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Business Intelligence for Manufacturers: The Key to Investment and Sales Strategies that Lead to Profitable Growth

Business intelligence for manufacturers is becoming more accessible as technology evolves. And today, a top business intelligence strategy–item stratification–is no longer a best-kept secret for how manufacturing businesses are growing profitably. Many in the manufacturing space are adopting both item and customer stratification as they move toward profitable growth, and this blog will cover ways […]
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2024 NAW Executive Summit Recap: Economists Caution Businesses to Prepare Now in Three Critical Areas

The overriding message from the 2024 NAW Executive Summit this year had a lot to do with the economic forecast for the next seven years. “Planning ahead” doesn’t mean mapping out a strategy for the next few years. Instead, leaders need to lay the appropriate groundwork in 2024 and even 2025 in preparation for what […]
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Predictive Analytics for Manufacturers and its Role in Generating Profitable Growth

As manufacturers plan for optimal organizational performance, priority should be given to understanding the role their inventory plays in overall growth and profit generation. And it’s through regular use of predictive analytics that manufacturers are able to perform smart inventory analysis and associated decision making.  Item stratification is one type of predictive analysis. Item stratification […]
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Beyond ERP Modules: Securing Profitability With Business Improvement Apps

When an ERP system is implemented effectively, it can become the foundation for performance excellence — ”foundation” being the operative word. However, out-of-the box functionality can only go so far. Investing in the right business improvement applications to augment your ERP’s standard capabilities can produce a game-changing combination that in the end fuels both growth […]
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Manufacturing Optimization: The Path to Profitable Growth

Manufacturing optimization is defined as the practice of utilizing data to build better products more efficiently, all with the goal of creating and sustaining a competitive advantage. Applying manufacturing optimization methodologies to core functions such as inventory management will, in the end, drive top-line revenue and bottom-line profit. It’s a smart investment that will future-proof your […]
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Wholesale Distribution Strategy: Are You Promoting Your Business in all the Wrong Places?

How distributors can align the right messages with the right customers in the right places. As a distributor, you know that customer-facing business documents provide an excellent opportunity to promote your business. Your existing customers are the best source for growing sales, so it’s a no-brainer that you whenever you send a document to one […]
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Smart Manufacturing, the Death Knell for ERP

There are many aspects of smart manufacturing and its promises of improved business performance that may lead some to the opinion that the role and contribution of ERP will progressively diminish over time as the means to apply smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 concepts continue to become more readily available to the marketplace. The thinking […]
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Customer Stratification for Manufacturers: When Cost to Serve Exceeds Profitability

Best Practices for Boosting Sales Margins. A survey by Earnest & Associates (E&A) has affirmed the critical need for distributors to spend less time with their poor, profit-draining customers – a key to boosting sales margins. Over one hundred decision makers at small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) in the wholesale/distribution trade participated in the […]
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Building a Responsive Supply Chain Strategy

Who would have thought a term like “supply chain”, traditionally reserved for business and boardroom discussions, would become a topic du jour with the average consumer? It has–and not because it’s an overly compelling topic. “Supply chain” is now part of our everyday dialogue because almost everyone felt the impact of interruptions when the pandemic […]
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The Future of Business Intelligence: Like it or Not, Microsoft has Already Won the BI Battle

Microsoft’s Power BI has won the scramble to become the standard in the Business Intelligence space.  You might want to stop reading now but let me explain further. I am not saying Power BI has the absolute best feature set. I am not saying Power BI is necessarily the easiest platform to learn. I am […]