Industry News

When prices are high, suppliers will make more of a product. Conversely, when demand drops, prices will face downward pressure, and suppliers will produce less. In the modern global supply chain world, markets have adopted even further. This is supply and demand, a fundamental tenet of economics. A Real World Image of the Market Economy To understand a classic supply and demand environment, we need look no further than the boom of hand sanitizer in recent months. Suppliers of spirits (e.g., vodka) have even converted production from booze to make it! As in all markets, if buyers are willing to pay a higher price, the production will come online to support it. Whether this means adding a second or third shift at the plants of existing producers — or new suppliers entering the competitive environment — the market will eventual … [Read more...] about Should We Apply Market Economics to Safety?

COVID-19 is the economic Black Swan event of the year (if not the decade) that no one expected. But how the US government responds to it from a policy standpoint will have as great an impact on the health of domestic manufacturing as the responses businesses take. For both policy makers and executives, navigating these volatile and uncertain times may be a week-to-week challenge; or it could last months or quarters. No one knows yet. In this month’s Publisher’s Page, we first share some of the highlights that NAM (National Association of Manufacturers) provided in a recent policy statement on COVID-19. Then we provide our own tips which we are advising our manufacturing clients on in terms of managing uncertainty and volatility in their own businesses. NAM divides their policy and business recommendations into five groups. The … [Read more...] about Manufacturing and COVID-19: A Survival Guide

While most people are not familiar with the details of what has been known as the “gig” or freelancer economy, chances are, however that you’re taking advantage of it. For example, if you took an Uber out to dinner last weekend to enjoy that extra glass of wine, then you took advantage of this new, non-employee universe. Uber is not alone in changing how we consume and employ temporary labor (for minutes, hours, days or longer). Like Uber, technology firms such as Wonolo connect pre-qualified and vetted workers (e.g., background check, drug screening) with general labor, warehouse operations, delivery/logistics and other opportunities for “on-demand” work. Why Freelancing is The Next Work Industry Wonolo is one of hundreds of online platforms and apps that serve business-to-business needs for matching work requirements with … [Read more...] about Contractors Represent Both Opportunity and Potential Risk for Manufacturers

Over dinner with two of our friends on Saturday night — one, the head of IT and digital for a manufacturer in Chicago, the other a doctor — we somehow got onto the subject of digital twins. And no, we’re not talking about some type of online replica or “bot” that mirrors the intelligence or better behavioral elements of a real person. The concept of a digital twin is to have an actual, digital version of a real-world actual object – that reports on and represents the activity of the part, component, finished product or asset (e.g., stamping press) that it represents. Wikipedia defines a digital twin as a “a digital replica of physical assets (physical twin), processes, people, places, systems and devices that can be used for various purposes. The digital representation provides both the elements and the dynamics of how an Internet of … [Read more...] about Digital Twins in Manufacturing: Producing Data, Not Just Finished Parts