For those of us who were born into the “Star Trek” generation, we might use the opening voiceover by William Shatner as our mantra: “To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. The popularity of the newest Star Wars offerings, though,…
Market researchers are touting a huge explosion of connected devices for the Internet of Things (IoT). Smart electronics OEMs are looking to this market to provide huge demand for new products and services. These same companies are also hoping to enhance their own businesses with these same technologies. According to new research from International Data…
Knowledge is power when it comes to effective carrier relationship management. By asking the right questions, you can make sure that you've optimized your carrier choices to make sure that the items you ship, whether components or finished products, get where they need to go. Spendrix, a data company that saves shippers time by analyzing carriers…
The high-tech industry is poised for global growth. The middle class is expanding, bringing with it an increasing appetite for high-tech products. Demands are coming from new markets across the globe. Product lifecycles are shorter than ever before. There are new pressures and challenges – and new opportunities. There is growing recognition that “business-as-usual” supply…
Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is not a new idea, but many organizations report that their efforts have been less than effective. As the saying goes, though, when you get lemons, it's a good time to make lemonade. That is, rather than a point of failure, S&OP improvement offers an opportunity for great improvement. In…
We're hearing a lot today about the “smart home.” As part of the Internet of Things (IoT) concept of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, smart homes let you monitor temperatures, door locks, lighting, and a lot more. Like a number of my customers, you might be wondering if the smart home idea could practically transfer to a…
When it performs excellently, a supply chain can allow one electronics manufacturer to pull ahead of the pack in terms of responsiveness, flexibility, and capabilities. It can make the difference between end products getting into customers hands first or behind the competition. Going forward, supply chain strategies will become more important than ever before for…
Technology and other factors have transformed the underlying dynamics of procurement to the extent that distributor relationships are changing radically. According to a UPS and analyst firm TNS survey of over 1,500 procurement professionals, changing customer expectations, direct-from-manufacturer selling, e-commerce, and the emergence of millennials among buyers are having profound effects on the distribution model. “It…
As OEMs crank out new products that connect to the Internet, consumers and businesses are jumping on the Internet of Things (IoT) bandwagon in droves. Along with fun and convenient capabilities, these new offerings are creating a higher level of concern about security than ever before. “As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to gain…
The death of electronics hardware has been a topic of discussion for years—as pundits predicted that new products would be evolutionary rather than evolution. Inventive entrepreneurs, however, are betting on new electronics hardware as the next big thing, and consumers continue to get excited about helping to fund the next promising hardware offering on Kickstarter.…