Industrial challenges in Hungary
How can production remain profitable in the face of labour shortages and rising energy prices?
The digital world is revolutionising all sectors, including manufacturing and production companies. In Hungary, industrial operations are mostly understood as assembly operations, but it is vital to keep up with developments both domestically and internationally.
Digitalisation has become an essential part of business life, as it can make operations more efficient, faster or even cheaper.
In the industrial sector, Hungary is in a unique position: it has a particularly large number of companies that carry out manufacturing, assembly and logistics tasks for multinational partners and international brands. This situation is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because companies and the Hungarian economy benefit significantly from the fact that foreign “big players” choose us and invest their trust in Hungarian companies. The curse, however, is that we have to meet the highest international standards: low-cost labour and sustainable operations with growing results, according to the strict quality standards of the parent companies.
This is creating two challenges in Hungary today: labour shortages on the production lines and in logistics, and rising energy consumption and costs.
THE ANSWERS TO THIS CHALLENGE CLEARLY LIE IN IT. BECAUSE OF THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROCESSES, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES. AUTOMATION CAN NOT ONLY BE A SOLUTION TO THE FIRST POINT, BUT ALSO A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. THE INTRODUCTION AND CONSCIOUS USE OF ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND TOOLS CAN HELP WITH THE SECOND POINT.
From catching up to automation
“For a Hungarian company, there is actually double pressure to bring its digital and automation systems up to date. On the one hand, they have to satisfy the detailed and continuous data hunger and requirements of their foreign partner, while on the other hand it is also important for them to understand their own production processes and to work more efficiently and economically,” explains Péter Gém, Sales Director of Large Industrial Enterprises at 4iG Plc. “So, if someone is thinking about making progress in the field of enterprise automation, they have to meet such a two-way demand, which is not an easy task”.
The development plan is important because each year brings new opportunities and new technological innovations that can further improve the company’s efficiency. “Artificial intelligence, for example, is another big buzzword these days, but industrial companies are only just beginning to see what they can do with it,” adds Gabriella Steiner. “But this is a multi-step process. The first step seems to be getting to a level of automation where there is enough data in the systems to allow an AI to learn, draw conclusions and even get involved in management processes”.
4iG’s professionals have encountered many levels of digital maturity in their work, which is why they no longer define their job as a specific sales job, but as a complex consulting job.
“YES, THERE ARE PLANTS THAT MANAGE, FOR EXAMPLE, PARTS INVENTORY OR PRODUCTION PROCESS TRACKING AT THE LEVEL OF EXCEL SPREADSHEETS. AT THAT LEVEL, THERE IS A PARTICULAR NEED FOR US TO UNDERSTAND THE DETAILS OF THEIR OPERATIONS AND THEN BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THEM, TO KNOW HOW THEY UNDERSTAND THEIR OPERATIONS AND THEN TO SHOW THEM HOW THEY CAN MAKE THEIR LIFE MORE CONVENIENT, FASTER, EFFICIENT AND EVEN MORE ECONOMIC”, concludes Gabriella Steiner.
Fortunately, most companies are already some way down the road to internal digitalisation, but even this is far from a final solution. “What we usually find in these organisations is that, for various reasons – either at the request of an external partner or to manage a specific process – they use different automation sub-solutions, but they don’t work together. There is no central intelligence behind them that can analyse the huge amount of data being generated to give managers a complete picture of how the business is operating”.
Targeted, i.e. tailored design
When a company wants to build a modern automation environment, it should look for an integration partner who can deliver a trusted package based on communication and design, rather than a “ready-made” product.
“OF COURSE, THERE ARE PRODUCTS THAT CAN BE USED IMMEDIATELY. FOR EXAMPLE, SELF-DRIVING SMART CARS CAN BE DEPLOYED QUICKLY, SO THEIR EFFICIENCY CAN OFFSET THE PROBLEMS OF LABOUR SHORTAGES FROM THE FIRST MINUTE. OR: SMART TRANSFORMERS RATIONALISE THE PROCESS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE START-UP”, adds Péter Gém.
In addition, international partners can also set expectations for domestic factories that are required by their own sustainability commitments and regulations. This, too, requires significant improvements. “If you look at a major car manufacturer that clearly promotes its own vehicles as environmentally friendly, it will require domestic assemblers to provide data on their manufacturing processes down to the smallest detail. For example, a paint shop will have to show how it recycles unused heat, how much energy is used by compressors and so on”, says Péter Gém.
Implementing a well-designed system is the very essence of industrial organisations today.
“WITH OUR EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE, WE CAN HELP YOU UNDERSTAND, DESIGN AND PROPOSE THE SOLUTION YOUR CUSTOMER NEEDS. WE ARE ABLE TO CREATE A SPECIFIC, TAILOR-MADE SOLUTION FROM A WIDE RANGE OF SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE BASES”, says Gabriella Steiner.
There are many companies in Hungary that promise complex design and implementation. “I see our competitive advantage in the fact that our business has been based on the operation and maintenance of IT infrastructure for many years, so we have built up expertise that can be well applied in an industrial environment. Our team is able to deliver complex tasks faster and more efficiently than if you had to outsource to multiple suppliers. This is confirmed by our solid reference base, whether in industrial automation or energy management”, concludes Gabriella Steiner.