Manufacturing And Warehousing IT News For VARs — November 18, 2014
By Trisha Leon, contributing writer
In the news, a webcast tomorrow will focus on digital transformation in distribution. Also, articles point out manufacturing challenges with compliance, employee issues, and balancing maintenance and throughput, and speeding rates of fulfillment can be IT solutions providers’ opportunities. And a survey shows your customers are exploring solutions related to security, Big Data, and mobility.
Webinar Focuses On Distributions’ Digital Transformation
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, Industrial Distribution will present an educational webcast, “Managing the Digital Transformation in Distribution.” In this webcast, industry leaders will answer questions about where distributors’ resources are best allocated in technology. An expert panel will discuss which technology tools make enterprises more competitive in the current market, how data capture and analytics can transform businesses, and how technology can be addressed and accessed, even on a budget. Sponsored by Infor and NetSuite, this webcast begins at 1 p.m. ET and will last one hour. Interested parties can register here.
6 Areas In Which Your Solutions Can Help Your Manufacturing IT Clients
Danielle Iera, marketing coordinator of TPC Wire & Cable Corp, in the Manufacturing.net article, “Six Challenges Facing Modern Manufacturing Companies,” writes that manufacturers face new issues and challenges every year, as manufacturing is an ever-changing industry, and this year is no exception. She goes on to list six major areas that may pose problems for manufacturers. Concerns over the environment, rising healthcare costs, complying with updated regulations, replacing an aging workforce, keeping products relevant, and balancing maintenance with throughput are six areas Iera feels are of special import for manufacturers this year. She says in order to best meet these challenges, “manufacturing companies need to stay current on legislation as well as technology and to be responsive to worker needs while acting responsibly in the best interests of all parties.”
How To Manage Fulfillment Faster
In the third part of a series on fulfillment speed in Industrial Distribution, Helgi Thor Leja, industrial distribution leader, and Kim Zminkowski, marketing manager at Fortna, explain how to speed up fulfillment in the distribution center without losing accuracy or increasing costs. According to the authors, businesses should “look at work content, wasted time, and opportunities for lean practices to reduce the amount of time between receipt of orders and shipping.” They offer questions businesses can ask about distribution center strategy regarding speed such as “Where are the tradeoffs between speed and productivity,” and “What is the true cost of speed?” The article maintains that the “faster cycle time operation is usually the more expensive one,” adding, “but if speed is defined as a competitive advantage for your company, you may need to spend more to get that strategic advantage.” VARs can help clients meet the demand for faster fulfillment by providing solutions the speed up distribution center processes.
Survey: Security, Big Data, Mobility Are 3 Areas To Watch
A Tech Pro article, “Research: Security, MDM and big data top IT leaders’ priorities for next three years,” shares the findings of an online survey, IT Leaders’ Tech Predictions for 2015-2018, conducted to discover predictions for IT in the next three years. According to the survey, security, Big Data, and mobility are three key areas to watch. The report generated from this survey explores topics such as “changes and challenges facing IT departments, biggest structural changes predicted in IT management, relevance of current technology over next three years,” and more.
Manufacturing And Warehousing IT Talking Points
An InfoWorld article by Mikael Ricknäs, “HP and Nokia join forces to build cloud-based networks for operators,” reports that HP and Nokia are collaborating on an open platform for operators to make new services available faster. According to Ricknäs, this cloud-based infrastructure will “let operators get rid of the proprietary and expensive equipment they run their networks on today.” He adds, “Just as enterprises can roll out new applications and services faster using hosted services, so too will operators, and that should be a boon for customers.” This network functions virtualization (NFV) platform is based on Helion OpenStack software and will be available in the middle of next year.
For more news and insights, visit BSMinfo’s Manufacturing And Warehousing Tech Center.