Back by popular demand! We published this blog on manufacturing apps just a little over a year ago.  Since it has proven to be one of our most popular blogs of all time, we decided to update, expand and republish it.  As you are no doubt aware, technology has entered our home a

A Deloitte 2017 study on the global aerospace and defense (A&D) industry reveals that the industry grew by 2.4% and generated about $674 billion in 2016. While the growth was modest, the study forecasts that 2017 revenues are likely to grow due to lower fuel costs, stronger passenger travel

What exactly is Smart Manufacturing? Over the past several years, the topic of SMART Manufacturing has been a conversation among industry experts, strategists and thought leaders. However, despite its media coverage, many on the front lines of manufacturing aren’t quite sure what SMART Manufactur

Training skilled workers is critical to strengthening the U.S. manufacturing sector, especially at a time when about 2 million manufacturing jobs are projected to remain unfilled, due to the worsening skills gap that is taking place throughout the country. For several years, manufacturers and man

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that the energy consumption of the U.S. manufacturing sector increased by 3.7% from 2010 to 2014. The increase seems insignificant, but uncontrolled and further increases can pose additional challenges to energy management in manufacturin

Having a substantial competitive advantage in manufacturing is a goal that’s not easy to achieve, especially among thousands of aggressive rivals in the same industry. In an effort to gain traction against other manufacturers, many are turning to innovative manufacturing apps that allow them to h

The best managers are always seeking cost-saving opportunities within their manufacturing operations. Of all of those opportunities, there is no better cost to mitigate than that of poor quality. Lost labor hours and scrapping valuable food materials contributes zero value to your goals. Therefor

When you think about Manufacturing Day, you may be thinking to yourself, “I don’t have the time to host an event. What I manufacture isn’t that interesting. Is it really that big of a deal?” Well, actually, it is a big deal.  Manufacturing Day is a national celebration, which occurs every ye

Evolving consumer shopping and eating habits continuously transform the food and beverage supply chain. Consumers are ditching the fatty and salty foods of the past and are now in search of healthier and fresher food and beverage alternatives. Therefore, supply chains must also evolve to support

The modern consumer demands that food products be free from harmful contaminants that could lead to illness. Growers, shippers, retailers, wholesalers, and restaurants are all required to ensure there are no food processing safety mistakes. To take this a step further, consumers have demonstrated

Much has changed in recent years with regards to manufacturing intelligence. While manufacturing issues have become more complicated in nature, new technologies have emerged to manage those challenges. With speed-to-market becoming such a critical aspect of the supply chain, manufacturers are pr

As the U.S. and the global economy bounces back, manufacturing continues to be on the rise. Therefore, companies are looking to open new facilities, domestically and internationally, and expand their existing operations to drive future revenue. However, regardless of the location, it is critical

  ISO 9001 is one of the most popular quality management system standards in the international stage. Before you embark on a journey to adopt it, however, you need to have an in-depth understanding of ISO 9001 basics to make it work for you. Understanding ISO 9001 A quality management syste

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that history is often made within our lifetime. Lean manufacturing is a movement established by Toyota Production Systems and is centered on clarifying what brings value by reducing waste. Lean is centered around increasing customer value and implementing key proces

The evolution from manual methods to advanced techniques (i.e. the creation of goods and services) has become a complex process, giving rise to a host of HR challenges in manufacturing. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) paints a positive outlook for the U.S. manufacturing industry.

No industry is immune to cyber attacks. According to the 2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index, the manufacturing sector was the second highest industry that experienced cyber attacks in 2016. The recent WannaCry ransomware attack is just one revelatory example of rising cyber crimes and the

The Bureau of Statistics reported that 2.9 million workers were injured or became ill in 2015 while on the job. The reported figure represents an approximate rate of 3 cases per 100 employees, a slight improvement from the previous years 3.2 figure. While this is good news, employers have a ways

Sometimes, our vision of how a business is supposed to work changes by necessity. But, whether through necessity or an open mind that’s constantly looking to their business, small manufacturers have may have plenty to gain when considering options to export goods to other countries. As we stated

Back by popular demand! We published this blog just a little over a year ago.  It has proven to be one of our most popular blogs of all time!  So, we decided to update it, expand it, and republish it.  We know that if you’re a small or medium-sized manufacturer, it can be a re

This past October, a major DDoS attack occurred which put many popular websites such as Netflix, PayPal and Reddit out of service. A Distributed Denial of Service attack, or DDoS, occurs when multiple systems flood the bandwidth or resources of a targeted system, usually one or more web servers.