Category Archives: Manufacturing

Big Data, Enterprise IT, ERP, IDC, Internet of Things, IoT, Kimberly Knickle, Manufacturing, News & Analysis

Close to half of manufacturers look to cloud for operational efficiency, survey reveals

Manufacturers are flocking to cloud services to reap operational benefits

Manufacturers are flocking to cloud services to reap operational benefits

About half of all large manufacturers globally are using or plan to use IT services based on public cloud platform in a bid to driver operational efficiency, an IDC research survey reveals.

A recently published IDC survey which polled 437 IT decision makers at large manufacturing firms globally suggests manufacturers are looking to cloud services primarily to simplify their operations.

A majority of manufacturers worldwide are currently using public (66 per cent) or private cloud (68 per cent) for more than two applications, and nearly 50 per send of European manufacturers have adopted or intend to adopt ERP in the public cloud.

But only 30 to 35 per cent of respondents said operations, supply chain and logistics, sales, or engineering were likely to benefit through adoption.

“Manufacturers are in the midst of a digital transformation, in which 3rd platform technologies are absolutely essential to the way they do business and in the products and services they provide to their customers.  Consequently, a strategic approach to adopting cloud is absolutely essential,” said Kimberly Knickle, research director, IDC Manufacturing Insights.

“Because of cloud’s tremendous value in making IT resources available to the business based on business terms –speed, cost, and accessibility- manufacturers must  ensure that the line of business and IT management work together in defining their requirements,” Knickle said.

The firm said manufacturers are likely to opt for private cloud platforms in the near term in a bid to expand their IT estates to the cloud, but that capacity requirements will likely eventually shift those platforms onto larger public cloud platforms. A big driver for this will be the Internet of Things, with a cloud a key component in allowing manufacturers to more easily make use of the data that will be connected from sensors throughout manufacturing operations.

Business Processes, HCL Technologies, Manufacturing, Supply chain, Supply Chain Management, Tools

Achieving Business Transformation by Aligning i-SCM with a Robust IT Strategy

Can adapting to the new best practices actually help you gain the business benefits that you are looking for? With the implementation of tools such as the Intelligent Supply Chain Management (iSCM), there are possibilities of ensuring the realization of business goals that reduce the risk of time and costs, overrunning. So, when it comes to the iSCM approach, there are several ways in which companies can succeed with its implementation:

i-SCM

How does iSCM impact overall business benefits?

As a business owner, there may be several instances when meeting customer demands, overcoming uncertainties and reducing costs for manufacturing is virtually impossible. The inclusion of better practices such as the iSCM would help improve the overall situation such as improving real-time visibility of supply chain extensions and the manufacturing operations. Regardless, of the time and effort taken to implement these management system, one can see that it is possible to implement seamless synchrony between the demand and its actual fulfillment. All this will be immediately implementable with the help of real-time analytics and rapid decision-making.

Facilitating your own iSCM solutions can only be done with the help of external advisors such as technological consultants like HCL Tech amongst others offer the following solutions:

  • Offering an opportunity assessment within the iSCM solutions offerings

  • Touchstone, an HCL Tech trademark offers KPI measurement and better benchmarking solution

  • iVision, an HCL Tech trademark offers solutions towards supply chain visibility and collaboration

How can functionalities improve the solution?

Here’s a look at the way in which functionalities can improve the following:

  • Capturing customer demand with the ability to accurately forecast demands

  • Incorporating operations such as collaborative supply chain planning and execution

  • Ensuring supply chain operations are monitored in real-time and highlighting bottlenecks with the supply chain impact

  • Creating visibility on end-to-end supply chain data and its processes

  • Collaborating with the various stakeholders through various communication platforms such as e-mail, text, portal alerts and other forms

  • Improving visibility of partners involved across multi-tiers of supply chain and cloud platforms

What remains to be seen, is whether the implementation of the iSCM systems will improve the overall business performance in the form of successfully integrating with business goals with the expected outcome of the performance.

To know more about the article you can read the case study written by experts at HCL Technologies.

AutoDesk, Computer-aided manufacturing, M&A Activity, Manufacturing, SolidWorks

Autodesk Acquires HSMWorks Technology

Autodesk Inc. has acquired certain assets of HSMWorks Aps, a developer of computer aided manufacturing (CAM) software. Through the acquisition of the HSMWorks technology, Autodesk will add software to control machine tools and related machinery to its portfolio of software for manufacturing. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The acquisition of the HSMWorks technology brings machining expertise and next-generation CAM technology to the world’s most comprehensive portfolio of manufacturing software,” said Buzz Kross, Autodesk senior vice president, design, simulation and lifecycle products. “Autodesk has a long history of making design and engineering technology more accessible, and we look forward to bringing HSMWorks’ CAM technology to a broader group of users.”

Autodesk intends to integrate the HSMWorks technology with its industry leading software and cloud services for manufacturing, and will make current HSMWorks products available for purchase and HSMXpress available as a free download. Existing SolidWorks customers using HSMWorks will continue to receive support and product updates. HSMWorks Aps is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.