Send us Fan Mail The automotive industry is unique as not only it has challenges associated with B2C, such as focus groups and consumers driving the demand, but it also has all the challenges that other B2B manufacturing companies would have. The automotive industry is also fairly unique with faster cycle and lead times, which drives the need for instant availability of parts in the JIT fashion and reduces the BOM complexities. But since you have so many stakeholders, and vendors involved in sup...
Jul 19, 2021•41 min•Ep. 107
Send us Fan Mail There are several systems and choices available to support the needs of your functions and business processes. Best-of-breed options offer much deeper functionality and system designed for specific groups of users. But communication and integration could require significant resources and maintenance from your organization. The Full-suite options can get you the basics to get you going but might outgrow if a department has complex needs for its operations. As a business user, you...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 106
Send us Fan Mail Amazon is perhaps the most visited site for e-commerce, and its product filters will probably be the most used feature on its site. Product filters help you find the products you are looking for without going through thousands or millions of products that the site might carry. Well-designed websites understand your journey deeply, and they are guiding you as you use the site. On the other hand, poorly designed websites either have too many or too few filters and ignore the user'...
Jul 15, 2021•57 min•Ep. 105
Send us Fan Mail If your teams report problems in the production line and the capacity, their answer is often additional machines or people. Unfortunately, solving each problem with an additional body or machine results in unused capacity and unnecessary spending when the problem could be somewhere else. While there are tons of data available from machines and processes to make prudent financial decisions, interpreting data requires experimentation, design, and understanding each variable that m...
Jul 14, 2021•44 min•Ep. 104
Send us Fan Mail With IIOT devices on the shop floor capable of altering the state of machines through exposed endpoints for hackers, operational security is vital for manufacturers or distributors. While security issues could be frightening, and you might opt to take the approach of not connecting your shop floor with the internet, you might be missing out on the benefits that industry 4.0 machines and devices offer. With careful planning and processes, operational security is manageable. In to...
Jul 13, 2021•42 min•Ep. 103
Send us Fan Mail Have you heard the news where a large aerospace manufacturer won a large contract for several planes? While it's exciting news, it could be equally challenging for suppliers who are part of that ecosystem and asked to staff overnight to meet the demand of their key customer. Or you run the risk of losing the relationship. In addition, the quality requirements and stringent processes make it even harder for these suppliers. In today's episode, we have our guest, Mark Evans, who d...
Jul 12, 2021•37 min•Ep. 102
Send us Fan Mail The software and technology world is evolving daily, and so are the software contracts. As pricing becomes easier to start using software for small-to-medium-sized businesses, the incremental costs could be unexpected if you don't understand the new pricing models. While technology is making it easier to create and sign contracts, it also provides software vendors freedom to create contracts that may not have legal binding or might change even after signing the contract. In toda...
Jul 09, 2021•57 min•Ep. 101
Send us Fan Mail When I was planning for this episode, I had a conversation with a friend that I could never forget. She was planning to resign from her company. So I inquired why she was planning to resign. To give you a little background, she was very well established in her career, spent roughly 20 years, and held an executive position at her current company. Her company had experienced massive growth. And there was a high chance that she could get promoted to a much higher position. It didn'...
Jul 07, 2021•52 min•Ep. 100
Send us Fan Mail Irrespective of whether you are an owner who would like changes in your organization or a leader trying to convince the owners or boards for transformational changes, the journey of change is lonely. You might come across super enthusiastic collaborators who will lose interest if they don't see an immediate return. You might also come across several detractors who will take every effort to shut you down. The change requires a deep understanding of the mindset and what drives peo...
Jul 06, 2021•48 min•Ep. 99
Send us Fan Mail An average manufacturing facility may have ten operations to produce a part. The process of creating a chip goes through at least 500 steps. Some of these processes use significantly expensive machines and materials. They also require timely preventive maintenance and sophisticated scheduling. Operational improvements at such facilities could mean a massive difference to your bottom line, while bottlenecks could mean increased operational overhead and product cost. In today's ep...
Jul 05, 2021•34 min•Ep. 98
Send us Fan Mail Planning through growth inflection points is difficult. You have to figure out how to find revenue. And then, if you are not able to fulfill the demand, the growth may fire back. Planning for growth requires you to build your multi-year sales and operating plan. But the most crucial part is its execution. The more alignment you have across your cross-functional groups, the easier and more natural the growth will feel without growing pains. In today's episode, we invited an exper...
Jul 02, 2021•47 min•Ep. 97
Send us Fan Mail Stock keeping unit (SKU) could be a dummy number, and you might feel how important a number could be. Well, your SKU is a binding thread that ties all your business processes that interact with your products. You could quickly outgrow your SKU numbering strategy if you don't have a flexible numbering scheme to accommodate your near future requirements. The SKU numbers could also impact your customer experience as they are used internally to identify your products. They are also ...
Jul 01, 2021•56 min•Ep. 96
Send us Fan Mail Most manufacturers struggle with cross-functional collaboration, especially when it comes to engineering handoff because it requires going beyond the engineering perspective. Engineers need to think from the perspective of consumers. These consumers could be anywhere from machinists, assembly technicians, welders, inspectors, and purchasing. This thinking requires several changes in the organization, including a deeper understanding of the needs of these consumers, adoption of d...
Jun 30, 2021•41 min•Ep. 95
Send us Fan Mail Paid advertising could make a massive difference to your pipeline and bottom line if done right. It could also help you optimize your organic search campaigns as you would have access to detailed insights into your customer journeys and customer behaviors. But mastering paid advertising is easier said than done. It requires you to make the entire journey congruent, starting from what users are trying to search on google to the design and architecture of your website. In today's ...
Jun 29, 2021•41 min•Ep. 94
Send us Fan Mail Manufacturers have traditionally been problem solvers. While the problem-solving mindset helps create amazing products, the same skill fires back in designing the processes. This problem-solving approach leads each department to make their decisions independently and buy software to solve their problems, limiting interoperability. This approach also promotes the culture of organizational silos and prevents taking advantage of synergies through a consolidated view of the organiza...
Jun 28, 2021•40 min•Ep. 93
Send us Fan Mail If you are trying to penetrate an account, the involvement of their procurement department is the last thing you want to see as they are hard negotiators on price. Selling to FMCG buyers could even be more challenging as they need to move fast and make quick decisions. In 2021, most offerings are fairly competitive, so you could only do so much while negotiating with FMCG buyers. However, if you researched enough and figured out how to sell based on value, you might end up conve...
Jun 23, 2021•40 min•Ep. 92
Send us Fan Mail Manufacturers carry thousands of products, and each of them requires several materials with their own dependencies. This chain can go on and could feel cyclical. That's how complex is our supply chain. One critical component could block the production and further impact the production of products that may depend upon it. The best way to mitigate the supply chain issues is to have complete transparency into your supply chain and have an emergency plan for the rainy day. In today'...
Jun 22, 2021•39 min•Ep. 91
Send us Fan Mail There is a lot that goes into planning for a warehouse. Some warehouses are complex, while others may not be as complex depending upon the shipment types and the influx of shipments. If you don't plan well, it may lead to poor utilization of labor and inefficiencies in the warehouse. It may also lead to missing sales opportunities due to the unavailability of products or missing due dates for your customers. Scheduling of distribution center plays a crucial role in ensuring that...
Jun 21, 2021•31 min•Ep. 90
Send us Fan Mail Demand planning is a double-edged sword, and it's tough to predict. Demand planning requires you to plan enough and then be nimble and agile while tweaking the demand as the market condition changes. Most companies take an algorithmic approach to their demand planning, resulting in wasting critical resources. The agile approach is especially relevant to SMBs as they may not have as many resources as their bigger counterparts. In today's episode, we have our guest, Dyci Sfregola,...
Jun 16, 2021•44 min•Ep. 89
Send us Fan Mail Complying with regulatory bodies is more than just producing the documentation when they ask for it. If the regulatory body is as stringent as FDA, they look for several red flags, including completeness and thoroughness of the documentation and confidence level. But speed is typically the most critical factor. Manufacturers with manual processes and fragmented systems might struggle with the speed expectations of these regulatory bodies. In today's episode, we have our guest, T...
Jun 15, 2021•40 min•Ep. 88
Send us Fan Mail Remember when you bought five shirts last time and ended up returning all? Let's face it. Consumer behavior is unpredictable. It is especially challenging for the apparel industry, where one loose thread or difference in perceived color could be the reason for return. But the supply chain planning for the apparel industry is not only complicated because of consumer behavior. Supplier issues are equally problematic, including geopolitical tensions, trade wars, and cultural factor...
Jun 14, 2021•37 min•Ep. 87
Send us Fan Mail What helps you compete in the market? Is it your unique product? Is it your operational efficiency? Is it your market segment? Or is it the alignment of your manufacturing and operational strategies with market needs and business goals? Since most manufacturers are part of a large process for their customers, simply thinking about your product's value prop may not be enough. You need to think about the entire value chain, how your products fit in that, and the implications and b...
Jun 09, 2021•46 min•Ep. 86
Send us Fan Mail If you are involved in vendor negotiations or expense management, it's hard to know if you may be overpaying for services or goods. What if there was a way to benchmark your expenses against other companies. Enter big data for expense management. These data lakes have amassed trillions of data points in the last ten years through several data sources. They have the capabilities to benchmark your expenses for the majority of your categories. In today's episode, we have our guest ...
Jun 08, 2021•32 min•Ep. 85
Send us Fan Mail Warehouses have been using automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) for a long time. While they have come a long way in their capabilities and along with their interactions with other newer technologies such as robotic arms or cobots, their adoption is still very low. Although ASRS systems provide excellent capabilities, the key is to deeply understand your specific needs and measure your current KPIs for their successful implementation and reap financial benefits from the...
Jun 07, 2021•37 min•Ep. 84
Send us Fan Mail How would you feel if you had a handful of customers with huge leverage decided to consolidate their vendors and put pressure to cut the prices further that you might not be able to afford? No one wants to be in this situation. What would you do if you faced this situation? Would you expand your operations to explore further cost reduction opportunities? Would you rather shut down your operations? Would you try to sell hard and not take no for an answer? Or Would you start looki...
Jun 02, 2021•40 min•Ep. 83
Send us Fan Mail Whether you are releasing new parts or making changes to existing parts, you will likely go through the engineering change process (ECN). More often than not, engineering organizations are siloed from the downstream organizations and don't understand how their engineering decisions will impact the production floor. As you add more engineers to the department, the more opportunity, you might find to have tighter engineering change control processes and reuse the existing CAD mode...
Jun 01, 2021•36 min•Ep. 82
Send us Fan Mail SMB manufacturers and distributors in the personal care industry face unique challenges. These difficulties could be even more for organic products or the items that need to comply with FDA., such as sunscreens. They need to ensure enough demand for new products or struggle to find contract manufacturers and labs that will accept the lower batches of order. Also, since credibility is vital for brands in this industry, the source of ingredients and the ability to have end-to-end ...
May 31, 2021•36 min•Ep. 81
Send us Fan Mail As procurement departments and buyers become more sophisticated, manufacturers and distributors will see more scrutiny from their customers, especially if they might be selling high-value and complex items. They have already been facing cost pressures from their customers, but now they might see an elongated sales cycle with RFPs to compete. The RFP process might increase your costs if you don't have experience responding to them. Winning RFPs and working with procurement requir...
May 26, 2021•40 min•Ep. 80
Send us Fan Mail Your CRM system is key to managing your customer relationships and providing the customer experience to help you stand out among your competitors. While most organizations may use some form of CRM system, the adoption rate is low. Most CRM systems are either over-engineered, making them difficult to use and maintain, or under-engineered with data quality issues, a roadblock to CRM system adoption. In today's episode, we have our guest Seamus Ruiz-Earle, who discusses the core re...
May 25, 2021•43 min•Ep. 79
Send us Fan Mail When you grow in transactions and have many low-dollar transactions, the cost of processing transactions could be higher than the expense being paid. You might also face this when you may be purchasing cheaper consumable items from one-time vendors. Understanding the cost of processing is critical as that allows you to introduce different strategies for such transactions. One such strategy is to introduce a P-card for your low dollar volume transactions, which enables companies ...
May 24, 2021•45 min•Ep. 78
