In my last blog, I discussed how investment in digital transformation was accelerated during the pandemic, and how it helped manufacturing companies recover faster and achieve their goals. Now, let's take a deeper look at one of these changes -how the shift to hybrid work is helping manufacturers gain competitive advantage, reduce time to market, and improve productivity.

The Shift to Hybrid Work

At Hannover Messe 2022, Cisco showcased our customer, Leng d-Or. Leng-d'Or is a Spanish multinational food company, supplying nearly 800 customers -80% of them outside of Spain.  If you are not familiar with the name, you might have tasted its snack foods! Manufacturers and food processors experienced significant disruption because of the global pandemic. Leng-d'Or was no exception. It faced several challenges that could have interrupted its production line.

First: disruption of supply chain and suspension of workforce travel.

Second: disruption in the reliability and supply of raw materials such as corn and flour due to climate change, requiring researchers to find new ways to update recipes and change formulas.

By some quick thinking, skilled leadership, and a close partnership with Cisco Leng-d'Or was able to overcome these challenges. Traditionally, Leng-d'Or would send its scientists from Spain to its U.S. facilities several times a year to collaborate in the development of new processes. When the pandemic hit, suddenly food researchers could no longer get on a plane for on-site testing.

Visibility into the production line, processes, and vital manufacturing machines was blocked -and, even if you could perform these activities in a video call -how could you do it securely? Leng d'Or used Cisco SecureX end-to-end security platform to span its network, cloud, email, and endpoints, keeping the company up and running as its international supply chain went remote.

How can Hybrid Work bridge research and production teams -even across an ocean?

With visibility to its systems and assets secured, Leng-d'Or next implemented Webex, which enabled its teams to collaborate remotely to test and manufacture new products in the U.S. (while looking on virtually from Spain). Leng-d'Or added Webex Expert on Demand for RealWear and Cisco Meraki for smart cameras and sensors that allowed them to make real-time changes to their machines -from a continent away. From their Spanish headquarters, they were able to collaborate with their U.S. counterparts in real-time through the Webex app, exchanging drawings and formulas securely.

Leng-d'Or's experience with hybrid work delivered several benefits:

• Leng d'Or continued research and development of new products; even launching a new snack production line
• It connected geographically dispersed teams
• It achieved improved productivity and maintenance rates with SecureX, which improved threat detection by 90%
• It reduced physical travel by 30-40%, even after international travel restrictions were lifted; and
• It improved employee wellness and productivity by promoting better work life-balance leveraging technology

Leng-d'Or's experience with hybrid work helped them achieve operational efficiency, business and security resiliency, and sustainability!

Learn how Cisco is making hybrid work possible for manufacturers today:

Hybrid Work for Manufacturing 

Empowering Manufacturers with Hybrid Work (Webinar on Demand)

Portfolio Explorer for Manufacturing