The Changing Face of Manufacturing
Players in the manufacturing industry may be facing their greatest challenge yet. Global competition is only increasing, innovation has become the byword of success and issues around sustainability are being taken much more seriously than in the past. Companies in this sector must meet the demands that all these challenges bring and at the same time increase flexibility and efficiency to fulfill the desires of ever more demanding consumers.
Although manufacturers have invested heavily in ERP solutions with the hope of gaining much-needed visibility in production, many still suffer disparate data sources and a lack of cohesion. Indeed, many businesses have failed to integrate web-based channels effectively and connect them to legacy systems, and are striving for adaptive cross-functional processes to unite the silos created by their ERP systems.
Visibility is not only important for internal efficiency but also essential to collaboration across the supply chain, now seen as providing real value to the manufacturing business. Atos Origin’s ground-breaking study, in conjunction with IDC and entitled, “Collaborative Excellence in the Consumer Products Value Chain,” found that the key benefits perceived by some main players in this sector when ‘going collaborative’ are now really impacting their business models and strategies.
To build collaborative relationships, manufacturers need to focus on internal capability and effectiveness as well aligning service offerings, business rules, organization design, processes and IT with their surrounding supply chain partners.
Manufacturing Matters Issue 1