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10 Ways Cloud Computing Is Revolutionizing Manufacturing - Forbes

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Louis Columbus, Contributor

I cove r C R M, C loud C om puting, ER P and Ente rprise Software

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The best manufacturers Ive visited this year all share a common 184 are obsessed with attribute: they making themselves as easy as possible to work with from a supply chain, distribution and services 0 standpoint. Many are evaluating cloud-based manufacturing applications including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and several have adopted cloud-based applications across their companies.

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Cindy Jutras, founder and CEO of MintJutras. Her firm has recently completed a survey of SaaS adoption in manufacturing, distribution and other industries. She found the following:
49% of respondents in the manufacturing & distribution industries do not understand the difference between single- and multi-tenant SaaS architectures. Overall 66% of respondents to the survey did not know. SaaS-based applications are 22% of all manufacturing and distribution software installed today, and will grow to 45% within ten years according to MintJutras. The three most important characteristics of a SaaS solution in manufacturing and distribution include giving customers a measure of control over upgrades, consistent support for global operations and allowing for rapid and frequent upgrades.

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10 Ways Cloud Computing Is Revolutionizing Manufacturing - Forbes

Louis Columbus
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I'm serv ing as Senior Manager, Enterprise Marketing at Cincom, an enterprise software company , where my responsibilities include new product introductions, messaging, marketing strategy , business dev elopment, and competitiv e strategy . Prev ious positions include senior analy st at AMR Research (now Gartner), marketing and business dev elopment at Cincom + show more Sy stems, Ingram Micro, a SaaS start-up and at
The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expres s ed are thos e of the w riter.

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Why Manufacturers Are Looking To Cloud Computing Manufacturers are under constant pressure to increase accuracy, make process speed a competitive force, and capitalize on their internal intelligence and knowledge to make every supplier, distributor and service interaction count. The manufacturers spoken and visited with to gain the following insights are in the high tech, industrial and aerospace and defense industries, where rapid product lifecycles and short time-to-market schedules are commonplace. Cloud-based strategies give these companies the chance to bring their own innate intelligence and knowledge into every sales situation. While onpremise systems could also do this, cloud-based systems were quicker to roll out, easier to customize and showed potential to increase adoption rates across resellers. One manufacturing manager explained how during a new product launch the speed and volume of collaboration was so rapid on between suppliers and distributors that an allocation situation was averted. That he said, made senior management believers. These epiphanies are happening daily in manufacturing. Based on my visits with manufacturers, here are the ten ways they are using cloud computing to revolutionize manufacturing:
Capturing and applying company-wide intelligence and knowledge through the use of analytics, business intelligence (BI), and rules engines. For the many manufacturers who rely on build-to-order, configure-to-order and engineer-to-order strategies as a core part of their business models, using cloud-based platforms to capture knowledge and manage rules is accelerating. A key part of this area is mobility support for analytics, BI and rules engine reporting and analysis.

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10 Ways Cloud Computing Is Revolutionizing Manufacturing - Forbes

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Piloting and then moving quickly to full launch of supplier portals and collaboration platforms, complete with quality management dashboards and workflows. Among the manufacturers visited, those in high tech are the most advanced in this area, often implementing Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and demand management applications that deliver realtime order status and forecasts.

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Designing in services is now becoming commonplace, making cloud integration expertise critical for manufacturers. From simplistic services integration on iPhones to the full implementation of voice-activated controls including emergency assistance in the latest luxury cars, adding in Louis Columbus C ontributor services integrated to the cloud is redefining the competitive landscape of industries today. Revising a product or launching an new product generation with embedded services can mitigate price wars, which is why many manufacturers are pursing this strategy today. Accelerating new product development and introduction (NPDI) strategies to attain time-to-market objectives. Using cloud-based platforms in high tech manufacturing is growing today as time-to-market constraints are requiring greater collaboration earlier in design cycles. Managing indirect and direct channel sales from a single cloud platform tracking sales results against quota at the individual, group and divisional level is now commonplace across all manufacturers visited. Dashboards report back the status by each rep and for sales managers, the profitability of each deal. Using cloud-based marketing automation applications to plan, execute and most important, track results of every campaign. Marketing is under a microscope in many manufacturers today, as marketing automation applications have promised to deliver exceptional results and many manufacturers are still struggling to align their internal content, strategies and ability to execute with the potential these systems promise. Automating customer service, support and common order status inquiries online, integrating these systems to distributed order management, pricing, and content management platforms. Manufacturing industries are at varying levels of adoption when it comes to automating self-service. The cost and time advantages in high tech are the highest levels of adoption Ive seen in visiting manufacturers however. Increasing reliance on two-tier ERP strategies to gain greater efficiencies in material planning, supplier management and reduce logistics costs. Manufacturers are also using this strategy to gain greater independence from a single ERP vendor dominating their entire operations. Several manufacturers remarked that their large, monolithic ERP systems could not, without intensive programming and customization, scale down to the smaller operational needs in distributed geographic regions. Cloud-based ERP systems are getting the attention of manufacturers pursuing two-tier ERP strategies. Acumatica, Cincom, Microsoft MSFT -1.22% , NetSuite and Plex Systems are leaders in this area of ERP systems. Reliance on cloud-based Human Resource Management (HRM) systems to unify all manufacturing locations globally. This often includes combining multisite talent management, recruiting, payroll and time tracking. Contract manufacturer Flextronics uses Workday to optimize workforce allocations across their global manufacturing centers for example.

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Bottom Line: Using cloud-based systems to streamline key areas of their business, manufacturers are freeing up more time to invest in new products and selling more. Related on Forbes:
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10 Ways Cloud Computing Is Revolutionizing Manufacturing - Forbes

Cities Leading The U.S. Manufacturing Revival

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Methodology
To determine the cities that are leading the manufacturing revival, we assessed manufacturing employment growth in the 65 largest metropolitan statistical areas. Rankings are based on recent growth trends, as well as job growth over the past five and 10 years, and the MSAs' momentum.

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Forbe s write rs have the ability to call out m e m be r com m e nts the y find particularly inte re sting. C alle d-out com m e nts are highlighte d across the Forbe s ne twork . You'll be notifie d if your com m e nt is calle d out.

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CALLED-OUT Expand All C omments Follow Comments Esmahan Abdulla 1 month ago

Great article Louis! I think mom & pop job shops could greatly benefit from leveraging cloud-based solutions that can grow with them. If you havent already, would love to see an article discussing similar software geared toward smaller shops with smaller budgets.
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Louis Columbus , C ontributor 1 month ago

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Eshmahan, Honored by your kind words sir, thank you. Always here to serve the reader, first and always. You bring up an area that is thriving right now in the area of cloud-based solutions. I will add the idea to my list of article ideas and will do one. Thanks for the suggestion! Have a great week and thanks for reading this blog. Best Regards, Louis
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10 Ways Cloud Computing Is Revolutionizing Manufacturing - Forbes

Henry Merino 1 month ago

The article says 10 Ways, but you only cite 9! Either ways its good info. :)
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Louis Columbus , C ontributor 1 month ago

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Hi Henry, Thanks very much for the kind words and your note. I debated making the point about how greater collaboration achieved with cloud-based apps can avert product allocations as the tenth bullet or leaving it in the text. To me, it made sense to leave it in the text. Here is the point I am talking about: One manufacturing manager explained how during a new product launch the speed and volume of collaboration was so rapid on between suppliers and distributors that an allocation situation was averted. That he said, made senior management believers. These epiphanies are happening daily in manufacturing. What do you think? Should I make it a bullet item or leave it in the text? This is a high tech manufacturer who relies on a massive supply chain across Asia by the way. Thank you, Louis
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Matthew Hampton 1 month ago

Louis, Articles such as these are fantastic for helping to drive the adoption of cloud solutions across these industries. It is an exciting time to be a part of the industry and your closing paragraph is a fantastic selling point when when speaking to various organizations. Bottom Line: Using cloud-based systems to streamline key areas of their business, manufacturers are freeing up more time to invest in new products and selling more. Keep them coming! -Matt
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Louis Columbus , C ontributor 1 month ago

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Matt, Thank you sir for your kind words and encouragement! Much appreciated. Like you, Ive been fortunate enough to see entire companies become more streamlined and capable of serving customers more effectively with cloudbased applications. And when that happens,everyone wins the employees, their families, the customers everyone. I will definitely keep writing about this area because I see so much good coming from it for manufacturers and the people they serve. Best Regards, Louis
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Rob Goodman 1 month ago

10 Ways Cloud Computing Is Revolutionizing Manufacturing - Forbes

Hi LouisAs you noted in your reply to Eshmahan, discussing cloud-based technology that is available for smaller companies is a good story idea. I actually spoke with a company that is using a collaborative tool for collaboration for the companys new product introduction team. I dont want to sound like Im shilling for a vendor or customer, so whats the best way to contact you directly? This company could be a big help for you if you decide to pursue this or a similar story angle.
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Louis Columbus , C ontributor 1 month ago

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Rob, Excellent! Thanks for the great contribution sir, I appreciate it. I am always open to learning about new vendors and their solutions. If you are on Twitter, lets connect there and I can DM you my e-mail address. If you arent on Twitter send me a LinkedIn invitation and we can talk there was well. Thanks again and have a great weekend. Best Regards, Louis
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Louis Columbus , C ontributor 1 week ago

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Hi Don, Thanks for taking the time to visit this blog and share your comments and insights, I appreciate it. I am researching small business adoption of cloud computing right now and will be sure to check out the URL you provided. Thank you, Louis
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