In working across company sizes, industries, and geographies, in almost 20 years of business consulting, every single client without exception needed to better utilize data to improve customer service and bottom line results. Smart clients are turning data into insights so that they can pinpoint where to focus quickly.

Data Analysis vs Predictive Analytics

There is a lot of conversations about data analysis and predictive analytics. What is the difference? Data analysis is using data (from your ERP system, related technologies such as CRM (customer relationship management) and MES (manufacturing execution system) along with manual inputs and spreadsheets to analyze data to understand past performance, see future requirements, and make decisions. Predictive analytics takes it a step further and uses data to predict future outcomes. Both are essential for survival, let alone for growth and success.

Data Analysis

If your business is growing and profitable, you are performing data analysis. Resources are limited, high-skilled talent is scarce. For that reason alone, smart executives are using data to make decisions. No one can afford to fumble their way through daily execution and expect to have happy customers. On the other hand, very few clients have this down to an art. Unfortunately, data integrity issues abound, data sources do not align (misleading teams of people to focus on incorrect priorities), and executives can focus on the wrong information and reports (therefore wasting precious resources and time).

Client Example Using Data Analysis

Before you can leap to predictive analytics, you have to ensure your data is directionally correct and would lead you to reasonable decisions. Take an 80/20 approach in reviewing, updating, and analyzing data. For example, we are working with an industrial manufacturer on a supply chain consulting project to develop a production schedule, evaluate capacity constraints and rapidly provide realistic projected ship dates to customers and resurrect service levels, and data was at its cornerstone. The client went live on a new ERP system a month before we started working with them and were struggling to sift through the data to provide answers on customer orders. Although they had several high-skilled resources working 24/7 to figure it out and determine order status and availability, they were drowning in data with no way out. They couldn’t work through the data integrity issues and lack of viable information to make sense of sales orders in order to schedule work orders, review capacity, and ship orders.

Thus, we had to jump into the abyss of data, determine which fields were directionally correct, which fields to prioritize, who owned which fields, and who knew how to address which issues. Also, we had to determine which sales orders reconciled to the ones on the schedule, in the production area, on the heijunka board, and which had materials available, which had shipped, and which orders had data issues and were stuck in the system so that we could determine where to start. If we had waited for each of these data integrity issues to be resolved, our customers would have left. Instead, we prioritized, made assumptions to refine the data, reconciled critical data, and addressed the largest issues quickly. Although it took longer than expected, we took a six month task, and completed it within a few weeks with this approach. Data analysis was paramount to getting to the point where we could communicate dates. Refer to our article, “Cleansing, Connecting & Consolidating Data to Support SIOP/ S&OP and a Superior Customer Experience” for additional examples and solutions.

Predictive Analytics

As your data starts to provide directionally correct information for decision-making, smart clients are moving towards predictive analytics. It makes sense to look forward instead of backwards when making decisions. In essence, transitioning from reactive to proactive from a data standpoint can provide valuable visibility for making strategic decisions for demand and supply. Data is often integral to the SIOP (Sales Inventory Operations Planning) processes as you forecast future customer needs, evaluate capacity and production sourcing options, and assess logistics capabilities to serve customers.

At its core, demand planning / sales forecasting uses predictive analytics. Depending on your process and technologies utilized, you can be performing simple forecasting or using advanced predictive analytics. The outcome is to forecast what your customers will need in the future. Listen to our podcast interview with WBS for more insights on this topic. From a capacity planning viewpoint, it makes the most sense to look forward and project capacity using predictive analytics. For example, if you can use recent performance of an item or work center to predict run rates and downtime, it will yield a far better result than referring to a standard set the year before. Depending on the sequence of items and the machine performance, the output can vary widely. This is especially relevant in engineer-to-order businesses as similar combinations and/or setups are difficult for a person to remember. Taking it a step further, as production starts running, it is better to look forward and predict machine breakdowns, thereby resolving those issues before they occur than incurring downtime with preventative maintenance.

Predictive analytics is gaining momentum in business circles as executives prefer to look forward instead of to the past. Thus, according to Statista, the predictive analytics market revenue worldwide will grow from $5.29 Billion in 2020 to $41.5 Billion in 2028.

The Bottom Line

Data can make or break your business. Clients that utilize data for strategic insights and to proactively manage the business achieve far higher customer performance with higher profitability. On the other hand, those clients that get caught up in their shorts can let data negatively impact the customer and bottom line. Which approach will you use?

Continue reading on this topic:
Achieving Customer Growth by Turning Data into Insights

The post Business Value of Data Analysis & Predictive Analytics appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Should ERP & Related Supply Chain Technologies Be a Priority?

ERP and related technologies should only be a priority if you want to grow and succeed for decades to come. By utilizing ERP and supply chain technologies, you’ll maximize your efficiency and drive customer satisfaction. If not, it will be the same as if you said you wanted to stick with the horse and buggy instead of leaping into a Ford.

To put this into perspective, according to Deloitte Insights (from 20220), manufacturers’ average IT budget as a percentage of revenue is 2.14%. Of course, it depends on whether you are small or large, but the ballpark remains valid. If focused on ERP (as a modern ERP system is vital to success), a rule of thumb is that you’ll spend 5-7% of revenue (for the full project price and implementation cost). How do these compare with your budgets?

Why Should ERP & Related Technologies be a Priority?

The future will be for those who are innovating and using technological advances. Manufacturers and distributors are navigating a mountain of geopolitical, natural resource and rare earth issues in addition to navigating interest rate impacts and a host of other economic challenges that create negative headwinds on preparing for profitable growth and contributing to key financial indicators. Instead of pushing a boulder uphill, it makes sense to look for new solutions and strategies to solve old issues. One of these strategies is to maximize the power of ERP and related technologies.

Will my ERP System Suffice?

Of course, the answer to whether you should upgrade your ERP system is that “it depends”. Upgrading your ERP system isn’t for the faint of heart. 80% fail to achieve the intended results. Yet having a modern ERP system that supports your needs is absolutely essential to support growth plans.

No matter your situation, you can start immediately by better leveraging your underutilized asset. In almost 20 years of consulting, I’ve yet to find a client that couldn’t better utilize their ERP system to attain bottom line business results. Read our comprehensive article to find out how – The MacGyver Approach: Leveraging Your Underutilized ERP Asset. For example, an aerospace manufacturing client was struggling to provide high service levels to their customers while dramatically reducing their inventory levels with a wide breadth of products to support their growth goals. In addition to process improvements and common goals, a key ingredient to success was leveraging additional ERP functionality to improve their production and inventory planning processes across their production facilities.

However, as customer expectations have increased, supply chains have become increasingly complex, and margins have been squeezed with rising costs, having a modern ERP system is the only viable path forward for sustainable success. How do you know if your ERP system will suffice and whether an upgrade should be a priority? Read our article on find out the answer. If you determine you should modernize your ERP system, check out our guide for selection and implementation success.

What Technologies are Required to Support Success?

Again, of course, the answer is “it depends”. With that said, the answer is NOT that you can afford to sit still. What is absolutely clear is that only manufacturers and distributors that pursue advanced technologies will thrive in today’s volatile and complex age.

There are countless technologies that might be appropriate. No client should pursue all of them. If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. The key is to review your growth plans and assess your SIOP (Sales Inventory Operations Planning) process results to set your technology priorities. A few of these technologies that pop to mind include:

• Robotics: Almost every client is testing, trialing or using robots. There has been controversy over people vs robots in some circles although manufacturers are flipping that equation to people and robots. Read examples in our article, People vs Robots. It doesn’t make sense in every situation. In fact, one equipment manufacturing client chose not to pursue a specific robot because it didn’t provide a return on investment and slowed down the process after thorough testing. On the other hand, another client continues to add welding robots which automates repetitive tasks.
• Artificial intelligence: Demand planning, also known as sales forecasting, is important for every company, and artificial intelligence can always add value to the forecast yet is especially key for hard to predict patterns such as those in consumer products industries. AI is used in countless manufacturing and supply chain technologies. Check out our recent article on AI, titled “ChatGPT & AI: Good or Bad?“.
• Predictive analytics: Business intelligence, big data, and predictive analytics are proving essential. Every ERP system can provide you with an overwhelming amount of data. The issue is sifting through the data to get meaningful information for decision making. Read our article to get strategies to turn data into insights. Taking that a step further to using your data to predict the future can give you an advantage over your competition.
• E-commerce (B2B and B2C): Consumer expectations continue to increase. After all, who doesn’t expect immediate deliveries from Amazon? What goes on behind the scenes to make that happen isn’t a no brainer. Read our articles on manufacturing opportunities in e-commerce and B2B, B2C & Associated Technology.
• Digital twins: What could be better than simulating your factory, products, your supply chain etc.? Digital twins enable better designs, planning, and much more to contribute to customer success and EBITDA growth.
• Autonomous capabilities: These capabilities are used widely in manufacturing environments to supply or move materials and components; in logistics and distribution environments to move items and in transportation and goods movement to move products.
• And many, many more such as drones, blockchain, additive manufacturing, mixed reality/ metaverse, internet of things (IoT), 5G, etc.

The Bottom Line

Jump into the world of technology. Bring on experts and deep dive into those areas that will provide significant benefits to your business. Minimally, you should test and trial the use of advanced technologies. Perhaps you’ll even combine technologies in a new way or develop a new technology to support your profitable growth.

Did you like this article?  Continue reading on this topic:
Modernize Your ERP System: A Guide for Selection & Implementation Success

The post Leap Forward and Leverage ERP & Supply Chain Technologies appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Every successful client is experiencing rapid growth and changing customer requirements. To support this growth in a scalable, profitable manner, turning data into insights is of paramount importance.

Data Overload

Every client has an overload of data. Whether using a modern ERP system or struggling with a complex maze of manual spreadsheets, the one item in common is an abundance of data. We have worked with clients with archaic ERP systems, but so long as we can extract data, progress can be made. On the other hand, we have worked with clients with Tier 1 ERP systems such as SAP or Oracle, but if they cannot get data out of their systems, the client is in a worse situation than the one with an archaic ERP system. Every manufacturer has products, defines how to produce those products (whether captured in someone’s head, in spreadsheets, or via an ERP system), has customers, receives orders, purchases from suppliers and so on. Each of those transactions and associated data is stored somewhere.

Data and related transactions adds up quickly. If you think about your typical day, you receive an overload of data before you even arrive at work. Your phone gives you the latest news and alerts. The news provides additional insights into key events. You drive by billboards and listen to the radio or talk with people on your way to work. You receive automated reports in your inbox. You most likely receive thousands of inputs before even arriving at work. Its no wonder we are overloaded! Since the pandemic might have cut out your drive, you might have replaced it with a walk or workout although you are still receiving data via the radio, a podcast or on the phone. To make matters worse, we employ people to run reports and track metrics on spreadsheets. Every time corporate, a Board member or a customer asks a question, another metric is created. Soon, we employ loads of people to publish data that no one uses to make decisions. How do we throw a line to save ourselves from drowning in data?

Take Stock of Your Data

Collect your data. It is likely to be an eye opening exercise. Take stock of standard reports your ERP system provides. Find out which reports are run frequently, and ask those people what they do with the information. Find out if the reports have to be massaged or adjusted to provide useful information. What has to be changed and why? Take a survey of the metrics your organization is collecting, tracking, or publishing. Ask who is using the metrics and what decisions are made based on the information.

In addition to understanding the volume and use of data, check into your data accuracy. Can folks make directionally correct decisions with your data? Or are there several exceptions that have to be discussed before taking action? If someone not intimately familiar with the data evaluated the report or dashboard, could he/she make a decision?

Reduce the Number of Reports to the Meaningful

We have not yet met a client that wasn’t collecting too much data. It is easy to get too ambitious and lose track of what is meaningful. Ask who would notice if the reports weren’t completed for a week? Go talk to that person and find out why. If no one knows or has a compelling reason to review the report, turn it off or tell the person compiling the information to stop compiling it for the next week or month. See if anyone asks about it.

Attend the meetings where data is discussed. Are people arguing about data or having meaningful discussions about what to do based on the data? If they are debating the accuracy, get the group together to develop ONE report that everyone agrees upon to illustrate the data. Eliminate the rest. For example, a building products manufacturer had several nuances to how they calculated OTIF (on-time-in-full), and so the team would debate the way the data was captured at each meeting instead of acting upon the data. We took a step back and aligned on the meaning of fields, how the data was captured and used, and we consolidated several reports into one cross-functional process to collect and analyze a single source of data. Although it certainly wasn’t the only reason, having meaningful reporting supported key decisions and actions which led to an increase in OTIF by 30%.

Turn Data Into Insights

Simply reducing the number of reports isn’t enough. It is essential to make the information meaningful for decision-making. Understand your sources of data. Connect the data. Cleanse the data. And turn data into insights with dashboards, data models or simply by retrieving the appropriate data for decision-making. It sounds much easier to do than it is in reality. For example, an aerospace client captured open orders and shipment data. Because they selected the data by the order creation date instead of the shipped date, the reports didn’t contain the correct information and didn’t reconcile to the invoicing data. Additionally, because they didn’t have their customer segregated in a key field they used to pull the report, the records that were blank didn’t get captured. Both were easy fixes but poor decisions were being made until the data was reconciled and cleansed. On the other hand, once the data was directionally-correct, they used it to determine the machine capabilities, capacities and staffing required to support their growth plans so they could get in front of their demand.

In another client, they had a proactive executive team for a small, rapidly growing building products company. They tracked potential sales leads, probability of success, sales history by geography and much more in their CRM system. Thus, they knew they needed to focus efforts on a key product line in the northeast because sales were lower than expected. By having this key information at their fingertips, they could target their sales efforts on the customers, products, and locations that would make a meaningful difference to their growth plans. They were recognized as the fastest growing company for several years in a row due to the expert ability to turn data into insights and take appropriate action.

You can turn data into insights no matter what systems you have supporting your business. It is far more important to have the appropriate processes and to focus people’s attention on how to dig into data and use it to make meaningful decisions. With that said, if you can support your data efforts with a business intelligence solution, you will gain a leg up on the competition. The great news is that BI tools are scalable; start small and scale up with complexity as it makes sense to support your business. Once you can slice and dice data and have dashboard available with the push of a button, consider moving on to advanced data topics such as predictive analytics. Instead of solely using data for decision-making, you can take it to the next level and predict your future to get ahead of pack.

Did you like this article?  Continue reading on this topic:
Thriving Post-Pandemic: Turning Data into Insights

The post Achieving Customer Growth by Turning Data Into Insights appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

If you don’t have a modern ERP system that will support your business growth and changing customer requirements that also supports your ability to scale profitability and with greater levels of automation and predictive analytics, you need an upgraded ERP system YESTERDAY! Just a few years ago, we could confidently tell clients that although they didn’t have a modern ERP system, they could better utilize what they had and make significant progress; however, it is no longer enough.

To thrive post-pandemic, you’ll need advanced functionality that can support evolving business requirements. There is no time to wait for critical customer information and key data for decision-making. Instead, you’ll need a modern ERP system that supports customer requirements, SIOP (sales, inventory, and operations planning) models, predictive analytics and more. I recently talked with CIO magazine about selecting and implementing an ERP system. I’d love your feedback and insights on this topic.

What Should We Consider and/or What Impacts Could Arise?

What better to address your questions on selecting and implementing an ERP system than to read the CIO magazine article.

Please keep us in the loop of your situation and how we can help your organization successfully navigate the current volatility and, more importantly, emerge above and beyond. Several of these types of topics are included in our new eBook Emerging Above and Beyond: 21 Insights for 2021 from Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Technology Executives. Download your complimentary copy.

The post Selecting & Implementing an ERP System appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA – October 27, 2020 –  Manufacturing and Supply Chain Expert,  Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP, CLTD, president of LMA Consulting Group Inc., predicts that manufacturers will realize breakthroughs in eCommerce with the use of technology and data. LMA Consulting Group works with manufacturers and distributors on strategy and end-to-end supply chain transformation to maximize the customer experience and enable profitable, scalable, dramatic business growth.

Manufacturers and distributors are seeing record gains in eCommerce. Expanding beyond the consumer market, eCommerce is growing exponentially for manufacturers and distributors. eCommerce engines and customer portals are enabling customers to receive 24/7 access, service and attention, and they are providing manufacturers and distributors with critical data. “With the explosive growth of eCommerce, it is critical that manufacturers and distributors use data to assess their supply chain and leverage the predictive analytics that can drive customer growth and profitability,” commented Ms. Anderson.  Manufacturers have many sources of data. These include internal systems, suppliers and customers. “Manufacturers who have invested in and managed their ERP systems should be using those systems to garner critical information. An ERP system is the heartbeat of the organization. It interconnects everything from sales and customers to suppliers and production.   If used properly, it can provide a wealth of information and analytics to support growth, predict demand and evaluate and streamline inefficiencies. When coupled with data from suppliers and customers, we can see an entire landscape. Organizations with less sophisticated systems should not be discouraged. They can still use their data to support growth. It will just require manual effort to extract and use it,” she continued. 

The challenge is always the quality of the data. The adage, ‘Garbage In is Garbage Out’, still rings true today.  Ensuring the accuracy of data is the first step in being able to use data to make critical business decisions. “As eCommerce grows, companies are assessing everything from suppliers to transportation costs, along with their management of order fulfillment.  Many are considering the option of outsourcing order fulfillment to a third-party logistics (3PL) company. This requires careful and thoughtful analysis. In some cases, one basis point can make the difference.  So, it is critical that the data is accurate and timely. As we continue to celebrate October as Manufacturing month, let us remember that manufacturing is much more than tangibles like machines and freight.  It includes the intangibles like data that can make or break even the best of decisions,” she concluded.

Ms. Anderson recently added the topic of eCommerce to her video series, What’s Happening in Manufacturing and Supply Chain: eCommerce. She recently published an eBook, Future-Proofing Manufacturing & the Supply Chain Post COVID-19  that provides insights, advice and experiential value for creating the customer experience.

About LMA Consulting Group – Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP, CLTD

Lisa Anderson is the founder and president of LMA Consulting Group, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in manufacturing strategy and end-to-end supply chain transformation.  She focuses on maximizing the customer experience and enabling profitable, scalable, dramatic business growth. Ms. Anderson is a recognized Supply Chain thought leader by SelectHub, named a Top 40 B2B Tech Influencer by arketi group, a Top 50 ERP Influencer by Washington-Frank, one of the most influential in Supply Chain by SAP and a woman leader in Supply Chain by RateLinx. She recently published, I’ve Been Thinking, strategies for creating bold customer promises and profits and an eBook, Future-Proofing Manufacturing & the Supply Chain Post COVID-19.. A contributor on topics including a superior customer experience with SIOP, advancing innovation and making the supply chain resilient, Ms. Anderson is regularly interviewed and quoted by publications such as Industry Week, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal. For information, to sign up for her Profit Through People^TM Newsletter or for a copy of her book, visit LMA-ConsultingGroup.com.                                        

                                                                                                                                   ###
Media Contact Kathleen McEntee | Kathleen McEntee & Associates, Ltd. | p. (760) 262 – 4080 | KMcEntee@KMcEnteeAssoc.com

Posted on ExpertClick on October 27, 2020.

The post Lisa Anderson, Manufacturing Expert and President of LMA Consulting Predicts eCommerce Breakthroughs with Data appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

After receiving a call from a CBS affiliate asking about what’s going on in the food industry, we thought it would make for an interesting deep dive. In addition, we have been working with companies from farm to table and from machinery equipment to logistics/ food service distribution and grocery, and the coronavirus impacts have been vastly different. Whether you are related to food and beverage or not, undoubtedly you have some sort of connection or impact throughout your end-to-end supply chain. At a minimum, the concepts are the same and so take note.

Are you supporting grocery or hospitality?

The answer provides a night vs day response. Of course, grocery saw the largest increase in history early on during the coronavirus lockdown. People hoarded groceries, consumption increased (after all, virtually all consumption occurred at home), and manufacturers and distributors couldn’t keep up. Grocery sales saw an unprecedented uptick early on during COVID-19 and it has leveled out to be a slight increase. Due to a surge in coronavirus cases at meat packing plants, there was a lot of concern about a shortage of meat but it didn’t materialize in any substantial way.

On the other hand, companies that supply hospitality and restaurants saw a dramatic drop. One of my supply chain colleagues went to her local restaurant and brokered a deal for what she couldn’t find at the grocery store. Supply chains were completely out of whack. Channels weren’t agile, packaging was different and demand and supply were completely out of alignment! Clients and colleagues that served restaurants and the hospitality industry saw volumes go to 0 overnight. Let’s hope they had a diversified customer base. However, even if completely dependent on hospitality, the agile and proactive quickly turned left and found new opportunities.

Is Your Customer Base Diversified?

Customers with a diversified customer base have fared better than the rest. For example, our clients supported each of these types of customers:

1. Grocery – clearly, this segment was largely up
2. Big box stores – again, these stores at least kept operating. Volumes were down slightly but carried on.
3. E-commerce – the one unanimous HOT SPOT across the board.
4. Healthcare – definitely down. No one was going to the doctor or saw medical professionals unless they had COVID-19
5. Weight & body building – again, down since no one was going to the gym.
6. Starbucks & fast food – at first, these were down but they quickly recovered, depending on the product sold. For example, if it was a food product consumed in the store (not typically in the drive through), sales dropped.
7. Restaurants & hospitality – DOWN, DOWN, DOWN

The Misalignment of Demand & Supply

By NO means could our clients assume their customers’ history would be a good indication of the future. In fact, in many cases, their customer supplied radically different customers, and so it was really the customer’s customer that had to be understood. Getting in touch with our extended supply chain to better understand demand was a good start. Staying on top of changing and evolving needs was critical. Extending help to customers went a long way. The bottom line is to get on top of demand to the best degree feasible.

Of course, the supply base is experiencing the same level of unprecedented volatility. Thus, getting on top of supply is also essential. All-in-all, getting on top of demand and supply and continually re-aligning, readjusting, and addressing gaps (retooling, creating partnerships, repackaging and other innovations) minimized the level of supply chain shortages.

What is the Status of the Food Industry?

Supply chains are more local and somewhat resilient which helped clients adjust more quickly to the changing conditions. Also several clients reduced the number of variations offered to better manage the process and/or to address a supply issue proactively, and it seems to have been a successful approach. Thus, the bottom line is that there weren’t noteworthy shortages beyond the first few weeks of panic buying.

What Should We Do?

Smart and innovative clients are thinking ahead and taking the opportunity to evaluate..

1. Customer preferences: Think about changing customer preferences and consumer buying behaviors to develop and/or adjust products and services to meet evolving customer needs and to fill gaps.
2. Technology: Implement key technologies to better support improved operational efficiencies and a superior customer experience.
3. Predictive Analytics: Design and build analytical models and dashboards to use understand how to better predict customer behavior and manage operational cost. Business intelligence, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence/ machine learning is offering great promise.

Interestingly, although this feedback was geared to food and beverage, the same types of situations were prevalent in other industries as well. In aerospace and defense, commercial aerospace took a nosedive while defense stayed constant. In building products, if your products supported at home improvement projects, demand was up whereas commercial real estate for retail is in sorry shape. In healthcare, if you are in PPE, you cannot keep up whereas if you are in any field not directly related to coronavirus (such as elective surgery, cancer or a primary physician), you were twiddling your thumbs.

Who are your customers? Are you diversified? What risks exist? Evaluate your extended supply chain and future-proof your manufacturing operations and end-to-end supply chain. Check out our eBook and contact us if you’d like to brainstorm these concepts further.

The post What’s Going on in the Food Industry? appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

CLAREMONT, Calif., Sept. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Manufacturing and Supply Chain Expert,  Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP, CLTD, president of LMA Consulting Group Inc., predicts that artificial intelligence (AI) and human learning will impact most aspects of manufacturing resulting in improved profits, inventory levels and cash. 

“Our manufacturing clients have really embraced the power of AI since the first of the year.  From improved forecast accuracy impacting inventory levels to more openly working with changing customer needs and the overall customer experience, manufacturers are seeing the effects of using this data,” Ms. Anderson commented. LMA Consulting Group works with manufacturers and distributors on strategy and end-to-end supply chain transformation to maximize the customer experience and enable profitable, scalable, dramatic business growth.

“Despite the fact that manufacturing, especially in Inland Southern California continues to be strong, manufacturers need to be smart. By integrating AI with tried and true techniques such as SIOP (Sales, Inventory and Operations Planning) and taking advantage of predictive analytics and other human learning technologies in conjunction with ERP systems, manufacturers can become better at forecasting and exceeding customer expectations.  In fact, for every one percent improvement in forecast accuracy, there can be a seven percent improvement in inventory levels and therefore cashflow,” she said. 

In an effort to support clients, Ms. Anderson is active with the Board of Directors of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, where she represents the Logistics Council whose initiative is developing a consortium for logistics, supply chain and advanced manufacturing success. “AI and other forms of technology are transforming manufacturing as we know it. From reevaluating sourcing and enabling robots to predictive maintenance and shortened design times, AI offers up vast potential. Successful manufacturers are strengthening their hold. Supply chain and other manufacturing professionals are sharpening their skills to take advantage of these resources. It takes work, smart management and a strong team to be successful. A perfect storm for manufacturing success. The evidence is in the growth we see in Inland Southern California (also known as the Inland Empire),” she concluded.

About LMA Consulting Group – Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP, CLTD

Lisa Anderson is the founder and president of LMA Consulting Group, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in manufacturing strategy and end-to-end supply chain transformation.  She focuses on maximizing the customer experience and enabling profitable, scalable, dramatic business growth. Ms. Anderson is a recognized Supply Chain thought leader by SelectHub, named a Top 40 B2B Tech Influencer by arketi group, 50 ERP Influencer by Washington-Frank, a top 46 most influential in Supply Chain by SAP and named a top woman influencer by Solutions Review. She recently published, I’ve Been Thinking, 101 strategies for creating bold customer promises and profits. A regular content contributor on topics including a superior customer experience with SIOP, advancing innovation and making the supply chain resilient, Ms. Anderson is regularly interviewed and quoted by publications such as Industry Week, tED magazine and the Wall Street Journal.  For information, to sign up for her Profit Through People^TM Newsletter or for a copy of her book, visit lma-consultinggroup.com.

Media Contact
Kathleen McEntee | Kathleen McEntee & Associates, Ltd. | p. (760) 262 – 4080 | 223168@email4pr.com

Originally published on PR Newswire on September 18, 2019

The post Press Release: Manufacturing Expert, Lisa Anderson, Sees Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on Manufacturing Profit, Inventory Levels and Cash appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

We have never been believers in technology for technology’s sake – or, worse yet, FADS; however, there are some top technologies to keep an eye on in 2018 if you plan to create business value.  Not only are my most successful and progressive clients thinking about these technologies but they are investing to leapfrog the competition.

1. Artificial intelligence – who can argue with the potential power of this technology?  It is saying something when my Mom said her Amazon Alexa was the best gift she ever received (even though she only uses the alarm functionality).  Imagine how AI might transform entire industries (such as accounting) and functions (machinery and equipment maintenance).
2. Blockchain – although still in early stages, blockchain has the potential to transform high stakes transactions using a shared, secured, synchronized and immutable ledger.   
3. IoT (the Internet of Things) – in today’s interconnected world, you cannot get away from connected devices.  We take them for granted.  The ultimate (which seems to be viable by 2020) is self-driving trucks.  Imagine the connections required to turn this concept into a reality yet testing is already underway – and quite successful.  
4. Predictive analytics – there is immense power in not only sifting through mounds of data rapidly and efficiently to pick out the trends and highlights with business intelligence (BI) but taking that a step forward with predictive analytics is a game-changer.  Are you thinking about how to integrate predictive analytics into your decision-making processes?
5. ERP and CRM – although tried and true, these “must have” technologies are no longer advantages; if you are interested in profitable, scalable growth, you’ll put these two topics on your strategic priority list.  Customers expect you to be ahead of them – are you?

The post Top Technologies appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.