Published on Oct 31, 2023

Technology leaders such as Apple, IMB, Google, and Atlassian rely on design systems to codify and scale design efforts across entire organizations. However, it’s important to note that design systems are not exclusive to well-known brands; in fact, a study conducted by Forrester in 2020 revealed that 65% of the companies surveyed have integrated design systems into their workflows.

What is a design system?

A design system is a comprehensive collection of design guidelines, principles, components, and assets that are created and maintained to ensure consistency and cohesion in the visual and user interface design of a product or brand. It serves as a centralized resource that helps design and development teams create a unified and coherent user experience across various platforms and devices.

A design system consists of:

Pattern library
Design tokens
Components
Brand guidelines
Documentation

Why is having a design system important?

A design system provides numerous benefits to organizations, design and development teams, and end users. Here are some key reasons why having a design system is essential:

Consistency: Design systems ensure a consistent and cohesive look and feel across a product or brand. This consistency builds trust with users and creates a recognizable and professional identity.
Efficiency: Design systems save time and resources by providing pre-defined design components and guidelines. Designers and developers can reuse established elements, reducing the need to recreate design assets from scratch.
Productivity: With reusable components and clear guidelines, design and development teams can work more efficiently, reducing the time required for decision-making and development iterations.
Scalability: Design systems allow for easy scaling as a product or brand grows. New features, pages, or products can be created while maintaining a consistent design, saving time and effort.
Improved Collaboration: Design systems promote collaboration between designers and developers. By speaking a common design language and using shared components and guidelines, teams can work together more effectively.
Accessibility: Design systems often include accessibility guidelines, ensuring that products are designed and built with inclusivity in mind, making them usable by a broader range of people.
User Experience: A well-designed system leads to a better user experience. Consistency and familiarity make it easier for users to navigate and interact with a product or brand.
Brand Identity: Design systems help maintain a strong and coherent brand identity. This is crucial for branding and marketing efforts, as it reinforces brand recognition and loyalty.
Rapid Prototyping: Design systems facilitate quick prototyping and testing, as designers can focus on the overall experience and functionality, knowing that the visual design is consistent.
Adaptability: Design systems can be updated to accommodate changes in design trends, new technology, or user feedback, allowing products and brands to evolve without losing their core identity.
Documentation: Clear and detailed documentation explaining how to use the design system’s components and guidelines. This is crucial for ensuring that designers and developers can easily implement the system.
Version Control: A system for managing changes and updates to the design system to ensure that all team members are using the most current version.
Cost Savings: By reducing design and development redundancy, design systems can save money in the long run, making projects more cost-effective.
Maintainability: A well-maintained design system ensures that design elements are updated consistently, reducing the risk of visual and functional inconsistencies.

Examples of Design systems:

Conclusion

Design systems are a cost-effective solution for organizations, as they formalize design choices that can be easily replicated on a larger scale. There are specific ways in which these systems expedite the design and development processes, and maximize the benefits of your design system. For businesses, it streamlines workflows, ensures consistency, enhances efficiency and productivity, reduces costs, and contributes to increased ROI and revenue. Furthermore, it forms the foundation for the successful execution of marketing initiatives and overall brand development.

However, there are challenges associated with the implementation of a design system. It requires a commitment to making it a top priority, comprehensive planning, active involvement of all departments across various domains, and thorough testing to meet current standards. Additionally, it’s essential to recognize that this is an ongoing project that will continually need fine-tuning, regular maintenance, governance, and the addition of new essential elements and features to stay current and aligned with industry trends.

In the end, the effort is well worth it. Many companies that have established their brand design systems report accelerated growth and a substantial increase in revenue due to embracing this concept.

About the Author: Ashish is a Lead Designer at Mantra Labs. He helps clients make better decisions on their digital products with his expertise in UI/UX design.

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Building a layered approach with AI

Smart Manufacturing starts with real-time visibility.

Manufacturing companies today generate data by the second through sensors, machines, ERP systems, and MES platforms. But without real-time insights, even the most advanced production lines are essentially flying blind.

Manufacturers are implementing real-time dashboards that serve as control towers for their daily operations, enabling them to shift from reactive to proactive decision-making. These tools are essential to the evolution of Smart Manufacturing, where connected systems, automation, and intelligent analytics come together to drive measurable impact.

Data is available, but what’s missing is timely action.

For many plant leaders and COOs, one challenge persists: operational data is dispersed throughout systems, delayed, or hidden in spreadsheets. And this delay turns into a liability.

Real-time dashboards help uncover critical answers:

What caused downtime during last night’s shift?
Was there a delay in maintenance response?
Did a specific inventory threshold trigger a quality issue?

By converting raw inputs into real-time manufacturing analytics, dashboards make operational intelligence accessible to operators, supervisors, and leadership alike, enabling teams to anticipate problems rather than react to them.

1. Why Static Reports Fall Short

Reports often arrive late—after downtime, delays, or defects have occurred.
Disconnected data across ERP, MES, and sensors limits cross-functional insights.
Static formats lack embedded logic for proactive decision support.

2. What Real-Time Dashboards Enable

Line performance and downtime trends
Track OEE in real time and identify underperforming lines.

Predictive maintenance alerts
Utilize historical and sensor data to identify potential part failures in advance.

Inventory heat maps & reorder thresholds
Anticipate stockouts or overstocks based on dynamic reorder points.

Quality metrics linked to operator actions
Isolate shifts or procedures correlated with spikes in defects or rework.

These insights allow production teams to drive day-to-day operations in line with Smart Manufacturing principles.

3. Dashboards That Drive Action

Role-based dashboards
Dashboards can be configured for machine operators, shift supervisors, and plant managers, each with a tailored view of KPIs.

Embedded alerts and nudges
Real-time prompts, like “Line 4 below efficiency threshold for 15+ minutes,” reduce response times and minimize disruptions.

Cross-functional drill-downs
Teams can identify root causes more quickly because users can move from plant-wide overviews to detailed machine-level data in seconds.

4. What Powers These Dashboards

Data lakehouse integration
Unified access to ERP, MES, IoT sensor, and QA systems—ensuring reliable and timely manufacturing analytics.

ETL pipelines
Real-time data ingestion from high-frequency sources with minimal latency.

Visualization tools
Custom builds using Power BI, or customized solutions designed for frontline usability and operational impact.

Smart Manufacturing in Action: Reducing Market Response Time from 48 Hours to 30 Minutes

Mantra Labs partnered with a North American die-casting manufacturer to unify its operational data into a real-time dashboard. Fragmented data, manual reporting, delayed pricing decisions, and inconsistent data quality hindered operational efficiency and strategic decision-making.

Tech Enablement:

Centralized Data Hub with real-time access to critical business insights.
Automated report generation with data ingestion and processing.
Accurate price modeling with real-time visibility into metal price trends, cost impacts, and customer-specific pricing scenarios.
Proactive market analysis with intuitive Power BI dashboards and reports.

Business Outcomes:

Faster response to machine alerts
Quality incidents traced to specific operator workflows
4X faster access to insights led to improved inventory optimization.

As this case shows, real-time dashboards are not just operational tools—they’re strategic enablers.

(Learn More: Powering the Future of Metal Manufacturing with Data Engineering)