Since March of this year, it was nearly impossible to avoid news concerning Apple’s iWatch. The buzz surrounding the benefits of wearable technology (WT) was suffocating. Gartner describes the current stage of WT maturity as the “Peak of Inflated Expectations”. At this nascent stage, WT is all about promise. This peak will inevitably be followed by the “Trough of Disillusionment”.
Hydrogen embrittlement is a serious phenomenon that affects the strength and performance of materials in application. This becomes particularly important when fastening hardware fails to perform as intended due to this condition. Minimizing risk should always be a consideration when establishing product specifications. Understanding the causes and steps to mitigate its occurrence is beneficial to customers (end users), suppliers, and
Many factors affect a company’s ability to service its customers and optimize the supply chain. One of the key building blocks in achieving those goals is having a reasonably accurate prediction of demand, including: (a) what goods will be demanded, (b) how much of each item will be demanded, (c) when the goods will be demanded, and (d) where the
Little has changed in supply chain management theory since Forrester’s groundbreaking study over 50 years ago showing the correlation between a company’s success and the interrelationships between company functions and its network of suppliers and customers. Forrester identified a system consisting of five key dynamic “flows.” Information, materials, money, manpower, and capital equipment determine the basic tendencies towards growth or
Traditionally, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) has been a calculation intended to help buyers and owners determine the direct and indirect costs of procuring a product. In supply chain management, vendor managed inventory programs involve managing the process up to and including point of use on an assembly line. In this case, the calculation includes the direct and indirect cost
In today’s data-driven organizations, it is increasingly important that data governance be business led and discipline focused. small_big The equation is simple: to draw meaningful, actionable conclusions from your transactional database, you need to sweat the small stuff early, often, and consistently. It is critically important that each discipline in the business vet and ultimately align on data labels for