April 4, 2023

Sigma on Databricks: Introducing the Lakehouse for Manufacturing

What is Lakehouse for Manufacturing?

The manufacturing industry relies heavily on efficiency, accuracy and reliability of operations and data. The Databricks Lakehouse is a unified data analytics platform that combines the scalability and reliability of a data lake with the performance and functionality of a data warehouse. Combining both of these, Databricks has created the Lakehouse for Manufacturing which provides manufacturers with a centralized platform to manage their data from multiple sources, including sensors, ERP systems, production machines, and more. By integrating data from different sources into a single platform, manufacturers can gain a comprehensive view of their operations, identify patterns, and make data-driven decisions. The Databricks Lakehouse Platform is further enhanced by leveraging Sigma for real-time data insights, analysis and visualization. In this blog post, we explore how Databricks and Sigma help revolutionize your manufacturing operations and data.

Challenges in Manufacturing

Currently, manufacturers face a multitude of challenges in their day-to-day operations ranging from supply chain disruptions, quality control issues and production delays. These issues pose a large impact to the bottom line of manufacturing businesses and directly impact customer satisfaction. For these types of challenges, Databricks and Sigma can provide insights into operations and help identify key areas for improvement.

Databricks + Sigma in Manufacturing

As mentioned above, Databricks is a unified data analytics platform for modern data workers including: data engineering, machine learning and data analysis. This means that all data workers can interact in one common environment with the ability to share data and outputs. This is especially powerful for manufacturing. Here are some real-life applications of Databricks in manufacturing:

Predictive Maintenance: Machine Learning algorithms can be used to predict equipment failures and maintenance needs by analyzing sensor data from machines. By identifying potential issues before they occur, manufacturers can avoid unplanned downtime and reduce maintenance costs.
Inventory Optimization: leverage historical sales data to forecast demand and optimize inventory levels. This can help manufacturers reduce inventory carrying costs and prevent stockouts.
Quality Control: patterns can be identified in production data that may indicate quality control issues. By catching defects early, manufacturers can reduce scrap rates and improve customer satisfaction.

Sigma helps augment these outputs from Databricks by providing a self-service analytics and business intelligence platform. Inspired by the tabular interface of a spreadsheet, Sigma empowers businesses to analyze data without code or extracts, and make data-driven decisions quickly. Here are some additional use-cases for Sigma in manufacturing:

Monitoring Production Lines: visualizing real-time data from production lines, businesses can identify bottlenecks, improve efficiency, and reduce downtime. This helps manufacturers improve overall productivity and reduce costs.
Equipment Performance: tracking equipment performance data and identifying potential issues before they become major problems. This can help manufacturers reduce maintenance costs and prevent unplanned downtime.
Supplier Data: analyzing supplier data to identify potential quality control issues and supply chain risks. By proactively addressing these issues, manufacturers can reduce the risk of production delays and product defects.

Along with the benefits of being able to visualize, track and analyze your business’s data, Sigma allows users to do ad-hoc iterative analysis without the need to request reports from your data teams. This improves overall collaboration, speed to insights and innovation.

Why does this really matter?

The above use-cases are great examples of how Databricks and Sigma together can help manufacturers. But at the end of the day, why would a customer choose to use these two technologies?

Using Databricks and Sigma together, manufacturers are able to improve their efficiency and effectiveness of their day-to-day operations and improve competitiveness in a rapidly changing market. By implementing predictive maintenance, inventory optimization, quality control, monitoring production lines, tracking equipment performance, and analyzing supplier data, manufacturers can improve cost savings, boost productivity, and make better data-driven decisions. To stay ahead of the competition, it's time for manufacturers to embrace the power of Lakehouse for Manufacturing with Sigma to optimize their operations.

Sigma is a Gold Sponsor at this year's Databricks Data + AI Summit in San Francisco. Please visit us at booth 324 to learn more about Sigma.

Additional resources for Sigma on Databricks: