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Connected Manufacturing
Manufacturing industries face unprecedented challenges. New competitors are emerging from countries such as China and India; incumbent companies are beginning to reap benefits from global supply chains; and customers are demanding customized products.
In recent years, most manufacturing companies have focused their Internet technology strategies on using Internet solutions to realize myriad benefits. Reducing both supply-chain costs and procurement input prices is just one benefit. And, while there is tremendous potential to make improvements in these areas, manufacturers are also looking to the Internet to enhance workforce productivity. Workforce optimization, both at the personal productivity level and at the back-office process level, offers many possibilities for cost-containment and increased efficiency.
The desire to electronically enable all customer-facing processes is a more recent trend in manufacturing. Internet-based applications play a critical role here as well. Manufacturers are investing in applications that can increase the effectiveness of their sales force and increase representation at the channel-member level. But, manufacturers are not stopping there. They are also introducing after-market services, to enhance customer satisfaction and generate new service revenues, as well as encouraging collaborative product development, which engages the customer and other partners in the design process to attain customer goals quickly.
