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Manufacturing

What’s Up in the Economy, Business, Manufacturing & Supply Chain?

It is a whirlwind and confusing. Here is a quote that sums it up perfectly: From a salesperson at a client recapping the conversations at a recent industry conference - Everyone is skeptical, but we are all seeing orders and backlog remain pretty robust.

The Road Ahead: Business, Supply Chain & The World Order is Available

Special Report: How Companies Should Reshape to Succeed in 2023 & Take Advantage of Huge Opportunities Coming Down the Pike

Scheduling Best Practices to Improve Customer Service, Operational Performance & Inventory Turns

The best companies focus on production scheduling. Even though Production Schedulers aren't typically highly paid positions, the function will make or break your ability to serve customers, improve operational performance and accelerate cash flow. Thus, it should be a key priority if you want to achieve profitable growth.

SIOP / S&OP: Balance Customer Orders, Inventory, & Profitability

If you want to serve your key customers successfully (with high on-time-in-full (OTIF), short lead times, and proactive service) so that you can take advantage of the opportunities coming down the pike while addressing the hard realities of the current business environment (potential recessions, high interest rates, and less access to capital), you MUST balance sales, operations and inventory.

The Economy & Manufacturing: What Do the Statistics Say?

According to this week's GDP report, the real growth rate was minimal (around 1.1%) during the first quarter. On the other hand, inflation remains high, around 5.3%. This seems to reflect stagflation. Unfortunately, business equipment spending was around -7.3%, and inventories are down. PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index), an [...]

Succeeding During Volatility: A Focus on the Fundamentals

Businesses, supply chain, and the world are experiencing disruption, volatility, and chaos. In this period of geo-political risk, interest rate spikes, fears of recession, labor shortages, and more, successful businesses will focus on the fundamentals.

Manufacturing Opportunities in e-Commerce

Originally published in Brushware, March-April, 2023 According to Insider Intelligence, the US B2B e-commerce sales will be over $2 trillion by 2024. Digital Commerce 360 said that manufacturers’ B2B e-commerce sales have been growing at an annual rate of 16% since 2016 which is almost 1.5 times faster than [...]

Take Control of Your Manufacturing to Wrestle Volatility to the Ground

What is clear is that VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) is continuing in the forefront and will continue to be our "new normal". As I recently debated with the Wall Street Journal, we are in an era of non-stop disruptions. Look no further than the escalating war of Russia [...]

West Coast Ports Diminishing Volume

According to the The Journal of Commerce, the West Coast ports are losing volume. The West Coast share of imports coming from Asia is down from 61.1% in 2021 to 58.8% in 2022 while the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports rose. According to the JOC, the ILWU contract negotiations are causing this change although there are concerns about drayage and rail as well.

How Packaging Can Contribute to the Triple Bottom Line

With the increase in interest in the three P’s of the triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit), packaging rises to the forefront. It is controllable, and there are several options for how packaging can contribute to the triple bottom line.
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