Rod Sherkin

The story of the manufacturing industry has been one of progress. Few manufacturers continue to produce the same products as they did in their infancy years. In order to remain competitive, manufacturers must continue to evolve their products to meet the demands of the marketplace. But meeting consumer demand is only half the battle — the other half is staying up to speed with industry advancements. New technology brings a host of changes that manufacturers must recognize. For example, increasing dependence on automation leads to the need for more skilled workers who understand these advanced systems. If workers cannot adapt successfully, organizations could find themselves struggling to keep up with the rest of the industry. To remain competitive in this dynamic environment, organizations should have several tools at their disposal that go beyond the physical equipment and technology innovations used in their facilities. These tools are ideas manufacturers can keep in their toolbox and use to produce next-level productivity. For example, one tool can be an investment in regular maintenance, which can ensure that machinery stays in service for as long as possible. This results in higher productivity and fewer costly downtime periods. For more ideas manufacturing companies should keep…

Stay up to date on all the latest conversations, interviews, and episodes we released this week here at Supply Chain Now! We started this week off with an episode of Supply Chain Now as Scott Luton chats with Lora Cecere and Dr. Madhav Durbha, Vice President of Supply Chain Strategy for Coupa Software. In Monday’s episode of This Week In Business History, Scott Luton talks about the history and development of video games- from the origins of Atari to the companies that are currently dominating the market. On Tuesday, we republished a classic TEKTOK episode with host Karin Bursa. In this episode, Karin shares six strategies for greater supply chain resilience. On Wednesday’s Supply Chain Now episode, Scott had a great conversation with culture expert, author, and speaker Ray Attiyah with Run Improve Grow. Scott and Ray talk about the key points in his new book, Fearless Front Line: The Key to Liberating Leaders to Improve & Grow Their Business. On Thursday, we released another episode of Supply Chain Now with host Scott Luton and special co-host Allison Giddens. Scott and Allison welcome Chad Molen with NIMBL, and Dan Reeve with Esker to the show. On Friday, we released the…