Using Business Intelligence to Improve and Empower

whitePaper | March 23, 2022

Manufacturing organizations today and in the future will have to operate in a business and market environment that will continue to be volatile, uncertain, and complex, while operating in an increasingly digital economy. At the same time, they will have to embed sustainability targets into their operations to comply with legal regulations and customer requirements (such as reducing CO2 emissions). To thrive, manufacturing organization CEOs and C-suites need to find the right formula to balance the need to fix the present and at the same time prepare for the future. IDC Insights has designed a framework to helpcompanies thrive and to "PRIME" them for profitable outcomes and sustainable long-term business growth.

whitePaper | March 8, 2023

Agile Manufacturing is a manufacturing philosophy that emphasizes flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness in production processes. It is an approach that allows manufacturers to quickly respond to changing market demands and customer needs. The term Agile refers to a set of principles and practices aimed at delivering high-quality products that meet the needs of customers in a fast-changing environment. The term Agile Manufacturing was first coined in the early 1990s, during a time of increasing global competition and rapidly changing market conditions. As a result, manufacturers began to explore new ways to improve their competitiveness and responsiveness to changing customer needs, leading to the development of the Agile Manufacturing strategy. In January 1991, the term appeared in an important report entitled “21st Century Manufacturing Enterprise Strategy” by the Iacocca Institute at Lehigh University in the United States.

whitePaper | July 25, 2022

Traceability, the ability to identify and trace the product, process, operator, context, and detailed quality and component supplier and lot information for every item that moved through manufacturing, is a must-have for manufacturing success. A robust traceability framework that envelopes the total process, product, and material traceability, is a critical component for manufacturers facing stringent regulations while seeking to reduce the overall cost of compliance.

whitePaper | January 9, 2023

Silicone rubber has many applications, from hearing aids to handles and grips on consumer goods. This report provides an overview of 3D printed tooling for silicone part production, including two part injection molds, overmolds, compression molds, and eggshell molds. These methods can be employed for the prototyping of soft silicone products, small-batch production of customer beta units, or production of custom end-use goods. A step-by-step guide is provided for producing a silicone keychain with an encapsulated Apple AirTag, employing mold design best practices from several Formlabs product design customers. We also present information about successful material workflows from Formlabs users, including silicone-resin compatibility and recommended mold releases for both tin and platinum cure silicones.

whitePaper | July 14, 2020

Make no mistake, Manufacturing 4.0 technologies have played a vital role in manufacturers’ ability to remain agile amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Manufacturers responding to Hitachi Vantara’s Industry Insights: Manufacturing Operations During the COVID-19 Crisis survey indicated that digitalization was already a part of their long-term strategy prior to the outbreak and it is exactly those implementations that have helped them maximize output and maintain quality during the COVID-19 crisis.

whitePaper | October 25, 2022

Traditionally, early-stage and late-stage process development have been done separately, with early-stage mostly focused on material production and late-stage on process intensification. As more molecules in development fall under an orphan or fast-track indication, the traditional approach of linear development stages can be counterproductive—not to mention expensive—due to investing resources in perfecting a process prior to early clinical phase success.