Reduce manufacturing costs with no access to capital
Are you one of the 67% of UK manufacturers who needs to invest in new IT but don’t have the capital? Data published in The Manufacturer’s 2017 Annual Manufacturing Report…
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Manufacturing boom or bust: Why KPIs can fail to deliver
After 10 years in the doldrums, UK manufacturing output has bounced back. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), manufacturing growth is expanding at its fastest rate since…
Transparency: the key to KPI success in manufacturing
Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are useful when managing any business. However, when it comes to the factory floor, having a set of quantifiable metrics that you can use…
Advanced planning and scheduling capability primes MESTEC solution for Industry 4.0
The latest addition to MESTEC’s plant optimisation suite joins up several critical business processes to support factories aiming for 100% efficiency through smart manufacturing. Business outcomes include improved on-time…
Four ways that cloud computing boosts labour productivity
There is little doubt that digital technologies now play a central role in modern manufacturing. A recent study from management consulting firm Accenture found that such technologies could add £1.06 trillion…
Does your ERP system need some rocket fuel?
Each year, The Manufacturer publishes its Annual Manufacturing Report (AMR). It’s probably the most comprehensive report on manufacturing trends in the UK. This year it states that the “strong…
Key strategies to reduce manufacturing costs – without investing capital
Many UK manufacturers finished 2016 with a surge in demand from overseas customers, largely because of the favourable exchange rates for exporters. The effect was to take manufacturing growth…
Spreadsheets or a dedicated plant-floor solution – what’s best for your factory?
According to our recent survey, 64% of you continue to use spreadsheets to collect and analyse data in your factories. Typically, you re-enter task times and other job details…
Eight common excuses for using paper-based data collection on the shop floor
Our recent survey of UK manufacturers revealed that an astonishing 46% of you are still using pieces of paper to collect critical information from your shop floor. You’re using…
Industry 4.0: don’t get left behind
Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, big data, IoT, advanced manufacturing intelligence… you’ve heard all the buzzwords, but what do they really mean, and what’s their relevance to your manufacturing business? If you’ve considered any…
How to turn small batch manufacturing from problem to opportunity
James Womack, author of the best-selling business classic text ‘Lean Thinking’, tells the story of how he challenged his children to an envelope-stuffing competition. While his children set up…
Five ways manufacturers use analytics to drive up labour productivity
We asked some of our key customers to tell us how they use the data and analysis, that our solutions give them to drive their continuous productivity improvement programs….