Manufacturing Trends & News
5 Key Metrics That Drive Higher Manufacturing Quality
Manufacturers who are growing faster than competitors and gaining market share while thwarting price wars all share a common trait. They have an intensity about product quality that reverberates through each work center, plant, and across their production network. Flat
... ContinuedWhy Industry-Specific ERP Fits Process Manufacturing
Process manufacturing is defined by Gartner as “manufacturing that adds value by performing chemical reactions or physical actions to transform materials, or by extracting, mixing, separating, or forming materials in batch or continuous production modes.” Batch manufacturing mode is where
... ContinuedFinding an ERP Solution that Eliminates Data Silos Between Accounting and the Shop Floor
As organizations grow, each department and often individual managers develop systems to manage the information that is important to them. Although well intended, these disparate systems can lead to inaccuracies, duplicate efforts, and costly mistakes. For example, an order processing
... Continued5 Supply Chain Metrics That Matter The Most
It’s a well-known management axiom that you can’t improve what you don’t measure. This concept has been attributed to such varied sources as management guru Peter Drucker, Sir William Thomson, also known as Lord Kelvin, and W. Edwards Deming, father
... ContinuedWhat is Supply Chain Management (SCM)?
What is Supply Chain Management? Many business people talk or read about supply chain management (SCM) without really understanding what it means or the impact it can have on a company’s profitability and market share. Whether you’re a seasoned professional
... ContinuedOEE: How to Calculate Overall Equipment Effectiveness
OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) takes the three sources of manufacturing productivity loss: Availability, Performance and Quality, and creates metrics that provide a consistent way to measure the effectiveness of a machine or process. Availability Factor The Availability Factor of the
... ContinuedModernizing the Medical Device Supply Chain
At the recent American Medical Device Summit in Lombard, Illinois, several FDA officials delivered presentations to help the device designers and manufacturers successfully engage with the FDA, physicians and the patient end-consumers. Yet, with the cost of development and launch
... ContinuedLogistics Management: Why Manufacturing Decision Makers Must Prioritize Efficiency
Logistics management is undergoing a disruptive transformation that has implications for decision-makers in manufacturing and other industries. Amazon is a herald of these changes, which the Journal of Commerce says are reshaping logistics as we know it. Over the past
... Continued3D Metal Printing Trends, Risks and Opportunities
At the 2016 3D Metal Printing Experience Conference held in metro-Detroit on August 19, manufacturers gathered to understand commercial and technical trends as well as best practices in metal additive manufacturing. The 3D Metal Printing Magazine publishers hosted parts makers,
... Continued3 Mega Trends in Automotive Creating New Opportunities for Tier 1, 2, & 3 Suppliers
Recently, IQMS participated in the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Management Briefing Seminars (MBS) in Traverse City, Michigan and observed several three undeniable trends that the automotive industry OEMs and suppliers must address in their strategy and plans for the
... ContinuedBest Practices and Operational Improvements with ERP for Metal Stamping
Recently, IQMS’ Illinois customer, Horizon Die, spoke with fellow manufacturing executives at a recent Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) event in Troy, Michigan. They were excited to explain the reasons they searched for and selected IQMS as their Manufacturing ERP to
... ContinuedGM Suppliers: Know Your Manufacturing Process Well Prior To Launch
IQMS recently attended the OESA sponsored General Motors Supplier Town Hall briefing in Troy, Michigan where over 500 supplier representatives gathered to better understand GM’s supply chain strategy for 2016. The event agenda included a brief opening presentation by GM’s
... ContinuedAutomated Production Monitoring of Your Plant Floor – For Real!
Wow, I just made a personal promise to our customer that we will be able to complete their order tonight and ship it on an expedited truck for delivery tomorrow by noon to bail them out of a bind they
... ContinuedWhen it comes to cloud ERP – “Choice” is the new cloud
Cloud ERP, Hosted ERP, SaaS ERP….What are the differences and which is best for your manufacturing company? The truth is no single ERP deployment method is right for every manufacturer. Your business may have strategies and needs that are not well matched
... ContinuedNorth American Automotive Tooling Industry Trends
This week the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) and Harbour Results, Inc. (HRI) co-hosted the 2015 Automotive Tooling Update. IQMS was pleased to attend this event to better understand the issues and trends affecting tool makers, as well as OEMs and Tier
... Continued