Small and midsize (SMB) manufacturers are critical drivers of innovation and productivity, and agility often gives them a competitive advantage over larger organizations. But they have unique challenges compared to larger manufacturers who have the resources and capital to achieve greater economies of scale. To take advantage of their agility,
Digitally mature manufacturers outperform their non-digital peers — they generate more revenue and profit, and will out-compete non-digital companies. This is a bold statement, but it was a clear outcome of recent IDC Worldwide Manufacturing Insights research, which compared the profitability and revenue of digitally mature manufacturers to their non-digital
As an American child growing up on a military base in Germany, I learned many important life lessons. One of the most important was about language and communication. I realized at age 12 that, even though I could speak German, I thought in English -- and it led me to
What if you had a technology solution that creates a real-time link between the customer demand signal and what's happening on the ground? What if plans that are being steered centrally could finally be connected to every shipping lane, while simultaneously, creating cost saving carrier adjustments? The first-of-its kind integration
Depending on who you talk to, you'll get varying definitions and opinions regarding demand sensing. Anything from sensing short-range replenishment based on sales orders, to the manual blending of point-of-sales (POS) data and shipments. But a key component for retailers and CPG companies is accurately forecasting short-term consumer demand to
As he watched me unpack yet another Amazon delivery, my husband decided to do an intervention. Scattered around me on the floor were solar panels, water purification tablets, tarps, hunting knives and enough batteries to power New York City for many weeks. It was 2019 and hurricane season was upon
Rapid demand response forecasting techniques are forecasting processes that can incorporate key information quickly enough to act upon in real time by agile supply chains. Retailers and consumer goods suppliers are urgently trying to determine how changes in consumer behavior will affect their regions, channels, categories, brands and products during
Many of us are currently working from home and getting adjusted to this new way of working. If you’re an employee working on the shop floor of a manufacturing facility, however, working from home is not an option. Among the many hard decisions manufacturing leaders have had to make during
Today, many assets across multiple industries are becoming more instrumented and connected to enterprise platforms to provide additional insight into their health and operation. IDC estimates that Internet of Things (IoT) investment will reach $1.12 trillion in 2023. One important area for many industrial organizations that are focused in using
Is it getting harder and harder to find empty Excel spreadsheets cells, as you run out of columns and rows? Do your spreadsheet cell labels have more letters than the license plate on your car? Do you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night in cold
