Adhesives Mag logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEW PRODUCTS
  • NEWS
  • TOPICS
  • EVENTS
  • COLUMNS
  • MULTIMEDIA
  • EXPLORE
  • DIRECTORIES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Adhesives & Sealants Headlines
  • Mergers/Acquisitions
  • Market Trends
  • TOP 20
  • TOPICS
  • Finished Adhesives and Sealants
  • Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives (PSAs)
  • Coatings
  • Raw Materials and Chemicals
  • Materials Handling/Processing
  • Meter/Mix/Dispense
  • Curing
  • Testing/Quality Control
  • Packaging of Adhesives & Sealants
  • Converting/Packaging
  • Composites
  • Sustainability
  • EVENTS
  • MAX
  • Events Calendar
  • COLUMNS
  • European Perspectives
  • Strategic Solutions
  • Supply Chain Strategies
  • Tape Talk
  • MULTIMEDIA
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Webinars
  • eBooks
  • EXPLORE
  • Adhesives in Action
  • Blog
  • ASI Store
  • Industry Links
  • Market Research
  • Classifieds
  • DIRECTORIES
  • Buyers' Guide
  • Global Adhesives & Sealants Directory
  • Raw Materials, Chemicals, Polymers and Additives Handbook
  • Equipment Handbook
  • Distributor Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
  • EMAGAZINE
  • ARCHIVE ISSUES
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE
  • Custom Content & Marketing Services
Adhesives Mag logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Adhesives Mag logo
  • NEW PRODUCTS
  • NEWS
    • Adhesives & Sealants Headlines
    • Mergers/Acquisitions
    • Market Trends
    • TOP 20
  • TOPICS
    • Finished Adhesives and Sealants
    • Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives (PSAs)
    • Coatings
    • Raw Materials and Chemicals
    • Materials Handling/Processing
    • Meter/Mix/Dispense
    • Curing
    • Testing/Quality Control
    • Packaging of Adhesives & Sealants
    • Converting/Packaging
    • Composites
    • Sustainability
  • EVENTS
    • MAX
    • Events Calendar
  • COLUMNS
    • European Perspectives
    • Strategic Solutions
    • Supply Chain Strategies
    • Tape Talk
  • MULTIMEDIA
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • eBooks
  • EXPLORE
    • Adhesives in Action
    • Blog
    • ASI Store
    • Industry Links
    • Market Research
    • Classifieds
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Buyers' Guide
    • Global Adhesives & Sealants Directory
    • Raw Materials, Chemicals, Polymers and Additives Handbook
    • Equipment Handbook
    • Distributor Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • ADVERTISE
      • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • CONTACT
  • SIGN UP!
Adhesives and Sealants TopicsFinished Adhesives and SealantsRaw Materials and Chemicals

Automate, Digitize, and Thrive in the Supply Chain

As the labor market tightens with changing demographics, companies will need to leverage technology and digitize their supply chains.

By Lisa Anderson
Automate, Digitize, and Thrive in the Supply Chain

Image courtesy of Scharfsinn86 / iStock / Getty Images Plus

January 26, 2024

The world has never experienced a labor shortage quite like the one we are experiencing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment growth will average .3 over the next decade; however, labor participation will drop from 62.2% to 60.4%. In essence, we have entered a secular labor shortage. Similarly, according to the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, half of German companies are struggling to fill vacancies due to labor shortages. Thus, the only companies that will thrive in the next decade will leverage technology and digitize the supply chain.

The use of technology and automation will be of paramount importance to not just supplement the labor force, but also to meet ever increasing customer requirements and provide visibility across the end-to-end supply chain. Companies must be faster, focused, and perform with lights-out manufacturing and logistics to succeed. Thus, a modern ERP system will be an assumption, not a differentiator. In addition, companies must pursue advanced technologies such as business intelligence and predictive analytics to forecast the future and determine where to focus, artificial intelligence, and IoT solutions to support items such as predictive maintenance, and digital twins to optimize process and product performance.

 

Pertinent Examples

An electrical power solutions manufacturer struggled with an ERP system upgrade, and it impacted every aspect of the business, requiring additional resources to support customer requirements. A base ERP system is no longer acceptable. Instead, a modern ERP system that supports customer expectations such as configure-to-order (CTO), customer relationship management (CRM), and customer-related functionality — including customer portals, order fulfillment visibility and backlog management — is essential.

Since the ERP team didn’t have the time required to fully prepare, the executives quickly supplemented with additional consulting and temporary resources, developed interim solutions for tracking backlog, and ordered ahead to support the transition. Even with one of the best management teams in the industry, until modern ERP functionality was available, they had to implement several stop-gap measures to avoid significant customer impact.

An industrial manufacturer struggled to forecast revenue accurately one month ahead, causing frustration with their board of directors. An assessment of their business processes and use of technology showed that their sales and order entry systems did not talk with their production and inventory control systems. Although Sales could estimate revenue, Operations had no idea which products would be required to support that revenue until Engineering completed design. Thus, although performing above expectations, the two rarely met.

To turn this situation around, we had to build a bridge between the two systems with a data model. However, that alone wouldn’t resolve the issue, as the product details were not known soon enough to ensure seamless delivery and revenue predictability. Thus, in addition, the team created a digital-twin-type capability to predict the product grouping and model information with a SIOP (sales inventory operations planning) process so that materials could be purchased and capacity planned. Once this information was built into automated dashboards, Production was able to transition from reactive to proactive, thereby creating predictability in shipping plans and taking it a step further with proactive margin enhancement strategies.

An aerospace manufacturer continually struggled with on-time delivery, and customers were losing patience. The issue was a bottlenecked area of the manufacturing process that simply could not keep up. They could not find enough high-skilled resources to run the machinery on second and third shifts, and overtime was maxed out. The team pursued an alternate strategy to employ a technological solution to run lights out around the clock.

They purchased a robot and focused their most advanced resources on modifying the robot to work in their manufacturing environment. With the upgraded robot, their high-skilled resources refocused attention on setting up the machinery during day shift, which allowed the robot to perform the repetitive tasks on second and third shift. Order delivery performance improved rapidly, and customer complaints disappeared as the bottleneck was removed. Later, they focused on upgrading their distribution processes with lights-out capabilities as well to further differentiate performance.

Forward-thinking companies will pursue smart technology upgrades while their competition focuses on containing cost. The companies that figure out how to do more with less and digitize their supply chain will thrive while the rest struggle. Resources will no longer be plentiful, and so pivoting with technology will be the only route to executing successfully while meeting ever increasing customer expectations.

 

For more information, contact the author at landerson@lma-consultinggroup.com or visit www.lma-consultinggroup.com.

 

KEYWORDS: automation digitalization general business innovation supply chain

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Lisa anderson 021921 10099 square crop

Lisa Anderson is Founder and President of LMA Consulting Group.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • mouse in hole

    Using Foam Sealants for Pest Prevention

    According to the National Pest Management Association,...
    Finished Adhesives and Sealants
    By: Kevin Corcoran
  • linked network nodes

    Using the Power of AI for Adhesive and Sealant Formulation

    With the help of software solutions, adhesive formulators...
    Raw Materials and Chemicals
    By: Karen Parker
  • top20-hero.jpg

    2024 ASI Top 20: Leading Global Manufacturers of Adhesives and Sealants

    ASI's annual ranking of the top 20 global adhesive and...
    Finished Adhesives and Sealants
Manage My Account
  • eMagazine Issues
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Subscription Customer Service

Voices from the Top: Jowat

Voices from the Top: Jowat

Looking Forward to WAC 2022

Looking Forward to WAC 2022

Voices from the Top: Arkema Group

Voices from the Top: Arkema Group

More Videos

Popular Stories

ASI top 20 global manufacturers

2025 ASI Top 20: Leading Global Adhesives and Sealants Manufacturers

Photo of a person holding a tablet, reading a new story

tesa Opens Debonding on Demand Lab in Singapore

Image of scrabble pieces with pictures of people

Sika Purchases Construction Chemicals Company in Qatar

ASI Top 20 website

Events

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Structural Adhesives: Properties, Characterization and Applications

Structural Adhesives: Properties, Characterization and Applications

See More Products

ASI CASE EBOOK

Related Articles

  • Innovation

    Innovate to Thrive in the Next Decade

    See More
  • Security

    Proactive Strategies to Get Ahead of the Non-Stop Supply Chain Disruptions

    See More
  • manufacturing robots on an assembly line

    Manufacturing and Assembly: Automate, Create Value and Deliver Bottom-Line Results

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • biomedical.jpg

    Adhesion in Pharmaceutical, Biomedical, and Dental Fields

  • 9781574447170.jpg

    Sealants in Construction, Second Edition

  • advances-in-structural-adhe.gif

    Advances in Structural Adhesive Bonding

See More Products
×

Keep the info flowing with our eNewsletters!

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletters
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey & Sample
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Youtube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Adhesives Mag logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Adhesives Mag logo
  • NEW PRODUCTS
  • NEWS
    • Adhesives & Sealants Headlines
    • Mergers/Acquisitions
    • Market Trends
    • TOP 20
  • TOPICS
    • Finished Adhesives and Sealants
    • Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives (PSAs)
    • Coatings
    • Raw Materials and Chemicals
    • Materials Handling/Processing
    • Meter/Mix/Dispense
    • Curing
    • Testing/Quality Control
    • Packaging of Adhesives & Sealants
    • Converting/Packaging
    • Composites
    • Sustainability
  • EVENTS
    • MAX
    • Events Calendar
  • COLUMNS
    • European Perspectives
    • Strategic Solutions
    • Supply Chain Strategies
    • Tape Talk
  • MULTIMEDIA
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • eBooks
  • EXPLORE
    • Adhesives in Action
    • Blog
    • ASI Store
    • Industry Links
    • Market Research
    • Classifieds
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Buyers' Guide
    • Global Adhesives & Sealants Directory
    • Raw Materials, Chemicals, Polymers and Additives Handbook
    • Equipment Handbook
    • Distributor Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • ADVERTISE
      • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • CONTACT
  • SIGN UP!