Multi-sites, zero visibility...

In a global industrial landscape undergoing restructuring, marked by a historic rise in order books—the five largest global players showing a combined order book up by 23.7% according to PwC's semi-annual analysis—expansion and site acquisition strategies have become essential to absorb demand. For advanced industrial groups, owning a network of 3, 10, or more than 50 factories is a guarantee of commercial power.

Yet, once the external growth phase is validated, a major challenge emerges: the total lack of consolidated real-time visibility. Each site continues to report its production, inventory, and performance data using its own local tools, creating airtight silos. Without unified indicators, overall profitability crumbles in favor of reactive and fragmented management.

1. Data fragmentation: the invisible enemy of your industrial governance

Steering a multi-site group without software consolidation is like flying an airliner with dashboard instruments that display different data in each wing. The lack of alignment among local systems paralyzes strategic decision-making.

The trap of delayed reports: Lacking synchronization, industrial management depends on Excel files sent by email at the end of the week or month. The information analyzed at headquarters is, by definition, already obsolete.
The illusion of purchasing synergies: The main argument for multi-site deployment—the scale effect—collapses. Without a common repository, two separate factories often order the same components at different rates and conditions, depriving the group of its negotiating power.
The paralysis of inter-site flows: When one site faces a shortage while another overstocks the same part, logistical opacity prevents any agile reallocation of resources.

Faced with this situation, imposing brutal centralization via a global and simultaneous migration of all sites (the famous "Big Bang" approach) is a major strategic error. This type of approach halts the industrial operation at the exact moment the market demands maximum output rates.

2. Corrupted spreadsheets, untraceable inventory, and high-stakes audits

To assess the criticality of the problem, one only needs to look at the daily operations of non-interconnected groups:

Disconnected planning (S&OP/MPS): When local planning tools do not communicate with the central system, coordination relies entirely on manual entries. The risks of version errors or corrupted data multiply, jeopardizing delivery commitments made to major contractors.
Anxiety-inducing compliance audits: Sector analyses by Deloitte highlight that supply chain management and data flow cyber maturity are now critical, deal-breaking evaluation criteria for the entire industrial value chain. When each factory uses different traceability standards, responding to a compliance requirement or identifying the source of a non-conformity becomes a long and costly process.

3. The Akawan Method: Centralizing monitoring without disrupting your plants

To offer instant visibility over 3 to 50+ sites without risking the stoppage of production lines, Akawan deploys an agile software urbanization strategy, built around three fundamental pillars:

Semantic unification of indicators (KPIs)

Before connecting tools, we must ensure they share the same language. We implement reference data governance (Master Data Management). Whether it is the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), product nomenclature, or stock status, each indicator must have the same definition across all your sites, regardless of the local tool used.

Real-time interoperability via event-driven architecture

Performance does not require replacing all your local software, but making them talk to each other. Akawan creates modern integration layers (APIs, industrial Data Hubs) that capture key data at the source. Headquarters dashboards update automatically and in real time, offering 360° visibility without imposing new data entry tools on field operators.

A progressive deployment focused on ROI

Global integration is planned iteratively. We design roadmaps tailored to business priorities, connecting strategic sites or those with the highest volumes of activity first, guaranteeing rapid and measurable gains.

4. Key success factors for successful multi-site supervision

Our field experience demonstrates that technology only represents 30% of the challenge. The remaining 70% is about method and governance:

A cross-functional project team: Involve the IT department with industrial, supply chain, and quality management from the framing stage to align the tool with field needs.
Targeted standardization: Centralize only the data necessary for overall monitoring (performance indicators, financial data, delivery milestones) while preserving the specific operational autonomy of each plant.
Highlighting the time saved: Convince local teams by demonstrating that interconnection eliminates duplicate entries, gets rid of time-consuming administrative tasks, and secures audit preparation.

Conclusion: Centralized visibility as a lever for scalability

The lack of real-time visibility over a network of plants is not a technical inevitability; it is a brake on growth. In a market where the ability to deliver and maintain production rates has become the main factor of competitive differentiation, as highlighted by PwC, having a consolidated monitoring platform is an asset

By relying on interoperability and data urbanization, general management teams transform a group of isolated sites into a unified, responsive industrial organization ready to efficiently integrate its future acquisitions.

Who are we?

An independent IT expert consultancy specializing in information systems architecture, digital transformation, and agility. We support all types of companies in modernizing their software ecosystem, enabling technical and operational departments to leverage their data to secure their growth.