves.
9. Consistent Monitoring and Optimisation
The amount of analytical data being produced by digital supply chains means that businesses can keep improving how they work. This means keeping in mind that if there is stock on shelves, earning nothing for too long. Are there members of staff who could better utilise their skillsets? Could fewer but larger deliveries work out to be more cost-effective in future? The data required to optimise these processes is available at supply chain managers’ fingertips.
10. Scale and Expand
Digitising your supply chain is not a once-off event; it’s a constant process that grows and changes as your business does. Whether it’s leveraging cloud-based solutions to replace outdated technologies, increasing capacity as orders grow, or transforming to align with national or global markets, digitisation will support businesses of all sizes run their supply chains seamlessly.
Digitisation of the supply chain is important for SMEs looking to scale operations and ensure they keep up with the digital world while still keeping in line with manufacturing standards.
