The coming year will usher in a new, close-knit relationship between manufacturers and resellers based on the rapidly growing volume and frequency of data available from the channel. By Steve LaPedis, VP of Marketing, Zyme Solutions
The manufacturing industry has always been on a quest to reduce cost, increase productivity, and minimize waste. Over the years, business strategies that have attempted to achieve this trifecta of manufacturing goals have come and gone. The Lean concept was one of the first that helped companies successfully streamline operations. It was followed by Agile which, as its name suggests, went beyond reducing waste and increasing efficiency to add flexibility and versatility to manufacturing capabilities, helping companies not only run leaner and meaner, but with an increased agility to help them quickly respond to market changes and competitors.
Forbes magazine recently interviewed the futurist Gerd Leonhard about his new book, Technology vs Humanity. It’s an eye-catching title complemented by an equally attention-grabbing sub-heading, The coming clash between man and machine, but its oppositional tone encapsulates a fairly limited view of what augmented and artificial intelligence means for humanity. By Mark Robinson, co-founder, Kimble Applications
Smart Manufacturing technology is more than just a buzz phrase about today’s technology and its role in the future of worldwide manufacturing. The term accurately describes the convergence of every component of manufacturing, particularly access and integration of all relevant data.
In 2016, organizations in highly regulated industries will increase their use of cloud solutions to support and complement their existing technology infrastructure.
Although 1D bar codes are still prevalent across all industries, the implementation of 2D bar codes has skyrocketed. The reason is simple; smaller size and increased information.
Manufacturing requires precision, no matter what type of product is being developed. Yet in today’s technologically advanced world, many manufacturers are finding that their IT operations are not as efficient as they should be. And it seems like every day there’s a “new” product or solution that they must have to compete in the marketplace. This leaves operators wondering how and if they can improve upon some of the more critical functions with existing technologies. The answer is, of course, yes!
From business decision-making to process workflows, user interfaces, and proactive maintenance, new utilizations of mobile devices and apps are drastically changing the way manufacturing gets done.
A major challenge faced by manufacturers is the state of data useable to glean actionable intelligence. Manufacturing, compared to industries that are using more sophisticated data analytics tools — like advertising and finance — is often scrambling to find better ways to use data to improve quality and efficiency.
It seems you can’t read any technology-related news these days without hearing about the potential of the Internet of Things to revolutionize the way we engage with the world. The reason? It’s a really big deal! The IoT promises to be the most disruptive technological advance since … well …. the Internet.