How to Optimize Your Factory for Industry 4.0!

Believe it or not, Industry 4.0 — the latest specialization for modern factories and manufacturing plants — does factor into design and and help optimize your factory layout. That is because digitization, or the current movement to connect and bring all equipment into modern times, absolutely influences design.

In essence, that is the heart of Industry 4.0, a complete synergy between operations, equipment, properties and, of course, the people who spend their time there. If 3.0 was about automation and boosting efficiency, this generation is about injecting the human touch back into the work environment, and that means accommodating such things from a design standpoint.

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How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Will Change Decision Making!

From The Terminator to Blade Runner, pop culture has always leaned towards a chilling depiction of artificial intelligence (AI) and our future with AI at the helm. Recent headlines about Facebook panicking because their AI bots developed a language of their own have us hitting the alarm button once again. Should we really feel unsettled with an AI future?

News flash: that future is here. If you ask Siri, the helpful assistant who magically lives inside your phone, to read text messages and emails to you, find the nearest pizza place or call your mother for you, then you’ve made AI a part of your everyday life.

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The Industry 4.0 Ecosystem!

The Industry 4.0 Ecosystem involves leveraging the latest technologies, digital capabilities, the unprecedented dissemination of IoT (the Internet of Things) and the incredible ability to tap into data anywhere and everywhere in the Supply Chain.

The level of digital connectivity across the entire End-to-End Supply Chain, from customers through to manufacturers, distributors, logistics companies, and suppliers of all kinds enables this forward leap to an Industry 4.0 world.

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IoT and Manufacturing (Infographic)!

The Internet of Things (IoT) enables the end to end connectivity of all aspects of our lives in an unprecedented manner.  What happens when IoT and Manufacturing come together?

In the arena of Manufacturing there has always been a reliance on processes, data, sensors, controls, analysis and metrics to allow for monitoring, management and optimization of those Manufacturing processes.  And the ability to leverage historic approaches has varied from company to company and industry to industry.

But now with the advent of IoT, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Industry 4.0 the ability to optimize Manufacturing processes through this incredible digital connectivity is about to take a quantum leap forward.

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Manufacturing Toolbox for Next Level Productivity

The story of the manufacturing industry has been one of progress. Few manufacturers continue to produce the same products as they did in their infancy years. In order to remain competitive, manufacturers must continue to refine their manufacturing toolbox and evolve their products to meet the demands of the marketplace.

But meeting consumer demand is only half the battle — the other half is staying up to speed with industry advancements.

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5 Trends in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies

Widespread Artificial Intelligence, Biohacking, new platforms and immersive experiences dominate this year’s Gartner Hype Cycle.

Waiting curbside for an Uber or Lyft driver might one day be the old-fashioned way of getting around. Instead, passengers will need to head to the helipad to catch a ride from a flying autonomous vehicle.

Not only will these future taxis take to the sky to potentially reduce traffic, they’ll operate independently of a human pilot.

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The Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Over the Next Half Decade!

Why half? For those who may find awkward the reference to “half a decade” and not the “next decade” here is why: AI is evolving at such a staggering rate that it is simply not possible to foresee the impact of Artificial Intelligence in 10 years’ time.

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Our 2018 Top 10 List!

It’s been a tremendous start to our second year at  Supply Chain Game Changer.  Our goal has always been to share experiences and expertise, including our 2018 Top 10 list.  In the first half of 2018 our readership continued to grow substantially over our first year, 2017.  And we were selected  as one of the Top 25 Procurement blogs in the world.

In 2018 we added video content and introduced our “Seasoned Leadership in Action” Interview series.  For the purpose of this Top 10 List we have excluded all  “Seasoned Leadership in Action” articles as we are not trying to promote a popularity contest amongst individuals.  That being said the response to the Interview series has been absolutely outstanding.

We also continued to add more and more Guest posts provided by industry leaders.  We have 17 new Guest contributors so far in 2018 on top of the outstanding roster of contributors who started with us in 2017.

As we end the first 6 months of 2018 we wanted to publish our Top 10 List, so far.

Thank you for your tremendous, ongoing support.  If you haven’t subscribed yet please sign up!  Subscribe Here!  

So here is our 1st Top 10 List of 2018…

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Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing!

Although additive manufacturing and 3D Printing for both plastic and metal materials has been around for years, the investment, developments, breadth of applications, adoption rate, and beneficial case studies are expanding at an extremely rapid rate.

New processes, materials, devices, design applications, are emerging every day. Now, there are cloud sites that store portfolios of designs, much like Pandora does for music. All of this is creating an amazing amount of opportunity creating more efficient supply chains, new product types, de-centralized manufacturing schemes, and easier approaches to mass-customization.

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Disruptive Warehouse Technologies for Any Company!

No matter how big or small your operation and your company is you likely have the same disruptive pressures on your Warehouses and Distribution Centres.

Everyone, including  those who are best in class,  has the need to reduce costs, improve the speed and accuracy of order fulfillment and warehouse activities, optimize inventory, and provide sufficient capacity to support growth at your busiest times of the year.

The ability to leverage technology to help address those pressures is no longer just possible for large companies.  The nature of the technology landscape brings those improvements within the reach of most everyone.

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Cyber Security and the Digital Supply Chain!

When it comes to the modern supply chain managers have a relatively new risk to consider:  Cyber Security!

As major logistics providers from all around the world struggle with keeping their private data secure, businesses are investing time and resources to address this serious concern. From shutting down major ports to the risk of losing private client data, the time is now to address Cyber Security in the supply chain.

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The 5 Big Benefits of the Digital Supply Chain!

What’s the core difference between today’s supply chain and benefits of the digital supply chain?

Look down at your desk. What do you see? If you see paper, pen, and a computer, you see the typical, modern supply chain.   If asked, could you provide the latest information on your current automation, key performance indicators, data, use of IT applications, and finance government?

The chances are good that much of this information is stored digitally. However, you would probably need to look through some of the physical, tactile paperwork to find all of the information.   Also, is the information stored only your computer or a server? Now, how long is that going to take you?

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Our 2017 Top 10 List! – Part 2

It’s been a tremendous first year at  supplychaingamechanger.com.  Our goal has always been to share experiences and expertise.  And in the second half of 2017 we had an ever increasing number of articles contributed by industry leaders all of whom have been very generous in sharing their intellect and insights.  This is our second 2017 Top 10 List.

Our readers and contributors come from all over the world.  They include individuals new to Supply Chain as well as Industry leaders and everyone in between.   And they work in many different industries and vocations.   But they all have a common interest in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Leadership, Change Management, Human Resources, Transformation,  and Technology.

Most importantly they all have an interest in learning and sharing.

As we end this first year we wanted to publish our 2nd Top 10 List.  Our first Top 10 List covered the Top blog posts from the first half of 2017 so our 2nd Top 10 List will cover the second half of 2017.

Thank you for your tremendous, ongoing support.  

So here is our 2nd Top 10 List of 2017…

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5 Seismic Shifts in Supply Chain Technology!

Supply chain technology is seeing seismic shifts and changing rapidly as new, innovative solution providers leave traditional legacy players behind.  

Tremors. Seismic shifts. In supply chain management technology there is a fault line separating new, innovative technology providers and traditional supply chain software providers, and the gap between them is growing.

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You are Connected Everywhere! Why isn’t your Supply Chain Connected?

Have you ever tried to drive in a blinding snowstorm or when the rain or fog is so thick that you can’t see in front of your car?  It’s not possible!  And it’s risky to even try!

So why is it that the Supply Chain in so many companies is being run without the end to end visibility needed to even function, yet which we have in our personal lives?

In this age of exponential growth in digital connectivity the time has come to ensure you have End to End Supply Chain visibility.  If you carry a Smartphone you can be tracked anywhere.  So why don’t you apply this technology to your Supply Chain?

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