Send us Fan Mail Remember walking around a gym to find the weight you wanted for your next set of exercises? It could be even more frustrating and inefficient to locate a tool or asset in a large manufacturing facility or a warehouse. What if you had real-time tracking of your tools and assets that you could locate by tracking their real-time locations. The RTLS technology is powerful and helps manufacturers in tracking critical resources on the shop floor. In today's episode, we have our guest ...
May 19, 2021•42 min•Ep. 77
Send us Fan Mail If you are building or upgrading your e-commerce capabilities, you are likely to evaluate several platforms. This evaluation needs to be comprehensive, covering factors ranging from legal contracts, deployment issues, customer experience needs, product model complexities, and your teams' skillset. If you chose a platform without performing due diligence, you might experience cost overruns with your ecommerce budget. In today's episode, we have our guest Erin Courtnay and Eric La...
May 18, 2021•41 min•Ep. 76
Send us Fan Mail Cash is the lifeblood of a company. Cash forecasting is the discovery process to predict your future cash needs. How would you feel if you discovered that you had four months of cash left to operate? I am sure you will lose your sleep. Thus, cash forecasting and understanding your balance sheet are essential. It is especially vital for cash-intensive companies such as manufacturers. In today's episode, we have our guest Alok Ajmera, who discusses the corporate performance manage...
May 17, 2021•32 min•Ep. 75
Send us Fan Mail If you focused on the metrics for each employee where they contributed to the organization's overall improvement, it could result in millions of dollars of savings. But finding the areas of improvement is easier said than done. It requires you to perform gap analysis and trace the Gemba. It requires you to perform a deeper study of data, identify appropriate KPIs, and continuously measure to become operationally resilient. In today's episode, we have our guest Tamar Nelson, who ...
May 12, 2021•38 min•Ep. 74
Send us Fan Mail RFID technology has been available for a long time, but its adoption has been limited to high-value assets. Most manufacturers might not believe that RFID technologies can track commodities and be an excellent replacement for barcode labels. Unlike barcode labels requiring warehouse and production workers to hold the pointed gun and scan each item, RFID tags could significantly save time while expediting the scanning process. They will also provide you real-time visibility and r...
May 11, 2021•38 min•Ep. 73
Send us Fan Mail Energy has always been one of the heaviest line items on a P&L for manufacturers. While manufacturing executives are acutely aware of the energy costs, they have struggled to enforce energy-saving procedures. In fact, the push for quality and productivity could have counterproductive effects on energy consumption. To find the cost-saving opportunities available through energy, the executives need to consider comprehensive approaches, including factoring energy costs into pro...
May 10, 2021•34 min•Ep. 72
Send us Fan Mail Material requirement planning helps in keeping the appropriate inventory levels that you need for manufacturing. If the MRP processes are not optimized, it could result in surplus inventory or component shortages that could halt your production. While several technologies are available to implement MRP, the biggest challenge is the cross-functional nature of the MRP processes as multiple business units and departments may be involved. This challenge makes the implementation diff...
May 05, 2021•35 min•Ep. 71
Send us Fan Mail With new trends and technologies such as additive manufacturing and experimental design, it's never been this easy to launch and disrupt a hardware product category. The traditional manufacturers that are slow in taking advantage of these trends run a risk of being disrupted and become irrelevant in their market. The new trends require manufacturers to get inspired by the newer disruptive companies from their markets and be corporate intrapreneurs by changing their internal R&am...
May 04, 2021•37 min•Ep. 70
Send us Fan Mail While other industries such as banking or logistics have successfully differentiated purely because of technology, manufacturers treat digital technologies as their stepchild, especially in the SMB space. SMB manufacturers and distributors rarely have internal IT or use external research to augment their business or digital transformation initiatives. What could manufacturers do to learn from other industries and create a compelling customer experience using technology? In today...
May 03, 2021•33 min•Ep. 69
Send us Fan Mail Running a machine shop is complicated with complex parts, heavy precision needs, and tricky materials handling requirements. With cost pressures from customers, rising material costs, and shrinking margins, one inaccurately estimated job could wipe out the profits for the whole month. Also, customers are savvy with their evaluation as they now want to vet your end-to-end business processes to validate the claims on your sales collateral. In today's episode, we have our guest Pau...
Apr 28, 2021•39 min•Ep. 68
Send us Fan Mail Cost accounting is a complex topic. You have so many different choices, and sometimes it's hard to decide which method may be appropriate for your business. If you choose an incorrect accounting method, you may get a significant variance and require more admin effort to discover the source of variance and tweak the processes to reduce it. The incorrect costing method could also mean that you don't have a true sense of profitability for your products. In today's episode, we have ...
Apr 27, 2021•39 min•Ep. 67
Send us Fan Mail New product development is complex. There are financial risks associated with research and development. The experience could be even more frightening if you are new to R&D, have a tight budget, or working with external or overseas partners. While you might perceive that the risk may be lower with internal initiatives, it may not be true as it's harder to track the internal opportunity costs and stay on track with other competing priorities. In today's episode, we have our gu...
Apr 26, 2021•34 min•Ep. 66
Send us Fan Mail The lines keep blurring between traditional retail supply chains with trends such as DTC and buy-online-pick-up-at-store. With large retailers offering such convenience, it's harder for smaller retailers to compete. These models require you to have your fulfillment centers within 20 miles of the customer location to match consumers' delivery time expectations. This need drives the business architecture complexity with cross interactions between hybrid systems ranging from POS, e...
Apr 21, 2021•32 min•Ep. 65
Send us Fan Mail The risk profile of manufacturers plays a critical role in how insurance companies and regulatory agencies perceive them, including their cybersecurity standard operating procedures, their ability to prevent injuries, and their consistency to hit their KPIs. All of these factors may have significant growth implications for manufacturers. In today's episode, we have our guest Michael Schlagenhaufer, who discusses how insurance companies evaluate manufacturers' risk profiles. He a...
Apr 20, 2021•41 min•Ep. 64
Send us Fan Mail There are a lot of definitions around LEAN. But implementing it right is easier said than done. Most companies fail to implement LEAN because they focus more on tools than focusing on strategy. It's a change in thinking, the way you do your business. It's the kind of SOPs you want to follow in your business and how flexible you want to be around those SOPs. The less variability and leaner operations you have, the more competitive you will be. If implemented right, Lean would be ...
Apr 19, 2021•29 min•Ep. 63
Send us Fan Mail There is always so much at stake with ERP implementations. One plus one is perhaps eleven when it comes to deploying ERP. They are never just technology deployment. The companies that promise the world to their teams based on the overstated claims from technology sales professionals might encounter varied emotional responses from their leaders, leading to a compliance culture. This culture often produces the exact opposite effect of what you intended to achieve with your technol...
Apr 14, 2021•36 min•Ep. 62
Send us Fan Mail Product pricing is more than just the dollar amount printed on the packaging or pricing labels. It drives consumer behavior, affects the customer experience, and impacts the bottom line. Right pricing strategies could catalyze your growth and provide a competitive advantage. On the other hand, overly promotional pricing strategies could be counterproductive and increase operational complexity. When it comes to pricing, it's the balance that matters. In today's episode, we have o...
Apr 13, 2021•43 min•Ep. 61
Send us Fan Mail ERP contracts are inherently crafty. If you don't have experience buying an ERP, you might want to get your contracts reviewed with a consultant who has several years of experience reviewing ERP contracts. You might think of purchasing an ERP as a subscription package, but an ERP system implementation has more nuances in the form of data ownership, ongoing support, bandwidth usage, etc. So you might want to understand these critical details before you are locked in a contract an...
Apr 12, 2021•35 min•Ep. 60
Send us Fan Mail Mobility can increase the efficiency significantly of your warehouses, from automating your data entry to voice-enabled picking. But how to plan for a mobility journey? Is it as simple as picking a bunch of bar code readers from the market and be mobile? Or do companies need to plan based on the size of the warehouse, ergonomics needs, and efficiency requirements? In today's episode, we have our guest Chuck Coxhead from Procensis, who discusses warehouse mobility trends in the e...
Apr 07, 2021•36 min•Ep. 59
Send us Fan Mail Have you had challenges engaging with your customers? Do you lose prospects just because you could not call them timely? Do you have challenges in finding net-new prospects? Do you have capacity issues in your sales department? How deeply do you understand how your prospects may be interacting with your website? These are the questions you will have if you are ready for marketing automation. In today's episode, we have our guest Dave Meyer from BizzyWeb, who describes how market...
Apr 06, 2021•41 min•Ep. 58
Send us Fan Mail Gears are among the most foundational parts of machines, ranging from food delivery equipment to medical devices. While we all may recognize the prevalence of gears, how many of us know that manufacturing gear is almost like surgery? Yes, that's the kind of precision and expertise required to manufacture gears. Manufacturing them could even be more difficult if you are dealing with a customer who doesn't fully understand the engineering behind them. In today's episode, we have o...
Apr 05, 2021•41 min•Ep. 57
Send us Fan Mail Most people think of customer experience as providing the best customer service. But, in reality, it's much bigger than that. It's about removing the friction and choppiness from each channel. It's making the experience personalized while not compromising on scalability. The customer experience innovation requires a rounded approach, starting from your team alignment, offerings, processes, and the product bundle. In today's episode, we have our guest Kirk Thompson from Chief Out...
Mar 31, 2021•38 min•Ep. 56
Send us Fan Mail As your business grows, it's hard to find that Goldilocks zone of inventory so that neither you lose on opportunities nor lock your cash down. Sales and operations planning is easier said than done. The problem becomes more complex when you might have a high mix of your products, especially if you might be tracking your KPIs manually or on a spreadsheet. In today's episode, we have our guest Mike Ryan, who discusses how to do sales and operations planning appropriately for a gro...
Mar 30, 2021•36 min•Ep. 55
Send us Fan Mail They say that numbers add up. It couldn't be more true about tail spend, which is the non-strategic spend that most companies don't care for. The problem becomes far serious if they may not have true visibility into tail spend or if they misclassify the tail spend. This issue typically leads to companies losing millions of dollars in potential cost savings and growth opportunities. In today's episode, we have our guest Sarah Scudder from Real Sourcing Network and Madison Mobley ...
Mar 29, 2021•37 min•Ep. 54
Send us Fan Mail Most organizations focus on growing revenue. Sure, getting revenue is always the hardest part. But did you know that the increased time between earning revenue and collecting cash could result in giant write-offs impacting your growth? Also, how would you define the right customers to focus on? Would it be based on revenue or their ability to pay? Having a cash flow mindset is critical for growth, especially for capital-intensive organizations such as manufacturing. In today's e...
Mar 24, 2021•33 min•Ep. 53
Send us Fan Mail Data is the new oil. But collecting data could also mean distracting your operators from focusing on jobs. Moreover, just because you collected millions of data points, drawing insights or meaning could be challenging if your systems are siloed and don't communicate with each other. Finally, the data quality issues may result in poor sales and operations planning, impacting your bottom line and growth. In today's episode, we have our guest Martin Cloake, who discusses different ...
Mar 23, 2021•39 min•Ep. 52
Send us Fan Mail Digital Twin has been around for a long time. But is that just marketing hype? Is it just a fancy term for data gathering? What are the core challenges digital twin solves? Is that supposed to help overworked maintenance departments and extracting stories from each machine? Could it help in reducing waste and improving product quality? These are the questions you will have if you are in the process of exploring a digital twin for your organization. In today's episode, we have ou...
Mar 22, 2021•33 min•Ep. 51
Send us Fan Mail Are we already out of the woods from COVID? Should you be bullish on the economy? How should you plan your investments for this year? Can you comfortably plan for long-term investments? How would the new normal look? What disruptions can you expect in your supply chain? What new consumer trends can you expect? What workforce changes can you expect? If you are a manufacturer, these are the questions you might have as you plan for 2021. In today's episode, we have our guest Chad M...
Mar 17, 2021•35 min•Ep. 50
Send us Fan Mail As your company grows, you might feel the need for software as you encounter each problem. The software landscape is hard to navigate, and if you don't understand the role each system, such as ERP, E-commerce, and CRM systems play. You could create an extremely patchy architecture, which typically results in significant admin overhead and conflicts among teams, causing your growth to slow down. In today's episode, we have our guest Gill Walker, who discusses why CRM is important...
Mar 16, 2021•37 min•Ep. 49
Send us Fan Mail No one appreciates uncertainty. It is even more frustrating when the uncertainty may not be in your control. And if you are an executive of a company, navigating through difficult times has a toll on everything. The uncertainty could be related to macroeconomic trends such as recession, trade tensions, or merely changing consumer behavior. These macroeconomic factors directly impact not only the top line but also the bottom line. What would you do if your job was to help a compa...
Mar 15, 2021•30 min•Ep. 48
